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I started working with Pau Ferro back and sides and developed an uncomfortable rash on my forearms. I remember reading that some people do have a reaction to this wood but having no other allergies, I did not think this would the cause. Has anyone else had any reaction to Pau Ferro, and if so (and more importantly), what did you do to relieve the discomfort?

About 15% of the population have a reaction to Pau Ferro, you seem to be one of them and my advice would be to give the wood away to someone else. I also have a reaction to it, I just sanded a fingerboard and ended up in hospital with severe breathing difficulties and a pulse rate going through the ceiling. I believe that Bob Cefalu also had a reation to it. It's not one of those woods that you should give a second chance to I'm afraid, it can be a serious allergen.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Colin nailed it Mark - don't take any chances and it's possible if you have family members that they share the sensitivity to this wood as well.

I know the problems with Pau Ferro all too well. 3 days after a good exposure I was ready for the emergency room. The rash I developed looked and felt like poison ivy. My doctor put my on an oral cortizone which took care of the problem in a few days. That was the last time I worked with Pau Ferro!

I would say that if you are having problems then stop working with the wood and get medical help if the rash continues to develop.

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Brad
Avon, OH

Been there, won't go back. Give the stuff away...., no, wait, bury it!

Don't bury it! There are those who do not react that would love to have it.

How many sets you got anyway?

Greg N

I love pau ferro or santos rosewood as some like to call it and think if
were not for this reaction that some people have it would be a much more
popular wood.

Its wonderfull to work and finishes like a dream due to its non porus
nature but it it does have its nasty side effects to that unlucky 15%

I am sorry to hear that you have been affected by the alergen in the wood
and i think that the advice given by others is sound.

Dont take the chance with your health its too precious.

Cut your losses and give it to someone who can work with it.

May i suggest donating it to a college or school prodject of some kind

As for the rash i have been told that calendula ointment is very good for
the rash if you can find in the states

I hope you get better soon.

Joel.

I just finished a pau ferro order shipping to Australia which includes 4 neck blanks, 2 x 4 x 39 each and an electric solid body blank with no ill affects fortunately. I love working with it and as Joel says it's a great rosewood substitute. I've been working with wood so long I feel my days are numbered for many of them, but to date only coco bolo and Ipe give me fits.

I love the stuff, and have had no reaction to it. I have some wonderful sets, problem is, NOBODY wants it.

Not to hijack your thread Mark, but who gets asked to use PauFerro? maybe ill start a new thread.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I love the stuff and use it often. One of my students was building with it recently and got the poison ivy side effect. I was helping him all day and had no reaction. Cocobolo gives me a slight reaction but only at the elbow joint. The wierdest reaction I've had is to brazilian rosewood. When I first started working with it, I would get very dizzy. I don't know if it was the dust, aroma, or just sticker shock. the problem disappeared after three guitars or so.

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Don Sharp
Got Brazilian?
http://www.sharpguitars.com

Pau Ferro, a/k/a morado, bolivian rosewood, and Santos rosewood. I used
this for my third project guitar while at Roberto-Venn. In those days we had
drum thickness sanders outside with no dust collection, it just went to the
wind. I got the sawdust all over me and that night I broke out in nasty
sweaty plaques. I took samples of everything in the shop to a dermatologist
for patch testing. He said he'd never seen as violent a reaction in twenty
years of practice. Be careful with this stuff. If you're really inclined to try it,
order a sample, make some sawdust and do a patch test yourself -- rub it
into your wrist and see what happens. That way you're not halfway through
a guitar and find you can't finish it.

Many allergens do not react the first time, but only after at least one initial exposure. So, even if the skin test is negative, you may still be at risk.

Bingo! I made roughly 7-8 fretboards of PauFerro before it struck me. And it struck hard.

There are so many other great woods, I can't, in good conscience, recommend this stuff to anyone, allergic or not!

Sorry - I'm not laughing at your horror stories guys, I'm laughing at myself.

I made my first ever wood purchases at the swap meet.

I bought a Curly Redwood top set, a Pau Ferro fretboard blank and a Kingswood bridge blank. Got them all as I’ve played instruments which used the relevant parts before and loved the looks and sounds of them.

With subsequent reading of various threads in the last month I discover that my Curly Redwood top is liable to explode as soon as I tune the guitar is concert pitch, that’s assuming of course I can manage to get my Kingswood bridge to actually glue to it in the first place. Not that any of that will matter as I’ll be laying in hospital with full body allergic burns I sustained radius sanding my Pau Ferro fretboard.

Can we say 'beginners luck'?

Heheh, let’s just say I’m glad I subsequently discovered that I live less than half an hour away from one of the few specialist luthier supply houses in the UK…

It’s a shame about Pau Ferro, I *really* love the way it looks, and the way it feels even now before it’s finished. Let’s hope I’m part of the 85%...