Cactus juice?I use cactus juice in a vacuum chamber. If it's a tiny bit of punky I just use CA
Its a brand name of a type of resin. Myself, I often will just apply a coat of shellac or some hardening oil finish, or in some cases, rattle can lacquer, and see if it lets me get a clean cut, but if it is too punky or spongy , I'll often just as soon toss it - Resin, Cactus Juice and other fillers like them are just too expensive for most of the woods I come across... Wood grows on Trees, after all.Cactus juice?
I like the look, I have minwax wood hardener from repair work I done.Its a brand name of a type of resin. Myself, I often will just apply a coat of shellac or some hardening oil finish, or in some cases, rattle can lacquer, and see if it lets me get a clean cut, but if it is too punky or spongy , I'll often just as soon toss it - Resin, Cactus Juice and other fillers like them are just too expensive for most of the woods I come across... Wood grows on Trees, after all.
Depends on how punkyWondering what you all use to stabilize the punkyness?
I sprayed it with lacquer and it seemed a lot betterI’ve stayed away from cactus juice and most resins due to cost of the liquid and then the vac or pressure chambers. Minwax wood hardener does pretty well to firm up punky stuff.
A bit cheaper alternative is some 5 min epoxy diluted 1:1 with acetone. Both have nasty voc’s for a short time, so ventilate well. The epoxy mix seems to cure faster due to the chemical reaction. Seems to work about equal to the mw stuff. Shellac or lacquer work well for just surface type issues, but take too long to cure vs epoxy or mw when penetration is needed.
Thinned epoxy is what I've done. Not often enough to remember how much time it takes to set up and to cure. A little goes a long way 50ml (2oz) was plenty for a 6" x 4" spalted maple bowl. Milliput for deeper and wider spots if it's not going to blow apart later.If it's small enough to fit in my vacuum chamber I'll use cactus juice. For larger pieces I'll use epoxy thinned out 40 to 50% with dna or acetone. If that doesn't help, it gets tossed out.
I also have used this product as well and it is excellent. A water based urethane product that has no odour or organic fumes like the Minwax product. Does not stain light woods. Am surprised it is not mentioned more often in these threads.Have used PC-Petrifier Wood Hardener successfully on punky or soft spalted woods.
I have used the Minwax product on bark enclusions and it has proved successfu.I have used the Minwax wood hardener from repair work I done.
Hi Mike:I also have used this product as well and it is excellent. A water based urethane product that has no odour or organic fumes like the Minwax product. Does not stain light woods. Am surprised it is not mentioned more often in these threads.
Yes and yesDoesn't cactus juice require heat as well as a vacuum chamber? I use minwax wood hardener on small spots.
One more thing is the wood has to be totally dry, like 0% moisture dry. You'll never get that with air dried wood which means you have to bake it in an oven prior to stabilizing. Also, once activated, the shelf life is approximately 18 months. After that you run the risk of it not curing properly. There is lots of info and tutorials Cactus Juice on the Turntex woodworks website.Yes and yes
The wood has to be submerged in cactus juice (enough that there is no punky wood out of the juice) and then put under vacuum pressure.
The amount of time under vacuum varies… basically until no more bubbles are visible or are very minimal.
Then the piece has to be drained of excess juice (drip dry) and then the piece needs to be put in an oven at something around 230* for at least as long as it was under vacuum.
It’s an hours (even possibly days) long process.
If I haven’t scared anyone away, I’ll tell you the stuff is incredibly tough, super reliable, and about the best product imaginable for making unturnable wood turnable. It will darken most woods. But you can tint the juice before vacuuming and you’ll get some interesting colors deep in the wood.
The juice that is drained and leftover from the vacuuming can be reused… that’s important to know. Don’t dump the excess… as long as it hasn’t been heated in an oven, it lasts virtually forever.
It’s a learning curve, it’s kind of pricy for bowl blanks, and requires effort and extra equipment but it WORKS like nothing else.