stabilized wood, step by step

[britt pritchard sawyer]

there are a few of us, that have been sheltered, really don;t know how to do some of the things we want to do but, have a desire to learn. stabilizing wood is one of those things, lots has been written, can't seem to find a definative answer though.......i want to stabilize by vacuum, wood to make pens, duck calls, shave brush handles etc. looks like homemade recipies have been arround for a few years now.....does anyone have a system that works?? did i forget bowls???? thanks britt sawyer

 

[Tom Lewis]

If you go to Bladeforums.com and do a search on stabilization you will find lots of threads on this subject. Knifemakers have been trying to stabilize wood for a long time, some methods are better than others.
If you have a small quantity of wood to stabilize you might be better off to send it to K&G finishing supplies. Their website is knifeandgun.com
I have had them stabilize a lot of wood for me and they have done a good job.
I also have developed my own method of stabilization, but would not recomend it to anyone unless they had a lot of wood to stabilize. I use a material from Loctite called RC90. It is a stabilization solution. It works good but is expensive. Last I checked it was $300.00 for four gallons. It does last a long time, and does a good job.
Some use minwax, etc. with mixed results.
To really stabilize you need a vacuum pump large enough to really pull a high vacuum, then a pressure pot to put pressure on the items to be stabilized.
As I said if you have a small quanity you might be ahead sending it to K&G.
My process is not a secret and I will willingly share it with anyone, but you need to be prepared to spend maybe $600 to $700 to get started.
There are cheaper ways to do it, but I don't think you will get professional results with the cheaper methods.

 

[dkulze]

Hi Britt,

Welcome to the forum.

What level of stability are you looking at here? Most of the items you were describing aren't usually stabilized in the way described by Tom. Most of us simply dry the wood and use soakings of an off the shelf eurythane oil to "stabilize" the finished piece. To go the whole route as described is a pretty involved process and gives you the equivalent of a block of wood grained plastic.

What exactly are you shooting for here? Do you want the wood to be plasticized? Are you looking to stabilize it to the point where it no longer moves? Are you trying to avoid cracks?

Dietrich

 

[Steve Worcester]

...What exactly are you shooting for here? Do you want the wood to be plasticized? Are you looking to stabilize it to the point where it no longer moves? Are you trying to avoid cracks? Dietrich

Personally I would like to know how to plasticize. Not is a Body Worlds kind of way, but wood...

 

[Ken Grunke]

epoxy varnish

Eons ago, Fine Woodworking (Taunton Press) had an article on using 2-part epoxy finish for large turned bowls. The trick seemed to be baking the piece in a kitchen oven until it was close to bone-dry, and letting it soak up the epoxy like a sponge.
This was back in the Dark Ages before the Internet, while FW was still black & white.

Sometime after that article, I purchased the recommended epoxy varnish in quart cans and among other turnings, I still have a maple cereal bowl that has seen regular use without any special care. I still have the varnish also, and it is still useable after about 15 years from purchase.

There are a few brands of epoxy varnish available, the boat-building craft being one major area of use. West Systems is one that I recall.

 

[Joe Greiner]

There have been several patents issued relating to vacuum-assisted drying of wood. Available via http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html. For patents before 1976, and for any images, you need to download an image viewer. The web site has advice on that. I've identified the following:
2,387,595 (1945) by Luth et al.
3,811,200 (1974) by Hager
4,466,198 (1984) by Doll
4,620,373 (1986) by Laskowski et al.
5,852,880 (1998) by Harrison
6,634,118 (2003) by Chen et al.

In general, patents more than about 20 years old have likely expired, and the technology may be freely used. According to my imperfect understanding, the teachings of unexpired patents may be used by individuals for personal use only; any commercial activity based on them will require licensing from the patent holders.

Joe

 

[bob393]

This is definatly a subject that interests me!
I'm trying to use Minwax wood hardner right now.
It seems to help with really soft woods but it is far from perfect.
I just picked up an HF pressure pot to try and get better penetration
but have yet to try it.

 

[DougBrown]

Check out these guys Woodsure They use a pressure camber to stablize with acrylic. It's kinda spendy, but reasonable for small pieces, for larger pieces we rough out first. They can take a piece of wood so punky you could push your finger into it and turn it into a piece denser than blackwood.

 

[britt pritchard sawyer]

thanks group

really appreciate the input from each of you. my plan is to learn the stabilizing process with acrylics like the big boys......just want to do mine small time, in my shop. again any input would be helpful....thank you again, of course all suggestions and input i get will be available for you, just e mail me at my wifes e mail adddress. i know, your wife doesnt run your house. thanks

 

[britt pritchard sawyer]

yep plasticized wood

Hi Britt,

Welcome to the forum.

What level of stability are you looking at here? Most of the items you were describing aren't usually stabilized in the way described by Tom. Most of us simply dry the wood and use soakings of an off the shelf eurythane oil to "stabilize" the finished piece. To go the whole route as described is a pretty involved process and gives you the equivalent of a block of wood grained plastic.

What exactly are you shooting for here? Do you want the wood to be plasticized? Are you looking to stabilize it to the point where it no longer moves? Are you trying to avoid cracks?

Dietrich

yes sir, plasticized wood is what i want to make, i have access to all the spalted wood, different species, i could ever want. i just like the idea of water proof wood. also like the aspect of filling cracks and voids. any help would be appreciated.......thanks again Britt