Author Topic: Stabilizing wood (Read 3648 times)

skeaterbait · « **on:** March 29, 2018, 04:35:21 PM »

I am about to try my hand at stabilizing, has anyone tried stabilizing, with vacuum, using wood hardener instead of resin?

kennym · « **Reply #1 on:** March 29, 2018, 05:13:12 PM »

Hmmm, wait til Roy gets ahold of that!!

skeaterbait · « **Reply #2 on:** March 29, 2018, 05:15:38 PM »

Quote from: kennym on March 29, 2018, 05:13:12 PM

Hmmm, wait til Roy gets ahold of that!!

Carp, I didn’t think that one through

Bvas · « **Reply #3 on:** March 29, 2018, 05:59:24 PM »

That may be tooo easy. Even for Roy.

How do you intend to create vacuum?
Wood hardner has a high percentage of acetone. Not something you wanna suck thru an electrical device.

skeaterbait · « **Reply #4 on:** March 29, 2018, 06:14:48 PM »

Quote from: Bvas on March 29, 2018, 05:59:24 PM

That may be tooo easy. Even for Roy.

How do you intend to create vacuum?
Wood hardner has a high percentage of acetone. Not something you wanna suck thru an electrical device.

Good to know. Maybe I won't try using that.

monterey · « **Reply #5 on:** March 29, 2018, 08:46:52 PM »

I've read how some knife makers do it by immersing scales in a jar of wood hardener and warming it in a double boiler technique. When it's hot they screw a cap on tight and the hardener is forced into the wood as it cools. The jar needs to be plumb full with no air in it.

If they are small pieces you can get a pretty good penetration just by covering the wood and weighting it down for a couple hours.

I once "footed" some cedar shafts by standing about four inches of them in hardener for a couple hours. It toughened them considerably.

goobersan · « **Reply #6 on:** April 07, 2018, 11:18:28 AM »

I've looked into this in the past. Most used a vacuum pump and an oven to activate the resin. I think that's the best system as the resin not used can remain in the container until the next piece. much less waste. The tubes are easy enough to build, vacuum system can be costly. You could mail the supplies to me (I have vac. pumps) and I'll do the rest

skeaterbait · « **Reply #7 on:** April 07, 2018, 04:28:50 PM »

Tempting

I found a vac pump and 4 gallon chamber on that list place for $75 and I made a tall chamber for longer pieces from some PVC I had laying around. Of course now my play money is gone and I have no money for resin

LOL, life does have it's trials

Tim Finley · « **Reply #8 on:** April 08, 2018, 06:20:58 PM »

When you first turn on the pump the resin will foam up considerably and if you are not watching to open the valve a little it will be sucked into the pump and you are done . So if you use a pvc pipe you need one that is clear to watch the level of the resin as it foams , you have to open and close the valve over and over for about 5 minutes till the air is out of the chamber and the resin will settle down and stop foaming , you can then have the valve closed till your vacuum process is over which can sometimes be 24 hours more or less . I've never used wood hardener but I've stabilized a lot of riser wood using acrylic resin .

skeaterbait · « **Reply #9 on:** April 08, 2018, 07:12:51 PM »

Acrylic resin... is that what Cactus Juice is?

I have a clear lid so I can keep an eye on the foam. I also made the chamber a lot taller than the wood I will be putting in it, a'cuz I have a tendency to get distracted.

Tim Finley · « **Reply #10 on:** April 13, 2018, 10:56:57 AM »

My chamber is 42" and it will foam up in about 3 seconds the first time and faster after that. You had better not get distracted or your pump will be shot !!!

Robertfishes · « **Reply #11 on:** April 13, 2018, 11:53:43 AM »

Tim, you can put a vacuum trap between the pump and the chamber..any fluids will drop into the flask/trap before it gets to your vacuum pump.

Tim Finley · « **Reply #12 on:** April 14, 2018, 09:35:58 PM »

They foam a lot and it would run over for quite some time I only cover my wood with bout 3 or 4 inches of acrylic so I need all there is in the chamber, it may suck all of that in when I give it the air. Its not a big deal to sit for 5 minutes and manually run the valve on and off .

Crooked Stic · « **Reply #13 on:** April 15, 2018, 07:27:36 AM »

When I first did the cactus juice I got resin in my pump and sheared the plastic drive coupling
. I had to tear the pump down and clean and bead blast all the parts to clean them. Now I have a second catch chamber to prevent resin in the pump. A 1/2 clear lexan lid to watch the resin until it settles down and the valve can be left open on its own.

C. Johnson · « **Reply #14 on:** April 15, 2018, 11:42:08 AM »

I have a vacuum pump like what is used in the HVAC trade to draw a vacuum on an AC system. Would this type of pump work?

skeaterbait · « **Reply #15 on:** April 15, 2018, 01:20:22 PM »

Yep, that's the type of pump typically sold with the chambers.

Crooked Stic · « **Reply #16 on:** April 15, 2018, 05:29:47 PM »

You can find them on the big auction site. Same as used in the AC trade.

monterey · « **Reply #17 on:** April 15, 2018, 09:21:43 PM »

How about rigging a bicycle pump to function in reverse.

Crooked Stic · « **Reply #18 on:** April 16, 2018, 07:14:58 AM »

You want air out not in. Then when vacuum is released 14.7 AP will push in resin.

Shredd · « **Reply #19 on:** April 16, 2018, 08:59:16 AM »

A friend on another forum used a brake bleeder pump... Said it worked good...

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Author Topic: Stabilizing wood (Read 3648 times)

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