Stabilized Bethlehem Olive Wood in black titanium Clicker

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
See more from edstreet

edstreet

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
3,684
Location
No longer confused....
Stabilized by WSSI.

No CA on this one.

IMG_8226.JPG


1:1 macro
1-1_1IMG_8228.jpg


1:1.2 macro
1-1_2-IMG_8229.jpg


1:1.5 macro
1-1_5IMG_8230.jpg


1:2 macro
IMG_8231.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_8225.jpg
    IMG_8225.jpg
    29.1 KB · Views: 243
  • IMG_8242.jpg
    IMG_8242.jpg
    35.6 KB · Views: 220
  • IMG_8241.jpg
    IMG_8241.jpg
    15.2 KB · Views: 207

robutacion

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
6,514
Location
Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
Great piece of Olive wood...!

Excuse my ignorance but, what does WSSI stands for...???

Very good close ups there, and as always they are great to show everything, even the stuff we can't see with the open eye, and that brings me to the next question, what that white stuff, stuck in the wood porous...???

No CA you said so, I assume that is the sanding dust from the plastic stabilising material, right...???

Olive wood is well know to don't cast and stabilise very well due to the natural oils in the wood and while, stabilising this dense wood is not really a necessity but more an "option", for casting the issue is quite different.

One of the big advantages of having a stabilisation system is that, you can use it to prepare the Olive wood for both stabilisation and/or casting. The process has been tried long ago by a friend that has a stabilisation system and that I send him some Olive wood for him to process, as per my instructions.

The instructions were very simple indeed, put the wood in the stabilisation chamber, and cover it with acetone, proceed with the same steps as per stabilisation using a wood stabiliser solution. The result is simple, the acetone is forced into the wood cells, pushing/washing the wood oils out and "cleansing" the wood thoroughly, the wood is put to dry for a day in a well ventilated place, out of the sun and the wood is ready for stabilising or casting with the best results possible.

The only "warning" that I gave him was, "keep the wood well away from any open flames...!":eek:

I done this to test the efficiency of the process to remove the wood oils that were playing havoc with my PR casting, and while I didn't have the proper stabilisation stuff then, I now have and I will be doing that myself...!

The only advantage I see to stabilise a wood like the Olive wood, is to allow the wood to be shown without any additional coating that will be always affected by the wood oils, sooner or later, unless left "on naturel..!" but that allow the wood to get dirty with time, when being stabilised like the sample from this OP, the wood can keep that natural wood look and feeling and be sealed of any dirt or scratches...!

Something to consider, definitely...!

Cheers
George
 
Last edited:

edstreet

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
3,684
Location
No longer confused....
WSSI, Wood Stabilizing Specialists, Int'l., LLC | processed, dyed, & stabilized woods for manufacturers and artisans , is a professional wood stabilizing company here in the US. They have perfected methods to stabilize just about all types of wood, even olive wood. This is *NOT* a backyard process.

The white stuff is a combo of dust, lint and reflections. I did use Novus and that might be some of that as well after all it is white. Also keep in mind this is 1:1 macro region and every little spec of dirt, dust, imperfection and the like will show up very plain.

...The natural pores of stabilized woods remain open after treatment. Since no finish is necessary and most knifemakers simply sand the wood to 400 or 600 grit, then buff with jewelry polishing compound, some of the compound may be trapped in the open pores of the wood. If this is a problem, stabilized wood can be filled like any other wood by impregnating the open pores with a quick-setting glue and sanding dust from the wood itself. Fred Roe seals the pores with an acrylic before sanding and buffing...

Olive wood does indeed stabilize VERY well if done correctly. I took ONE pass with my round nose scraper and went from a square block to a round block, took about a minute for that pass but it was smooth and even, that to is due to being stabilized, it makes it very good to work with and not lumpy. This particular blank I have had since 2005 and it is from Israel.

Stabilized woods will not soak up water, grain will not raise, wood will not warp/twist, resist cracking checking and shrinking, will not take stain or dye. It is just sand and polish.

Two-part process requires applying acrylic resins to a handle material followed by a curing period. The result is a water-resistant, harder-than-untreated wood that can be machined and drilled, and that can be polished to any finish you'd put on steel, from satin to a high gloss...

Basically it's a blend of monomers and acrylics, placed in a vacuum pot then autoclave.


...You don't have to apply a finish to stabilized woods. You need only sand the work piece with a succession of 100-, 320-, and 400- grit abrasives, and then buff with a compound to bring out a deep sheen. A coat of wax protects the buffed surface...

I went from my scraper to 220 grit paper in strips to 600 grit then 600 grit with novus, then novus with a paper towel then novus with my palms. A good proper polish like this does make the wood feel very silky and unique. From the macro shots I see one line that I did miss and I do not see it with close observation but only under heavy magnification.

So as you can see there are many benefits to real stabilization.

* quotes taken from WSSI's webpage.
 

robutacion

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
6,514
Location
Australia - SA Adelaide Hills
Thank you for the detailed explanation...!

While the name of the stabilising company is familiar to me, I didn't connect the "abbreviations" to it, sorry...!

There is not a single word of yours that I disagree with on your reply, in fact it validates what I was saying about the issue, even tough, one has to remember that, "wood stabilisation" has come a long way these last few years with solutions and methods being perfected due to failure on previous stabilising materials.

I will be using the "Cactus Juice" from Curtis, with my nearly ready stabilising set-up and from what I know and seen, I should be getting as good of a job as any commercial stabilisers, only the "quantities" will vary, dramatically...!

And yes, sometimes putting our own work under a microscope high magnification, does wonders and helps us to correct things that would be unnoticed, otherwise. The white "particles" are maybe not visible with a naked eye but, is not the first time I see people with jewellery magnifiers walking around pen stools in shows or even in stores, as some guys particularly the pen collectors can be very meticulous with the inspection before they accept to make the purchase.

Off-course, no one is saying that everyone should be inspecting their pens under microscope before they put them for sale, that would be ridiculous but, the point is, one can see and learn a lot but using some magnification lens...!

The perception that until recently, a lot of people had about the wood stabilising, calling it, "plasticised wood/plastic wood", is fading away as the system is improving and the results are not so "plasticky", there certainly very important advantages for knife makers, and fishing rod makers, as many other identical uses of the stabilised wood...!

Cheers
George
 
Top Bottom