To buy stabilized or not?

[moke]

I am confused. When do I need to buy stabilized or unstabilized blanks. I have searched around the site to find a thread, but have been unsuccessful so far. I am sure this is a very simple question, and for that I apologize.

I have noticed some vendors on ebay and similar sites with some striking blanks and wonder if I should buy them if they are not stabilized. What is the criteria? If there are some threads I missed that pertain, could someone point them out?

I certainly will continue to buy from the regular sites, but sometimes there are some awesome blanks in strange places and I wondered. I am not really an ebay kind of guy, so maybe I shouldn't become one? This site contains amazing expertise and experience, I thought I might ask for some advice.
Thank you......
Mike

 

[shull]

As a general rule of thumb...the more porous, soft or rotted a piece of wood is the more it needs to be "stabilized". You can do this with CA or casting. The answer to your question lies in your abilities to apply either of these methods.

Check out
http://content.penturners.org/articles/2007/worthlesswoodblanks.pdf

 

[ed4copies]

I usually decide it should be stabilized about 3 seconds after the small pieces fly off the lathe.

That is the true test. If you get a pen, your method worked.

Now, if you are using a blank and you see trouble coming, thin CA can stabilize it too. The fumes can be acrid. But, it will harden the wood.

Or you can use our resins, they are "pre stabilized"

 

[mick]

I see a lot of vendors on eBay offering blanks that in my never humble opinion don't need stabilizing(easy guys and gals I'm not talking bout any of y'all).Yes as Steve anything punky, porous or pithy needs to be stabilized. That's easily done with CA as you turn. Some of the more unstable burls also benefit from stabilization but on the reverse side of the coin a piece of curly maple doesn't......however before I offend anyone selling dyed AND stabilized curly maple. I think stabilization does benefit a dyed blank by help hold the colorant better...again just my opinion, buy hey we all got em! :biggrin:

 

[ed4copies]

To help interpret what Mike said:

Use acrylics and imported resins!!!

 

[Constant Laubscher]

I have stabilized about 15000 lbs of wood in the last 10 months and yes not all wood need stabilizing to make a good pen. If the wood is well stabilized it is all worth it.
When using CA on very porous woods it soaks in and works well but with more dense woods Ca does not stabilize the wood and is more like a surface treatment.
With stabilized wood you can get a weight increase of up to 300% and that all depends on the type and density of the wood. Also if different woods are stabilized together the resin will take the path of least resistance - less resin will go into the dense woods.

I use 3000 PSI to 5000 PSI with a combo of vacuum with great results.

 

[chriselle]

Personally, I think using unstabilized wood is a crap shoot. I just don't bother anymore with natural woods unless I know they are a "safe" species to use. And by safe I mean how much they move. Wood movement in the extremely variable humidity I live in is my biggest trouble.

 

[mick]

Personally, I think using unstabilized wood is a crap shoot. I just don't bother anymore with natural woods unless I know they are a "safe" species to use. And by safe I mean how much they move. Wood movement in the extremely variable humidity I live in is my biggest trouble.

Chris, I will to amend my statement to included the use of stabilized woods for conditions such as yours....I wasn't considering finished product jusT raw materials. :redface:

 

[johnjr]

In my (very limited) experience, I found that it was easier to get a finish I was happy with on a stabilized blank. I also really just liked the security of knowing that if I screwed up a beautiful blank it was my mistake and not just a weak spot somewhere.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Good responses all, but probably still leaving you a bit confused.
Do accept the soft and punky wood advice, those generally benefit greatly from being stabled.
I'll depart slightly from what Mick said about the maples and such. I find maple, and some other woods, take stabilizing very well and look great after turning. IMHO, a Big Leaf Maple Burl that has been stabilized makes one of the prettiest pens possible. It may be hard and turn well but the stable gives it that extra "pop". Mostly I stable soft and spalted stuff.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Have to add: I'm always taken back when someone talks about "buying" wood pen blanks. I know folks buy blanks, I sell blanks now and then. But I go after wood and mill my own blanks, often leaving me with extras. Developing the fine art of 'scrounging' wood is fun and a great adjunct to actually making stuff.

 

[moke]

Thanks to all for the information---I knew my new friends would know!