Preferences for Stabilizing

[jkoehler]

Hi,
My name is Jeff and I am addicted to turning pens.[]

I have been turning pens for almost a year now and I am having a heck of a good timme doing it.
I just have to get past the gift part and start selling them.

My question is...
I am going to start trying to stabilize wood. i have built my unit and i am now wonder what is the best agent to use. what are the pluses and minuses of each, etc.

I am thinking of starting with polyurethane as it doesnt seem too complicated to get started.

thank you in advance for your input.

 

[RussFairfield]

I never got past a 50/50 mix of Elmer's Glue and water. This stabilizes the wood to turn the pen; and after a liberal application of thin CA glue during the final sanding, it is as good as any commercial stabilizing I have used.

Sometimes I switch to Titebond if I want to give the wood an amber coloring.

 

[Old Griz]

Russ are you using this mixture in a vacuum system or just soaking the blanks... and how long does it take to dry...

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Not speaking for Russ... IMOF I'll bet I got this technique from Russ.

I have tired Elmers gule on small hollow forms. I just let the wood soak in a covered bowl for a week and then let it dry for a week. No Vacuum. It works.

 

[smoky10]

Jeff,I have used thinned poly, acetone and plexiglass, and rotted wood hardner by bondo. They all do a pretty good job but I like acetone and plexi the best. It seemed to penetrate better and faster for me. It also takes longer to prepare because the plexi disolves fairly slow. I'm no expert at this and I know others have differing opinions. I guess you just have to find the method thats best for you.

 

[DWK5150]

Has anyone ever tried using Minwax wood hardner at all to stabilize with???

 

[rickkop]

Just getting into this myself. Anyone ever used pentacryl or polycryl?

 

[alamocdc]

Don, I've heard someone say that Minwax wood hardener is what they used, but I can't remember who. I was going to try it, but can't find it locally and don't want to pay the shipping charges. Rick, I've heard others mention using pentacryl and polycryl. Like Smoky Tom, I've tried polyurethane, but prefer plexi and acetone. Although I'm always experimenting.

 

[DWK5150]

Billy, I thought I had seen that also someplace before but I cant find it again.

 

[Fangar]

I've had good experience with the Polyvacuum method. It really helps wih the Super Spalts like this one:

Fangar

 

[rlh]

Originally posted by alamocdc
<br />Don, I've heard someone say that Minwax wood hardener is what they used, but I can't remember who. I was going to try it, but can't find it locally and don't want to pay the shipping charges. Rick, I've heard others mention using pentacryl and polycryl. Like Smoky Tom, I've tried polyurethane, but prefer plexi and acetone. Although I'm always experimenting.

Billy
I mentioned that I was trying MinWax Wood Hardener. I used it on a few blanks. It improved the turning qualities of the blanks I used but not nearly as well as the blanks I have had commercialy stabilized.

 

[rlh]

Originally posted by Fangar
<br />I've had good experience with the Polyvacuum method. It really helps wih the Super Spalts like this one:

Fangar

Great looking pen!!! Super finish!![][]
What kind of wood is that? What did you use as a finish?

 

[Fangar]

Thanks Richard. That is a piece of Super Spalted maple. Cross cut across the grain. It is really neat stuff, but un-stabilizied feels like balsa wood. The finish is CA.

Fangar

 

[angboy]

What is the PolyVacuum method? I tried a search on here and couldn't find it mentioned anywhere (except this thread). Can someone explain it? Thanks!

 

[Fangar]

Here is a link:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=6174&SearchTerms=stabilization

James

 

[Fangar]

The photo of the setup is gone, but you will get the idea.

James