Woo hoo! Let the stabilization begin :)

[Dan Hintz]

Vacuum pump came in yesterday (a Gast 0823-V131Q-SG608X, good for 27"Hg and 8 CFM... will double as my lathe pump, too), sent in a PO to Henkel for some Resinol 90C, and just ordered a vacuum chamber.

I have thousands of blanks that are in need of stabilization, so time to pull out the dyes and start playing.

 

[Dick Mahany]

Dan, you're going to have a blast! I just started turning pens and discovered stabilization. I used my Gast 0523 oil less rotary vane pump from my vacuum chuck and it worked Just fine. I made a vacuum chamber from 0.5" polycarbonate and it worked great. I can pull 27" max and have salvaged some real punky, but gorgeous burl wood with Mesquite Man's cactus juice.

Have fun! This can be addicting:wink:

 

[NewLondon88]

I made a vacuum chamber from 0.5" polycarbonate and it worked great.

Be careful with that.. .5" might not be thick enough for heavy vacuum.

 

[Charlie_W]

Fun Stuff Dan,
You should have all of then done in about 3.8 years! Then I will send you some to stabilize. You should have it down by then!!:biggrin:

 

[robutacion]

Vacuum pump came in yesterday (a Gast 0823-V131Q-SG608X, good for 27"Hg and 8 CFM... will double as my lathe pump, too), sent in a PO to Henkel for some Resinol 90C, and just ordered a vacuum chamber.

I have thousands of blanks that are in need of stabilization, so time to pull out the dyes and start playing.

Hummmm, where did I hear this before...??? sound horribly familiar...!:wink::biggrin:

With all honesty, I could use 1 gallon every day for the next 365 days on all the blanks I have ready for it already, and I would still have lots wood to stabilise after that, as I will be cutting a lot more in that time so, I will be a customer to the wood hardener chemicals/products, for some time to come, well I damn hope so...!:wink:

Good luck...!

Cheers
George

 

[Dan Hintz]

With all honesty, I could use 1 gallon every day for the next 365 days on all the blanks I have ready for it already, and I would still have lots wood to stabilise after that, as I will be cutting a lot more in that time so, I will be a customer to the wood hardener chemicals/products, for some time to come, well I damn hope so...!

George,

During a blank cutting session a couple of years ago, everyone (including myself) was interested in bowl blank sizes... but everyone else was tossing the surrounding wood. Not me, I grabbed every last inch of it and threw it in the car. Some of the most heavily spalted / ambrosia Maple you've ever seen. I spent weeks cutting it all up into square lengths, from 1" for pens to 5" for salt/pepper shakers and other small vases. About half is solid enough to turn on its own, the remaining stuff could use stabilization to ensure it holds together under an aggressive tool.

Of course, mixed in with that is a bunch of Walnut, Apple, a boatload of Cherry from a neighbor's tree that was blown over during a storm, and smaller amount of various other domestics.



I'm going to have some fun... if I can get it all together in time, I'll bring a few choice pieces to the next meeting, Charlie

 

[mikespenturningz]

Hey Dan,

Don't forget to try your hand at dying along with that stabilization it is great fun and you never really know what you are going to get until after you cook it up. That is if you are using Cactus Juice as far as the cooking goes. I have not tried any other type of stabilization other than Cactus Juice.

 

[PaulDoug]

Could a person stabilize a pretty good size bowl blank or would you have to stabilize it in steps? Stabilize, turn some , then stabilize some more. etc.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Could a person stabilize a pretty good size bowl blank or would you have to stabilize it in steps? Stabilize, turn some , then stabilize some more. etc.

I have done a bowl blank 7.23"x7,25"x3.5" and got complete penetration using dyed resin. That said, I would not do it that way again. I would rough turn the bowl and then let it dry as normal. Then stabilize and finish turning. No use wasting resin on the part you turn away!

 

[robutacion]

Could a person stabilize a pretty good size bowl blank or would you have to stabilize it in steps? Stabilize, turn some , then stabilize some more. etc.

I have done a bowl blank 7.23"x7,25"x3.5" and got complete penetration using dyed resin. That said, I would not do it that way again. I would rough turn the bowl and then let it dry as normal. Then stabilize and finish turning. No use wasting resin on the part you turn away!

I agree, even if the blank is totally dry and you don't have a Bowl Corer, I would suggest to remove as much wood as possible before it is stabilized, saving considerable amount of juice and time as penetration will be faster if not in a big block type blank.

However, there are those blanks that have beautiful wood that is either heavily spalted and soft or have areas of almost beautiful but unworkable panky patches, in this case, there is no other way to make the blank workable without full stabilization of the full block/blank, it may be a little costly but if the wood is that beautiful, it is worth it, in my books...!

Cheers
George

 

[Dan Hintz]

Don't forget to try your hand at dying along with that stabilization...

Way ahead of you, Mike... I grabbed some basic transparent dyes and a boxload of Pearl-Ex pigments when I ordered some Silmar, but it should work with the Resinol that's now on order. It can't get here soon enough, however, as I started cutting up some Red Gum burl that was breaking into 6-12" chunks due to the voids... stabilized / dyed, that stuff is going to look even better.

 

[stonepecker]

PICTURES !!!!!!

We want to see what is going on. We are so thinking of getting into stabilizing but we need more information.

While it looks simple enough......we know better then that. Talk about the drawback if you will for us newbies.

Thank you.

 

[Dan Hintz]

I can give you pictures of box after box of blanks awaiting stabilization, but nothing stabilized so far... I'm hoping Henkel has already shipped my Resinol order.

Last night I tried to add some copper accents to a slimline and the blanks blew up during drilling... ripped the copper right out of there, so I need to use different tools. It should keep me busy until the rest of the stuff comes in.

 

[NewLondon88]

Last night I tried to add some copper accents to a slimline and the blanks blew up during drilling... ripped the copper right out of there, so I need to use different tools. It should keep me busy until the rest of the stuff comes in.

Drilling with metal in the blank is tricky because of the heat and glue.
You might never notice how hot the blank gets while drilling unless you
pull the bit out and touch it. If you can't keep your hand on it, you
might have melted the adhesive and parts are gonna fly. Same goes
for turning.

Wrapping the blank in twine can help too.

 

[Dan Hintz]

I was pushing my schedule and used the brad point bit that was already in the chuck...should have pulled it out and used a jobber. It cut through the first three pieces, but the last two were completed yanked out and traveled up the entry hole with the bit's flutes. I know better for next time. I need to find a good but not too expensive set of metric and standard bits in 0.5mm and 1/64th inch sizes.

 

[mikespenturningz]

You may be better off with casting to fill voids? I use stabilization and dye to take a piece of unstable wood like spalted maple or buckeye burl. If I wanted to fill voids I would use Alumilite and perlex mica powder and dyes then pressure to push the acrylic into those voids. I would think that a gum wood would not need stabilization but I have not worked much with them.

 

[Dan Hintz]

Resinol came in yesterday. My chamber should be in today.