bottle stopper blanks

[airrat]

I was just given some bottle stopper blanks. Burls and such, most of them are starting to get the little cracks around the "eyes". I want to make sure they don't crack beyond use.

Would it be better to stabilize them or put them in the pressure pot with a resin and fill the cracks. (some have cracked and would like to save them)

Thanks for any help.

 

[alamocdc]

Tom, I'd send them to RiverRidge for stabilization.

 

[Fred]

In a bit of an effort to save some funds for more wood, try "pre-turning" to reduce the wood that needs to be stabilized. Since there is less wood to take the stabilization resins, your costs will be reduced a bit. The stabilization processors usually charge for the amount of weight gained during the process. RiverEdge is one of the better reported stabilization sources to use. Just don't turn all the way down to a finished size, thus allowing yourself a bit of finishing to do when the pieces come back from being stabilized.

I always pre-turn and pre-drill everything before I send out for stabilizing. Then finish turning and polishing sfter I get my blanks back.

http://www.stabilizedwood.com/info.shtml - EXCELLENT SOURCE
http://www.galleryhardwoods.com/ - Good Info

Something else you can try which is gaining in popularity with us wood workers is BOILING. Read the information here and see what it might do for you... Harbor Freight often has their "cooking pots" on sale. ALWAYS print out the on-line pricing from HF and present the store with the print-ou. They have always matched the on-line prices for me.

http://www.exoticwoodworld.com/boilingwood.html.

IMHO I have successfully boiled many items and found the stress relief in the wood to be a great 'tool' to try and avoid checks and cracking, etc. Rule of thumb here is one inch of wood = one hour of boiling.

Maybe these wil give you a bit more insight to your woods cracking as they dry. []
http://www.exoticwoodworld.com/boilingwood.html

 

[airrat]

Yeah Bill I was thinking of them, just the cost was keeping me away.

Thanks Fred good information.

 

[SteveRussell]

Hello Tom,

If you're interested in trying boiling with green wood in the future, I can help you as I developed the original woodturning protocol. My boiling protocol is used throughout the world today, by thousands and thousands of woodturners and lots of large commercial companies as well. Here are a few links off my website to get you started:

http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/boiling.html

http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/boiling-protocol.html

If your blanks have reached EMC, you can pressure inject a stabilizing resin to help stabilize the pieces. However, the process typically involves a vacuum cycle, followed by a pressure cycle to get the best results. There are several stabilizing products you can use, some are very expensive and difficult to work with.

Are your stopper blanks seasoned (reached EMC), or do they still have a high moisture content? If you only have a few blanks, something like Minwax Wood Hardener might work for you. If you have a large amount of blanks, a commercial company might be a viable option.

If you're already setup with a vacuum/pressure pot now, you can easily do your own stabilization. If you can give us and idea of the quantity of blanks you have and your current setup, we can offer more specific assistance. Take care and all the best to you and yours!

 

[MesquiteMan]

Tom,

I have done a lot of pen blanks and even some bowl blanks with resin to fill cracks. I use Alumilite but I woudl guess PR would work also. I make a mold out of cardboard and tape that is a little bigger and deeper than the piece I am trying to fix. I then pour resin in to completely submerge the piece and put it in my pressure pot. I pressurize to 70 psi and let it cure. It gets 100% of the larger cracks and voids and about 95% of the smallest. I plan to write up a little something one of these days. Here is a pen I made with this process. The copper colored swirl towards the right is the resin filled void/crack. If you need more detailed help, shoot me a pm or give me a call. My number is 512-738-0775.

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[airrat]

Thanks Steve and Curtis.

I did stabilize a couple (test) with epoxy thined down with Acetone. I have some minwax now and will try a couple.

I got my pressure pot up and running finally and ordered some alumilite. should be getting it today. I do want to try your idea to fill the cracks Curtis. I still need to order some colors/pearl(whatever its called). I got a couple of their colors to try.