MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
See this thread on vac vs pressure vs just soaking: http://www.penturners.org/forum/f43/can-you-stabilize-blanks-without-vacuum-test-results-91355/
First shot at stabilizing wood.
- Thread starter mikespenturningz
- Start date
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
mikespenturningz
Member
Ok so I have 8 spalted maple blanks in now after they are done with vacuum I am going to let them sit over night and then cook them tomorrow evening and see what happens.
I just drilled and glued the redwood blank and you could smell the Cactus Juice in the cuttings that were in the drill. It was also very fine dust..
I just drilled and glued the redwood blank and you could smell the Cactus Juice in the cuttings that were in the drill. It was also very fine dust..
Last edited:
MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
Mike,
If you are using one of my chambers, please don't let your blanks sit in the chamber any longer than necessary and be sure to wash it out with soap and water after every use. Cactus Juice is similar chemically to the acrylic used in the chamber construction and with prolonged contact, will cause a slimy film to develop inside the chamber that is near impossible to get out. If you want to soak them, take them out and put them in a big ziplock bag, then pour the excess juice in there and close them up. Either that or use another container.
The physics of what is going on, however, does not indicate that a prolonged soak will be of any significant benefit. I have done testing with prolonged soaks and did not find enough benefit to warrant the extra time. It needs to soak long enough for the pressures to equalize and that is it. Usually 30-45 minutes is plenty.
If you are using one of my chambers, please don't let your blanks sit in the chamber any longer than necessary and be sure to wash it out with soap and water after every use. Cactus Juice is similar chemically to the acrylic used in the chamber construction and with prolonged contact, will cause a slimy film to develop inside the chamber that is near impossible to get out. If you want to soak them, take them out and put them in a big ziplock bag, then pour the excess juice in there and close them up. Either that or use another container.
The physics of what is going on, however, does not indicate that a prolonged soak will be of any significant benefit. I have done testing with prolonged soaks and did not find enough benefit to warrant the extra time. It needs to soak long enough for the pressures to equalize and that is it. Usually 30-45 minutes is plenty.
edstreet
Member
No it's not rocket science by no means. Redwood is stupidly easy to stabilize and should not be the major concern that is going around. Nor should the major focus on pulling a vacuum but that is what things devolve into.
If people want to believe that pulling a vacuum and throwing in one chemical is stabilizing then by all rights believe that but the truth remains obscure to this crowd. I am going to unsub to this thread and this will be my last post. It is very clear that the various subject matters discussed in a few phone calls I made today has never been brought up or even considered, nor will I be the one to bring them up. Even the small bits that I did bring up leads to serious hostility and this is not the board for this.
Bigj51
Member
What the heck is Ed even talking about? I bet he still thinks the earth is flat and would argue that point too. Using vacuum and or pressure with cactus juice does stabilize wood.
mikespenturningz
Member
Hi Ed, I am new and still learning how to stabilize. I am sure that your method is also very good and I will probably get to it eventually. Right now I am invested in this method and am only into my 2nd try at it.
mikespenturningz
Member
Ok I put the blanks into the oven after 1 hour of soaking. They are very heavy compared to when they went in. My pressure chamber came to night so I will start getting that ready. I managed to make an exhaust fan setup tonight after I filled my cellar with a nice haze. I am going to go and clean my vacuum chamber and yes it is one of your Curtis. I just purchased it used.
MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
What did the haze come from?
mikespenturningz
Member
Running my vacuum pump in the basement. I have put in an exhaust fan tonight so this shouldn't happen again. I knew it was going to happen.
The spalted maple that I did tonight came out really good I think. It is much heavier than when it went in.
I washed out my chamber with soap and water as suggested. It was slimy that was for sure but I cleaned all of it out. I am going to try redwood again tomorrow. This is so much fun.
Nick
Member
Curtis makes every effort to make sure those who have his equipment know how to properly operate it and makes himself available to answer any questions you have.
MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
Sounds to me that Ed is calling me a liar since I promote the vacuum method! That is quite unfortunate. I have sent him a PM asking for clarification but have not received a reply. I guess I tried!
The fact is, using vacuum with a good resin does exactly what I claim it will do. I guess there could be different definitions of stabilizing so maybe that is what is causing this. I don't know but I do know that I can take a piece of wood that is so punky it would be IMPOSSIBLE to drill, let alone turn, and make it hard enough to turn it into a beautiful pen, duck call, or knife! That is my definition of stabilizing!
MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
That is what I figured! If you get seriously into this, I would suggest upgrading to a good quality American made pump. My JB pump does not put out any haze.
If you end up with slime that is hard to get out, you can successfully use a soft scotchbrite pad. As a matter of fact, I use one every time I wash out my chamber. It helps get it cleaner and I have not seen any scratches from it.
MesquiteMan
Retired Head Moderator
And, btw Mike, feel free to give me a call if you have any questions or need any tips. I am always willing to help when I can.
Bigj51
Member
Curtis do you have the cactus juice on hand right now? I need to order 2-3 gallons if you do.
Get used to it, it seems to be a theme as of late.
mikespenturningz
Member
The maple blanks came out great. Just like on the videos. I had to knock off the cooked CJ and all is well. I cannot wait to get some images of a few of them and get them up here. I will try to do that tomorrow night.
I'm on my 3rd batch of all different stuff and everything works as advertised. I use a simple fridge compressor and have no issue getting 28 in of mm. Cook stuff off at 200 for 8-10 hours and the best blanks you'll every find. Curtis, I sent those pics to the info email address of my plumbing set up with the fridge compressor. Keep it up Mike...sounds like you've it made!!
mikespenturningz
Member
Why do you cook it so long? I have been cooking for 2 hours last night and 3 the night before. I think it took longer the night before because my toaster oven was just a bit cool of the 200 degrees necessary. I put a thermometer in it and turned it up just a bit and that helped.I know that Curtis's video says 45 min to an hour or so? I am going to give redwood a try again tonight but I am going to let it vacuum for a lot longer than the first batch.
mikespenturningz
Member
OK big night tonight. I got my pressure tank all setup. I stabilized several blanks with some blue and white dye and then put them in the tank under 50 psi for an hour and a half. I know that isn't much time but we will have to see what happened. I also cut up bunches of really nice spalted maple. I will put that in the oven tomorrow night and dry it out.
Here are the results of both with and without pressure. Now these are not in any way scientific. They are different blanks for each but t does give some indication and completely holds with Curtis's findings.
The first figure is vacuum only the second is vacuum and pressure.
Redwood: 1.1 / 1.6
Claro Walnut: 1.7 / 2.3
Spalted Maple: 2.3 / 2.6
Now these are different blanks but they are pretty close to being the same thing.
Here are the results of both with and without pressure. Now these are not in any way scientific. They are different blanks for each but t does give some indication and completely holds with Curtis's findings.
The first figure is vacuum only the second is vacuum and pressure.
Redwood: 1.1 / 1.6
Claro Walnut: 1.7 / 2.3
Spalted Maple: 2.3 / 2.6
Now these are different blanks but they are pretty close to being the same thing.
Last edited:
BangleGuy
Member
Holy Smokes Guys... This thread is on fire
I will only say that the cactus juice is an awesome product and I have used about 3 gallons so far this year. I stabilize to make sure that my bangle products will be resistant to moisture absorption and that the wood growth/shrink is minimized. Here is a chart showing the positive effects of stabilizing for moisture absorption;
I will only say that the cactus juice is an awesome product and I have used about 3 gallons so far this year. I stabilize to make sure that my bangle products will be resistant to moisture absorption and that the wood growth/shrink is minimized. Here is a chart showing the positive effects of stabilizing for moisture absorption;
Attachments
mikespenturningz
Member
That is some great information Eric. I didn't think of the effects on moisture which is also a concern with pens although probably not as much as your bangles. I checked out your Etsy site, very nice.