First time stabilizing

[skyegod]

Greetings all,
First time using cactus juice, and not sure that I am doing it right.
I vacuum it until I get no bubbles, leave it under vacuum for an hour or so, and then I release the vacuum and let the burl sit overnight for 24 hours.
Take it out of the juice and dab the excess. Wrap in foil, and stick in the oven at 200ish for a few hours.

I think that up to this point, everything is according to spec.

After I unwrapped the wood, there is a great deal of resin dried up on the outside of the burl.

Is this normal, and what is the best way to remove it so that I can cast it in alumalite?

Thank you.

 

[stuckinohio]

Unfortunately it's probably too late for this piece of wood to be cast. With blanks that have irregular surfaces like worthless wood or something that will be cast in resin, you can not wrap the piece in foil.

You have to get the excess off then bake without wrapping. I usually put the rough edge upside down also because I dont want the cactus juice in the nooks and crannies.

 

[robutacion]

Greetings all,
First time using cactus juice, and not sure that I am doing it right.
I vacuum it until I get no bubbles, leave it under vacuum for an hour or so, and then I release the vacuum and let the burl sit overnight for 24 hours.
Take it out of the juice and dab the excess. Wrap in foil, and stick in the oven at 200ish for a few hours.

I think that up to this point, everything is according to spec.

After I unwrapped the wood, there is a great deal of resin dried up on the outside of the burl.

Is this normal, and what is the best way to remove it so that I can cast it in alumalite?

Thank you.

Yes, stuckinohio is correct...!

A mesh and dripping tray inside the oven is a must for woods that will be cast afterwards.

I see lots excess dried/cooked juice and I wonder, if the wood was moisture free. I seem to see little holes on the excess fry resin, this normally means moisture bubbling its way out of the wood and if this is correct, it will mean also that the wood is not fully stabilized as moisture will push out the juice as it sets/cures.

Moisture is the worse enemy of stabilization/Cactus Juice and unless you put the wood in an oven for a couple of days at about 60° Celsius and make sure the wood is in the vacuum pot and submerged in Cactus Juice before the wood cools down totally (just warm is good), air moisture will get into the wood, otherwise...! This is to me, the most important preparation step.

I'm making some "assumptions" based on what I see, please correct me if I'm wrong...!

Cheers
George

 

[mike4066]

Been there.. Done that..

Check the FAQ on turntex.com, this exact situation is one of his FAQ questions. https://www.turntex.com/help-center/questions-and-answers/stabilizing-with-cactus-juice


Here is the FAQ post from his site copy/pasted... hope he doesn't mind.

Hi ! I'm trying to stabilize some nice maple burl with natural edge to cast in alumilite after. But after all the vacuum chamber and the oven treatment at 200 degrees, my blanks come out stabilize but with soo much crystalize resin in all the voids of the burl and they are quite messy. What should i try to prevent all the excess cactus juice from doing such a mess ? I hope i can express myself clear enough



There are two main things that cause excess bleed out when stabilizing: wood that is not dry and cure temperature that is too high.

First, make sure your wood is at 0% moisture. The way to do this is to cook the wood at 220° F for a minimum of 24 hours. Then take the wood out of the oven and immediately place it in air tight containers or ziplock bag until it is cool enough to stabilize. Second, make sure your oven temperature is 190-200° F when curing your blanks. Do not trust the dial on the oven. Use a separate oven thermometer inside the oven (note, a meat thermometer is NOT an oven thermometer).

If you are going to cast your stabilized blanks, cure them without wrapping them in foil. Foil does nothing to keep the resin in the wood. The primary reason for using foil is to contain the bleed out so you don't get the mess in the oven and to allow you to stack your blanks together without having them glued together when cured.

When you plan to cast the blanks, you can use a drip pan under the blanks to catch the bleed out. I like to use bamboo skewers under the blanks to raise them up off the bottom of the drip pan. Orient the blanks so that any areas that are likely to pool up with the resin as it bleeds out are facing down. That way the bleed out will drip away from the blanks and you will have little clean up. Make sure your blanks are not touching each other when using this method. If they are touching, they will glue together and you will not be able to easily get them apart.

 

[skyegod]

Thank you for help and answers. I am pretty sure that the wood was dry, but I will try pre baking it in the future. I do have a oven thermometer inside the oven, and will definitely just line the baking tray work foil and let it drip out. I have 3 very large burls, so plenty to experiment with.

 

[robutacion]

Thank you for help and answers. I am pretty sure that the wood was dry, but I will try pre baking it in the future. I do have a oven thermometer inside the oven, and will definitely just line the baking tray work foil and let it drip out. I have 3 very large burls, so plenty to experiment with.

Lucky you...!:biggrin:

Any pics...?

Cheers
George

 

[jcgolov]

Thank you for this information.