How long to cook

[mikespenturningz]

I vacuumed these blanks for about 1 hour. I have been cooking these blanks since 9pm and they are still just damp with Cactus Juice but it is slightly tacky? I put a thermometer in the oven and it may have been slightly below 200 degrees I turned up the heat just a bit to get it so it doesn't go below 200 degrees. Is it OK if it goes to 225 it seems to cycle between 225 and 200 so it must have been cycling between maybe 180 and 205 before?

 

[MesquiteMan]

If I recall correctly, you bought a setup from someone on here, correct? I assume it came with some Juice. If so, then your Juice is most likely old and past its 6 month shelf life. If you are getting tacky, then then is almost certainly the case. For pen blanks, 200° F for a couple of hours will do the job every time and will harden completely every time. There is no in between. On good juice that is within its shelf life, it will either be liquid or hard. Much less than 200° and it will not harden at all. The actual cure temp range is 177°-204° F so you should have been fine.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Also, if you have taken them out of the oven and allowed them to cool down after 1 hour before you checked them and they are still "wet", then go ahead and toss them. Once you have interrupted the polymerization process, putting them back in the oven will not do much and will not cause them to properly polymerize. It is best to put on some leather gloves when you want to check to see if they are done. Pull them out of the oven and peel back some foil while they are still hot. If you see cured Juice, then you are good to go. If you see any liquid, wrap them back up and immediately put them back in the oven for another hour without letting them cool down at all.

 

[mikespenturningz]

Thanks Curtis. I am getting it better now. BTW the serial number on the one that I purchased is 001 made in 03/11 I am waiting on more cactus juice and sent you an email I would like to change my mind and get a gallon instead of the 32 oz size. I would have already used that much! Can this be done?