jeporter02
Member
Trying to understand the science behind this: I had one large piece of cherry burl that I cut into two smaller pieces to stabilize and cast. The first piece I dried in the oven for 24 hours to as near zero water content as I think I could get. I put the hot piece of wood in a Ziploc bag overnight to cool. I submerged it in Cactus Juice and pulled a vaccuum. Bubbling continued in the Cactus Juice for about 12 hours before slowing to a pace that I felt good removing it from vaccuum and then curing it in the oven. About a month later, I took the second piece of the same burl, dried it in the oven for 24 hours. I took it out, weighed it, and it was 380 grams. I put it in for one more hour, and it came out the same weight, so figured I was close to zero water content. I put the warm piece of wood in a Ziploc bag, but it sat there for over a week. When I finally had time to put the dried wood into Cactus Juice, I took it out to weigh to see how much water it had absorbed. Oddly, it weighed 372 grams, so somehow it lost 8 more grams of weight in the Ziploc bag (there was no moisture in the bag). I put the wood in the Cactus Juice and pulled a vaccuum. This time, the second piece of the burl only bubbled for about 3 hours before it nearly stopped bubbling altogether.
So I'm curious: what would have caused the two pieces of wood to require such vastly different times in the vaccuum chamber? They both came from the same burl, both were dried in the oven the same amount of time, but the second piece was in a Ziploc bag for a week, where the first piece was only in the bag overnight. Why did the second piece lose an additional 8 grams of weight inside the plastic bag? Any idea what could have caused this? I'd love to find a way to reduce the wear/tear on my vaccuum pump or not have to run it overnight if possible.
So I'm curious: what would have caused the two pieces of wood to require such vastly different times in the vaccuum chamber? They both came from the same burl, both were dried in the oven the same amount of time, but the second piece was in a Ziploc bag for a week, where the first piece was only in the bag overnight. Why did the second piece lose an additional 8 grams of weight inside the plastic bag? Any idea what could have caused this? I'd love to find a way to reduce the wear/tear on my vaccuum pump or not have to run it overnight if possible.