Can Spectraply be Stabilized with Cactus Juice

[Larryreitz]

I'VE BEEN WONDERING IF ANYONE HERE HAS HAD ANY EXPERIENCE WITH OR KNOWS IF SPECTRAPLY CAN BE STABILIZED using Cactus Juice. I purchased a couple of small boxes from Cousineau Wood products and have had a few issues with finishing them with GluBoost. Drying them seemed to help with some but not all. A few (predominately dark blanks) showed blushing after Cactus juice was applied. I just thought it might not happen with a stabilized blank.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Larry

 

[JohnU]

I doubt stabilizing would do anything but cut down on the ca layers. It will also probably darken the wood colors a bit. Did you use a couple layers of the ultra thin as a base layers first? That should soak in and seal the wood, then you would be able to layer the thin (orange label) to build the smooth finish. I've always had great luck with Gluboost over spectraply using the ultra thin first.

 

[Larryreitz]

Thank you VERY MUCH, John!!!

 

[greenacres2]

I have stabilized a few color combinations of Spectraply-- @JohnU is correct in that the CJ did darken the wood a tick. Other than that, it worked well and finished well. I do find it easier to use ultra-thin CA for single blanks of Spectraply, sets the pores well.

 

[Brian G]

I tried it a few years ago across several different colors, then made pens from stabilized and not stabilized blanks for comparison.

I observed color bleeding with the stabilized blanks. Not a lot, but enough that light colors looked muddy. As mentioned above, the stabilized SP was overall a little darker, and I'd say not in a good way.

Turning differences were minimal. My notes didn't indicate any finishing (CA) differences of importance.

I concluded there was no added appearance benefit and stabilizing SP was not worth the cost of stabilizing resin and time.