How had should the excess cactus juice be on the blank? I am getting some rubbey

[Marker]

After you bake you cactus Juice stabilized pen blanks.....how hard should the excess resin be on the blank????

Why I am asking, is because I am getting a few the resin is a bit rubbery in places....It is mostly in areas were the juice built up on the edge of the blank.....

Dose this mean That I should bake them longer?? or at a higher temp??


Thanks

 

[Jim Burr]

This is completely covered under 3 places...Casting & Stabilization forum, Library and Turntex.com.
But, to repeat all those sources in a nutshell; Pull vacuum until most bubbles stop. Soak off vacuum for 2-3x as long as under vacuum. Pull from tank and wipe off excess. Wrap and bake at about 200* as long as needed for the internal temp of the blank to maintain 200*.
The actual time is...doesn't matter as mentioned in the forum. Cure time and temp are covered in your instructions. What matters is the internal temp making cure temp. Pull, cool, trim and turn. Try it and see what happens then try again.

 

[Monty]

Jim covered it very well. Sounds like your temp is off somewhat. If your temp is 200*F, you will not over cook it by leaving it too long, but if the internal temp does not reach 200, you will have problems.

 

[Marker]

This is completely covered under 3 places...Casting & Stabilization forum, Library and Turntex.com.
But, to repeat all those sources in a nutshell; Pull vacuum until most bubbles stop. Soak off vacuum for 2-3x as long as under vacuum. Pull from tank and wipe off excess. Wrap and bake at about 200* as long as needed for the internal temp of the blank to maintain 200*.
The actual time is...doesn't matter as mentioned in the forum. Cure time and temp are covered in your instructions. What matters is the internal temp making cure temp. Pull, cool, trim and turn. Try it and see what happens then try again.

This dose not really answer my question....yes I had them under vacuum until the bubbles stopped, and I kept them in the tank for 3 weeks....and baked them for 4 hours.......But this has nothing to do with the question that I asked....

let me ask this in another way....Dose Cactus juice cure with a rubbery texture at times??? or dose it always cure hard and crispy??

 

[Marker]

Jim covered it very well. Sounds like your temp is off somewhat. If your temp is 200*F, you will not over cook it by leaving it too long, but if the internal temp does not reach 200, you will have problems.

Maybe the tempter settings on my oven are inaccurate....Next time I will try setting it at 225...I bought an oven thermometer from Curtis awhile back, but I don't know what I did with it.....I guess I will have to buy another.

 

[Brian G]

You should be able to find inexpensive oven thermometers locally. I suggest buying two and placing one toward the front and the other toward the back. Then you have two readings in two places. Switch them around and take a second reading to validate whether any differences are not differences between thermometers.

I haven't experienced rubbery residue, so I can't help you with that. My immediate reaction to your question was that you either didn't get them hot enough, or you didn't cook them long enough. I leave mine in the toaster oven overnight, and my thermometer is at slightly above 200 °F.

 

[Monty]

To answer your question about how hard should it be, it should be very hard, and any paper thin, excess pieces of dried CJ should be brittle.

 

[ldubia]

This is completely covered under 3 places...Casting & Stabilization forum, Library and Turntex.com.
But, to repeat all those sources in a nutshell; Pull vacuum until most bubbles stop. Soak off vacuum for 2-3x as long as under vacuum. Pull from tank and wipe off excess. Wrap and bake at about 200* as long as needed for the internal temp of the blank to maintain 200*.
The actual time is...doesn't matter as mentioned in the forum. Cure time and temp are covered in your instructions. What matters is the internal temp making cure temp. Pull, cool, trim and turn. Try it and see what happens then try again.

This dose not really answer my question....yes I had them under vacuum until the bubbles stopped, and I kept them in the tank for 3 weeks....and baked them for 4 hours.......But this has nothing to do with the question that I asked....

let me ask this in another way....Dose Cactus juice cure with a rubbery texture at times??? or dose it always cure hard and crispy??

To answer your reposed question. Cactus juice should be crispy when it is fully cured and cool. I have been using it for some time and have never had a rubbery feel. Try checking the temp a with a thermometer to make sure the temp is coming up properly. Personally I cook mine at 210 degrees because my oven is a little off. Let the blank cool overnight in the foil wrap. See if that will make a difference. Otherwise, contact TurnTex and ask him what might be the problem you are dealing with. He is extremely helpful.

Hope this helps some.

 

[robutacion]

I wonder, if you are experience/seeing/getting that rubbery material, just immediately after the blanks get out of the oven or when, they had time to cool down, properly...!

I often get those rubbery spots, when I start to unwrap the blanks, as soon as the oven turns off, appart from getting your fingers burnt, that curiosity in seen h0ow they come out does also produce blanks with excess juice that, hasn't had time to cool down therefore, the juice can feel rubbery in spots, all that changes when the blanks cools down...!

Cheers
George

 

[MesquiteMan]

Folks, the temperature will not have an effect on this. Cactus Juice either cures or it doesn't. Changing the temp will not affect how hard it cured, period. What you are almost certainly seeing is the results of moisture in your blanks. Are you drying them in the oven at 215* f for 24 hrs or so before stabilizing them? If so, are you letting them cool down sealed in a plastic bag or Tupperware type container? Other than that, the only other thing that can cause rubbery cure is resin that has exceeded its shelf life.

 

[MesquiteMan]

Oh yeah, time does not matter either! Again, Cactus Juice is either cured or it isn't. It will never partially cure. Time does matter in that you have to leave it in long enough for the core temp of the wood to reach 200* f for 6-8 minutes. How long that will take is an unknown variable but if you take it out too early, it will not be rubbery or partially cured, it will just still be liquid. Leaving it longer does not hurt a thing.

 

[Quality Pen]

So rubbery cactus juice on the outside can indicate expired juice?

I just had this and used a jug of juice from csusa but i don't know how old it was. Are they dated on the packaging?

How tight of a timeframe are we looking at?

Reason i ask is because i don't believe i had moisture in the blank after baking for 36 hours. Soaked for over a week too.

 

[MesquiteMan]

To check if your Cactus Juice is past its shelf life, fill a cheap shot glass and put it in your oven at 200° F for 1 hour. If it does not cure or cures like jello, it is bad. It will not be completely hard even with fresh resin, though. Just not made for that application.

I do not date the jugs. We produce and ship so much of it each day it would be difficult to do. Plus, it only applies to Quarts and Pints that are shipped already activated. If you have 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon, your shelf life begins when you add the activator. The shelf life is 8-12 months.

You say you baked for 36 hours...what temperature?

 

[MesquiteMan]

One other things, rubbery CJ can also be caused by oily wood, wrong dyes. or other contaminates. These contaminates can affect the chemistry of the resin so it does not cure properly.

 

[Quality Pen]

To check if your Cactus Juice is past its shelf life, fill a cheap shot glass and put it in your oven at 200° F for 1 hour. If it does not cure or cures like jello, it is bad. It will not be completely hard even with fresh resin, though. Just not made for that application.

I do not date the jugs. We produce and ship so much of it each day it would be difficult to do. Plus, it only applies to Quarts and Pints that are shipped already activated. If you have 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon, your shelf life begins when you add the activator. The shelf life is 8-12 months.

You say you baked for 36 hours...what temperature?

I did have one of the pre mixxed jugs from CSUSA so i never added the activator.

Also, the temperature was 215-220 (for drying) I used an analog thermometer so it's not super precise but I checked at a number of intervals and it was in that range.

I will try the test mentioned. Thanks for the help.

 

[Quality Pen]

One other things, rubbery CJ can also be caused by oily wood, wrong dyes. or other contaminates. These contaminates can affect the chemistry of the resin so it does not cure properly.

I had in your pot: redwood burl, koa, manzanita and buckeye burl.