Stabilizing on the lathe with CA ???

[Dalecamino]

Will this work ? My cousin sent me some figured Elm and wants 12 pens . This wood has hard grain lines with soft wood between., and is proned to tearing out , and turning is terrible . No time for conventional stabilizing . Would using thin CA help with this problem ?

Any advice would be appreciated !

 

[jkeithrussell]

Sure, it will help. But for 12 pens, you're going to have to use a whole bunch of CA. If you have a few days, cut and drill the blanks and dunk them in Minwax Wood Hardener. Leave them sealed up for a couple of days, then let them dry for a day or two. If you are putting more than 1 set of matching blanks at a time in the container, mark them (top and bottom) with a wood burner or exacto knife. Sharpie ink melts away in the solution.

 

[GouletPens]

unless you're afraid of blowout or it tears REALLY deep, you could always turn it down most of the way with a scary sharp gouge, then when you get close to the final profile start CA stabilizing or just use straight up sandpaper. But the wood hardener might be a good way to go too.

 

[Dalecamino]

Sure, it will help. But for 12 pens, you're going to have to use a whole bunch of CA. If you have a few days, cut and drill the blanks and dunk them in Minwax Wood Hardener. Leave them sealed up for a couple of days, then let them dry for a day or two. If you are putting more than 1 set of matching blanks at a time in the container, mark them (top and bottom) with a wood burner or exacto knife. Sharpie ink melts away in the solution.

Think I'll go this way Keith . You know ? I had all of these blanks drilled , glued up and trimmed . That's when I found out about the wood . Maybe I can plug the ends of the tubes before I soak them . Play dough ? Clay ?

Thanks for the help . You too Brian !

 

[jkeithrussell]

The wood hardener will take a lot longer with tubes inside the blanks. (weeks instead of days). I've drilled tubes out before for various reasons, and that might work here. Drill the tubes out, soak in Minwax, then drill again to clean up the tube hole. You will need to use epoxy or gorilla glue to get a tight fit after all that drilling.

Otherwise, you'll have to just be careful and use a lot of CA.

 

[GouletPens]

Chuck, you say you don't have time for commercial stabilization...when are you looking to get these done? Another thing you could always do is turn down the pens to about 1-2mm above final dimension, THEN stabilize them. Then you know the hardener would soak in where it matters. Just a thought. I don't know if soaking the blanks with the brass would affect anything, never tried that.

 

[mostangrypirate]

I have used CA to turn a majorly spalted piece of elm. wax the bushings real good. make a few cuts, rouch sand it, blow it out and use thin CA. repeat...repeat...repeat. after 4 years, this pen is still lookin great.

 

[Dalecamino]

These are actually pen & pencil sets going out as gifts to some military personel , who are being deployed to Iraq , NEXT WEEK . These kits are the Designer kits from PSI that require a tenon cut . (He sent the kits , and blanks) He tells me to turn them with a file or 80 grit sandpaper . Patience is not a virtue for me ! I guess thin CA is in order . Lots of it .

Thanks again guys , for the help .

 

[sbell111]

I think that your best bet is CA. Just turn it 'fat' and then hit it with thin CA to stabilize it enough to be able to turn it to the final dimensions.

Use scary sharp tools and be patient.

 

[GouletPens]

I've 'file turned' a couple of pens before. This was before I found IAP and knew anything about wood hardener or anything. I had some crosscut zebrawood (looks really cool turned, but MAN does it want to blowout!). I could only turn it down just barely to round without the thing blowing apart, so I used a file and filed it down enough to where I could sand it and finish it. You could try that (though, it takes a little practice!).

 

[DurocShark]

Nothing wrong with using a bastard gouge followed by an 80-grit gouge. Whatever gets the job done.

 

[Fred]

Dale, if you have a rifle then chances are you also have a barrel cleaner kit. Go ahead and soak the blanks in whatever you choose to use - the Minwax is great BTW - and when you get them out simply clean the tubes with the appropriate sized brass brush. If you don't have the right size, then any sporting goods store should have the correct 'caliber' for whatever tube you are using. Works great!

 

[Dalecamino]

Thanks for the help guys . I picked more CA yesterday , and will get some Minwax Hardener at HD today . I think I'll try knocking down the corners on the sander , then try the CA while the others are soaking in the Minwax . I have a set of brushes , but really don't want to invest in files . We'll see what happens .

 

[RBoutin]

If you have time to overnight them to Ann Arbor, MI

Send them to me and I'll stabilize them immediately and next-day them back FOC (happy to support our men and women in uniform).

Our company is in the process of introducing a new heat curing wood stabilizer that is an improvement in all respects on the material typically used to stabilize wood.

This is not a joke or gimmick. Ultraseal is a major supplier of impregnation resins and machinery to the automotive and aerospace industries. However, unlike our major competitor, Ultraseal has developed a methacrylate resin specifically for wood products. It cures hard, crystal clear, and without the violet glow associated with resins intended for engine blocks. It will be easily obtainable by consumers by the gallon, unlike our competitor's product. Our first production shipment from the U.K. arrives at the end of this month and we'll begin marketing activities once we have the product on hand.

If you can get them here by mid-day Friday, I can have them UPS'd out by Friday afternoon. The SAE Congress begins Monday here in Detroit so if you're interested, they'll need to be here by tomorrow. You will be EXTREMELY pleased with the result.

Bob Boutin
Vice President Sales
Ultraseal America
4343 Concourse Drive, Suite 340
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
(248)931-1342
rboutin@ultrasealant.com
www.ultraseal.co.uk
www.ultrasealant.com

 

[GouletPens]

Bob, are you saying this is a product that individuals will be able to use to stabilize wood themselves? Or is this a new commercial product that will still require epuiptment beyond the capabilities of small timers like us. If this is something people can use themselves in a small pressure or vacuum pot and cure in a toaster oven or something like it, then you have yourself a winner there! I'm curious to hear more about this product.

 

[KenV]

The hard-soft grain is overcome by using sandpaper with a firm backing. That means a different practice than most normally use with strips or thin pads. Think about use of a firm/hard bowl turning pad in a drill while the lathe is turning to get a more even surface before the thin CA --- that drill driven pad will work after CA also, but the sand paper tends to clog quite fast, and you do not want heat --- heat destroys CA (you can break the bond by boiling).

The tenons and end surfaces will be the challenge -- shoulder cut with a skew after end grain reinforcement with ca.

 

[RBoutin]

Yes, no, yes, and I hope.

Yes, it is a product individuals will be able to purchase for use in home equipment. As we are a B2B company, we are not equipped to take online orders, so we have set up instead to take a phone call or e-mail which will initiate an electronic invoice via PayPal. The individual will then go online and complete the transaction w/ credit card and shipping info. Product will ship UPS immediately upon transaction approval.

No, while the initial customer is indeed a commercial stabilizer, no expensive specialized equipment is required to stabilize. The size and expense of the equipment is strictly dependent on required capacity. In fact, anybody who tries to convince you it will take tens of thousands of dollars in investment to stabilize your own pen blanks just doesn't want you to do your own blanks. A small 5 millibar vacuum system capable of doing a few pen blanks at a time can be had for about $400. For sure though, as the size of the equipment increases, the costs escalate substantially.

Yes, you can use it in your own vacuum and pressure pots. Curing it requires getting the part heated through to 190-200 F for about 20 minutes, whether you use a toaster oven or Ziploc vacuum bags with hot water.

And I hope that indeed we do have a winner. The market is the only one who will tell us that in the end.

Bob, are you saying this is a product that individuals will be able to use to stabilize wood themselves? Or is this a new commercial product that will still require epuiptment beyond the capabilities of small timers like us. If this is something people can use themselves in a small pressure or vacuum pot and cure in a toaster oven or something like it, then you have yourself a winner there! I'm curious to hear more about this product.

 

[Dalecamino]

Send them to me and I'll stabilize them immediately and next-day them back FOC (happy to support our men and women in uniform).

Our company is in the process of introducing a new heat curing wood stabilizer that is an improvement in all respects on the material typically used to stabilize wood.

This is not a joke or gimmick. Ultraseal is a major supplier of impregnation resins and machinery to the automotive and aerospace industries. However, unlike our major competitor, Ultraseal has developed a methacrylate resin specifically for wood products. It cures hard, crystal clear, and without the violet glow associated with resins intended for engine blocks. It will be easily obtainable by consumers by the gallon, unlike our competitor's product. Our first production shipment from the U.K. arrives at the end of this month and we'll begin marketing activities once we have the product on hand.

If you can get them here by mid-day Friday, I can have them UPS'd out by Friday afternoon. The SAE Congress begins Monday here in Detroit so if you're interested, they'll need to be here by tomorrow. You will be EXTREMELY pleased with the result.

Bob Boutin
Vice President Sales
Ultraseal America
4343 Concourse Drive, Suite 340
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
(248)931-1342
rboutin@ultrasealant.com
www.ultraseal.co.uk
www.ultrasealant.com

Bob ,
Thank you for the offer . I am already in the whole on this order , although pens for the troops are important (to me) . I will give this product consideration for the future .

 

[RBoutin]

No sweat, I knew you were short on time but figured I'd offer anyway. Good luck with the pens and wish our boys Godspeed.