Stabilizing

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I have used the cactus juice and it works very well. Just make sure not to "cook" the blanks without ventilation ... my better half was not pleased with the smell in the garage (or her car).

Bruce
 
greenchicken said:
IN the words of B&T: Most Excellent!

What about the brake-line vacuum system? Anyone
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That is what I use, but i have to let the blanks sit under vacuum for a couple weeks to get complete saturation. I also don't use the Wood Hardener, but instead use some type of polyurethane. I wouldn't want to put something saturated with wood hardener in the toaster oven.
 
BobzWoodz said:
I've had good luck with plexiglas disolved in acetone, I'm going to try the vacuum aplication.
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I did that a few years ago and it did OK. But I am still going to give Curtis's Cactus Juice a try.

The problem with plexi and acetone, is that acetone will bleed the color out on some woods - Not much, but it does give a noticeable change to a sharp eye.
 
I use the Juice as well. It is made for stabilizing wood. Like said above, I have stabilized some wood that Pro's would not touch becasue it is so punky and it came out amazing. Another great thing is you can Dye the resin and get great results from it.
 
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I've played with all the methods of stabilizing that have been mentioned here and the Cactus Juice seems to work the best, it's actually more cost efficient than the Minwax too.
 
Well I will definitely try the cactus juice, but I will need to keep with the brake line system for now. THe vacuum system in the video is $80 and then I still need to buy the vacuum.

One step a a time. FOr the past few year I have been using super thin CA, turn a little, add more CA, turn a little, and so on.
 
I made a chamber out of a Pickle Jar and opted for the Vacuum Pump as the first big purchase. I will be ordering a Chamber on my next order of the Juice. The Jar works great but requires a lot more juice for the same results. His chambers are by far more efficient(sp?).
 
I completed my first batch with the brake-iine pump system and Miniwax. I used spalted maple which has the density of a dry sponge.

The result was fantastic. When I use up my miniwax I will definitely try the cactus juice, but the pickle jar/brake pump will probably hand around for a while considering the cost.
 
I have an electric model from my air conditioning days. It's in my garage in a very safe place. Once the vacuum is drawn it should be OK to turn the pump off?
 
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