Wormy, Punky wood.

[Longfellow]

Question for those who cast blanks- Do you use woods that are punky. full of holes, and generally useless to turn? How rotten is too rotten. How about using Spanish Moss like other materials you embed in the castings?

 

[GoatRider]

Once it's been cast in resin, there's no limit to how punky, wormy, knotty, or even missing chunks it can be. Search for "useless wood" and you'll find examples of blanks that are sometimes even less than half wood, and simply gorgeous.

I heard someone say once that with enough CA, they could turn a fart.

 

[Justturnin]

I actually have some of the punkiest wood I have ever held in the Toaster over drying getting ready for Cactus Juice. This is a small 2x2x5.5" piece w/ many holes and rotted out spots, actiully for its size there is only about 50% wood and the rest is air. My goal is to find out how much Juice this stuff will absorb to find out if it is worth stabilizing. Once I get it out of the juice I will cast it. If it is really punky and you dont have a way to stabilize it you may want to look at a deft laquer (sp?) or similar and just soak it in it becasue the punky wood will adsorb it like a sponge. You can use CA but that gets pricey.

 

[Jim Burr]

Oh heck yeah!! IMHO, that's why stabilization was invented! Even stuff with holes the size of Montana can be filled during/after stabilizing. I just ordered my Industrial size chamber from Mr. Mesquite and have a box (2'x2'x18") of stuff that will keep it in use for weeks!! I grabbed a cool box of Buckeye burl off ebay and the guy tossed in extras that weren't stabilized, guess where they are!! Can you tell I'm super excited about doing this!?

 

[Longfellow]

I actually have some of the punkiest wood I have ever held in the Toaster over drying getting ready for Cactus Juice. This is a small 2x2x5.5" piece w/ many holes and rotted out spots, actiully for its size there is only about 50% wood and the rest is air. My goal is to find out how much Juice this stuff will absorb to find out if it is worth stabilizing. Once I get it out of the juice I will cast it. If it is really punky and you dont have a way to stabilize it you may want to look at a deft laquer (sp?) or similar and just soak it in it becasue the punky wood will adsorb it like a sponge. You can use CA but that gets pricey.

I have soaked blanks in Deft, in fact did some this AM, that I plan on selling on Ebay. But I throw tons of what I consider worthless wood in the trash. This week I had someone who bought some Ficus blanks from me ask if I had wormy, rotten wood he could have. Maybe I have been throwing money away.

 

[Justturnin]

I would keep it all. I have totes of wood waiting for the Juice and Resin. I may never get to it all but I know I will always have something to do. I just pulled that piece out of the juice to drain and will be cooking it shortly and plan to cast tomorrow. I went ahead and Dyed it blue too. If you ever want to get rid of some wormy wood let me know I will surely take it off your hands. In many ways I enjoy that more than making pens and such.

I actually have some of the punkiest wood I have ever held in the Toaster over drying getting ready for Cactus Juice. This is a small 2x2x5.5" piece w/ many holes and rotted out spots, actiully for its size there is only about 50% wood and the rest is air. My goal is to find out how much Juice this stuff will absorb to find out if it is worth stabilizing. Once I get it out of the juice I will cast it. If it is really punky and you dont have a way to stabilize it you may want to look at a deft laquer (sp?) or similar and just soak it in it becasue the punky wood will adsorb it like a sponge. You can use CA but that gets pricey.

I have soaked blanks in Deft, in fact did some this AM, that I plan on selling on Ebay. But I throw tons of what I consider worthless wood in the trash. This week I had someone who bought some Ficus blanks from me ask if I had wormy, rotten wood he could have. Maybe I have been throwing money away.

 

[Longfellow]

What is cactus juice?

 

[Justturnin]

What is cactus juice?

Cactus Juice is a Stabilizing Resin developed for the average joe to use in his garage. Check out the Casting and Stabilizing forum and you will find tons about it. I am not sure how much about it I am allowed to say but it is sold at TurnTex.com

 

[packerb]

Spanish moss

Spanish moss makes an interesting pen. I clean it in ultrasonic cleaner to get rid of dirt etc, bleach it and stabilize. You probably do not need to stabilize but I do anyway.

 

[Dai Sensei]

+1 for Cactus Juice. I just finished stabilizing over 50 rotten punky and wormy Mango. I filled the holes with coffee grinds and thin CA first, matches the worm crap well :biggrin: