Stabilizing wood????

martinjj

Well-Known Member
Why? I have seen the ones made from a brake bleeding kits, looks easy enough to do. I have a few questions about it. Why do it? Does all wood need to be stabilized? Do I stain my wood than stabilize?
Thanks folks,
Martin
 
Martin, "stabilizing," is a very broad term. Lets start with the lower end... some folks will soak their wood in a mason jar (filled with Minwax wood hardener) hooked into a food saver and call it stabilizing. Though, to some extent, punky wood will be denser and less prone to crumbling but it is a far cry from what K&G, Woodlab, WSSI, Moore and other top service providers will do. Their process would be more of a plasticizing than stabilizing as the finished product behaves more like an acrylic or other plastic than wood.

If its something you want to do to the degree that the aforementioned professional companies do, it will be costly and will yield more heartache than good results. The chemicals used are expensive as is the equipment and there is also the issue of safety. I've read many accounts where people have tried to make their own vacuum chambers only to have them rupture and cause adverse conditions in your shop.

Long story short, not every wood needs to be stabilized. Typically the denser and oilier the wood, the more stable it tends to be. And those that aren't so dense and oily will typically do well when seasoned properly. At the end of the spectrum, there are those woods that are only available due to modern techniques and would never be suitable under any other conditions , this being your spalted, and fast growth woods. If you decide to do it on your own, read as much as possible on the subject and be safe while putting your ideas into practice. In the end it ends up being a bit more practical and cheaper just to send your stuff out to the professionals.

Regards,
Mike
 
Generally!
There's that word again, Stabilizing is for Burl of woods that are on the softer side.
Maple,Koa,California Buckeye, Box Elder, Ash burl & others that would be soft & Punky with holes without stabilization.

I send my own woods to WSSI.com and kandgsupply.com/ They are the two oldest I beleive?
They always do a Professional job on what woods I send them.

There are tons of guys with a used pressure cooker and a pump with a can of something!

Get the best! Forget the rest!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
I have tried the home stabilizing, with a used pressure canner, and a vacume pump, and wood hardener. In my opinion it was a waste of time, oh it may have done some good, but not like the pros do. Places like Woodlab and others do a great job and the cost is reasonable for what you get.
just my 2 cents
Dale
 
If you really want to stabilize your own wood, what I suggest is that lay down on the couch, take a nice nap, then get up and send it out to one of the above mentioned treaters. It is not ecconomically effecient to do the job yourself. Voice of experience.

Doug
 
Ditto - What JDW said. Same experience, same results. I'll be getting mine from one of the many pros from now on.
Bob
 
I just sent Woodlab 10# of assorted wood. This is my second order with them and I was very happy the first time. I tried doing myself once. It is not worth it.
 
I've tried woodlab and did business with Mike exclusively for a while... but after trying K&G, I find their "recipe" suits me best. Woodlab's wood is much lighter and feel more like finished wood rather than the Plasticized feeling that I like. There is also a fellow by the name of Moore here in Texas that does a phenomenal job, at a great price. If you'd like to try him, shoot me PM for his number. I'm actually in the process of sending a box out to him (he came highly recommended to me by another Texas knife maker).
 
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