I want to do my own stabilizing

scherf68

scherf68

Well-Known Member
I have been wanting to stabilize wood and make own resin handles, is there a vacuum kit that is recommended? I searched hosts store but no luck, found a kit at walmart I pointed my kids to as a Xmas wish hint. My mechanical skills are well enough to build one but just want to get a kit and be done with it. Any ideas from those who make their own handles?
 
A lot of folks use Cactus Juice.
I haven't tried it but I've heard that it's difficult to get as good a result as the pros do.
But check out this web site:
www.turntex.com

TurnTex, LLC

www.turntex.com www.turntex.com

I think you just need a vacuum pump and a vacuum chamber with appropriate tubes and valves to control the process.
You harden the resin in a toaster oven after infusing the wood block.
 
That looks like it would work. The price isn't bad.
I don't know how deep of a vacuum you need to get good penetration, so the quality of the pump might be a concern.
I would try it out.
 
That will work but only for very small batches. You will have to fill that container up very full to do a few scales at once. The trouble is that when you first start your vacuum it will bubble and foam greatly. When the foam reaches your vacuum line it will be sucked into your pump. You will have to watch it closely for the first few minutes and turn the pump on and off to control the foam. Once the foam dies down you can leave it to rock on. I solved this by getting a large glass container that my lid still fit and I place smaller containers inside that one for small batches and I use the container itself for large. Cactus Juice is what I use its pricey about $100 a gallon but it cleans up easily with water and lasts well. You will need a small toaster oven or similar to cure your wood I would not use my house just trust me on that. A word of warning before you get too deep in this venture. Home stabilization does work and it is fun (I just like to make stuff) but you will not get the same results as professionally stabilized wood. They use a positive pressure chamber to force resin into the wood. You will simply be returning yours to atmospheric pressure forcing the wood to suck up some resin. They also use different resin that is harder to find. Although home stabilizing does work, for some projects I still choose to buy from Gene Kimmi as his woods are pro stabilized and beautiful. I am not saying do not do it I just want you to know what I have found. I still stabilize some woods in house when I want to dye them.
 
I've been looking into this for a while. A 2 stage vacuum pump is better than a single stage pump but of course is more money! Basically the stronger the pump the better penitration of the wood!
 
I've read about this a few times and I believe one of the guys on here started to try this and then decided the time and money investment into this made it not worth it for him to do this, especially considering the fact that the industrial vacuum chambers are far stronger than the hobby craft market can supply. may have been @EdCaffreyMS that wrote it up?
 
That setup linked above is pretty good looking setup. Vacuum pump looks just fine and a nice container. I'm sure the vacuum pump will pull the 29" needed and the container is a good size. Got the clear lid so you can see the resin bubble as the vacuum is started. The valve allows control of vacuum to prevent resin from getting into the pump.

Home stabilizing works just fine when done properly and full instructions are followed, and an open pore type wood is used. Once stabilizing is complete and cured the block should sink in water, or at most float just level with water.

Good luck
 
Thank you all for advice, mostly going to do resin material, attempt stabilizing wood and hopefully works with trial and error. I really like wood and resin scales, usually what I use. Just want to make my own for creative reasons, work with my design ideas.
 
scherf68 said:
Thank you all for advice, mostly going to do resin material, attempt stabilizing wood and hopefully works with trial and error. I really like wood and resin scales, usually what I use. Just want to make my own for creative reasons, work with my design ideas.
Click to expand...
The wood and resin scales they actually do in a Pressure Pot with a material like Alumilite. A lot of DIYs say to get a Harbor Freight Canister Pant sprayer and use it to get the bubbles out of the resin. I believe they put about 70 PSI positive pressure on it. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong??
 
Gliden07 said:
The wood and resin scales they actually do in a Pressure Pot with a material like Alumilite. A lot of DIYs say to get a Harbor Freight Canister Pant sprayer and use it to get the bubbles out of the resin. I believe they put about 70 PSI positive pressure on it. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong??
Click to expand...
From the research done so far, Alumilite is used a lot and 70 psi has been mentioned. Scales I use now are made with alumilite and stabilized wood pieces.
 
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