New at stabilizing wood.

whisperer said:
Just need more info.... :)
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I'd say so, and don't limit your info from one source. My experience with cactus juice is secondary, but might be useful. I used to have property where I harvested my own maple for heating and would keep the good stuff, ending up with thousands of blocks of maple, some spalting, some burl, some curly. About 3-4 years ago, I sent a few different folks who did their own cactus juice stabilizing a dozen or so blocks each, letting them keep half or so. One person returned blocks that were comparable to K&G in weight gain, feel, density, workability, etc, two other folks returned blocks that were close, but obviously didn't take up as much resin, being lighter and the spalted pieces were fragile.
One thing that my admittedly small sample size suggested to me was that cactus juice might do better with the 'punky'/spongy spalted pieces, because the high pressures that K&G uses tends to warp these pieces significantly (depending on the amount of punky wood in the block) so there's more waste to get a square block.
I use K&G and a medium flat rate box is 30+ blocks and total cost including shipping both ways ends up at ~$4-5/block. So I think it's possible to get really close to what the professional companies do, but there's too many variables for it to be worth it to me.
 
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You have a 4000psi pressure washer for under $1000? How much wood could you get stabilized at K&G for that much money? Probably will last a while.

Doug
 
billyO said:
I'd say so, and don't limit your info from one source. My experience with cactus juice is secondary, but might be useful. I used to have property where I harvested my own maple for heating and would keep the good stuff, ending up with thousands of blocks of maple, some spalting, some burl, some curly. About 3-4 years ago, I sent a few different folks who did their own cactus juice stabilizing a dozen or so blocks each, letting them keep half or so. One person returned blocks that were comparable to K&G in weight gain, feel, density, workability, etc, two other folks returned blocks that were close, but obviously didn't take up as much resin, being lighter and the spalted pieces were fragile.
One thing that my admittedly small sample size suggested to me was that cactus juice might do better with the 'punky'/spongy spalted pieces, because the high pressures that K&G uses tends to warp these pieces so there's more waste to get a square block.
I use K&G and a medium flat rate box is 30+ blocks and total cost including shipping both ways ends up at ~$4-5/block. So I think it's possible to get really close to what the professional companies do, but there's too many variables for it to be worth it to me.
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At $4 to $5 a block do not even bother with doing it yourself brother trust me. If I were to run the numbers at $100 a gallon for CJ plus shipping I bet you come out on top or close to it. Since I already have my own stuff I still do some at home but mostly the soft to punky stuff I find just because I like to make stuff.
 
Fitzo, yes, an intensifier is perfect for providing pressure and no recirculating flow. You can get up to some really high pressures with them. Effectively a large piston driving a small piston. So multiply the large piston square inches and apply that to the small piston. It will reduce the flow of the small piston circuit accordingly.

Doug: https://www.amazon.com/Ekcellent-Electric-Pressure-Different-Suitable/dp/B08YJWBM39/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?c=ts&dchild=1&keywords=Pressure+Washers&qid=1623812329&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin:13883140011&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-3&ts_id=552856

It’s easy to make 4000 psi. That was my point. And I personally wouldn’t use a pressure washer to do this job.

I have nothing against the commercial companies. Good on them. I just think it would be a cool little project to build a small high pressure chamber big enough for knife handle blanks and scales and be able to experiment at the pro level. I’m thinking the resin is not $100 a gal when we find out what it actually is.
I also think since we are not under a production schedule we could drop some wood in the chamber, bring it up to pressure and forget about it for days, weeks etc. and get really great penetration.

Billyo I’m in kind of the same situation. My maryland place has all kinds of different hardwood and stuff is always dropping. Lots of different species to play with.
 
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