Now I am really gonna mess some stuff up!!!

Man this stuff foams and bubbles like diet coke. I know I have been running the pump two hours or more. Anyone know if that is normal? Instructions just said vacuum till there are no bubbles. Still have small bubble streams in there.
 
Chris I have a similar setup , fi.nd some tupperwear that fits your pot and use that to hold your wood and liquid. I also use some weights and expanded metal to keep your material submerged , it helps.
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Hey Chris - that's a NICE stabilizing setup you've got there. Are you using Cactus Juice? OR something else? What wood are you doing now?

The big foaming bubbles don't usually last very long, but the tiny bubbles will last a long time. How long to run the vacuum pump depends to some extend on the type of work, whether it's open pore or tiny pore wood. Anywhere from 1 hour to 4 or 5 hours is usually enough to run the vacuum pump. BUT - be sure to let the container stand soaking up the resin for several hours, even up to 24 hours is good. When you get the wood cured and sanded clean, try putting a block in water to see if it floats or sinks. It should sink, or at least float with less than 10% of wood out of water, usually just level with water if you've got good penetration of resin.

Are you buying your resin by the gallon? That's the cheapest way if you've got lots to stabilize.
 
Before I quit playing with home stabilizing, here's a few thinks I learned....whether or not unique to me...I don't know.

1) put some dye in your juice to prove out whether you are really getting penetration.

2) Stand wood up with endgrain being top and bottom. (I believe this is opposite of the instructions...and was the ONLY way I ever got complete saturation.)

3)Use smaller rather than larger containers inside your tank just like canning...mason jars (no seal) are your friends. The rings can be useful for trapping spacers to hold the wood under the juice.

Have fun!!
 
Smallshop said:
Before I quit playing with home stabilizing, here's a few thinks I learned....whether or not unique to me...I don't know.

1) put some dye in your juice to prove out whether you are really getting penetration.

2) Stand wood up with endgrain being top and bottom. (I believe this is opposite of the instructions...and was the ONLY way I ever got complete saturation.)

3)Use smaller rather than larger containers inside your tank just like canning...mason jars (no seal) are your friends. The rings can be useful for trapping spacers to hold the wood under the juice.

Have fun!!
Click to expand...
Good tips, never thought about the rings, thanks.
 
Nice setup! I started stabilizing wood several years ago but have so much wood ready to go now (more than I can use in a few lifetimes I think), I've been taking a break from it.

It usually takes a few to several hours to get the bubbles to stop (or slow down to an occasional bubble). I've run the pump for multiple days before but eventually decided to move to a few hours and couldn't tell the difference. Make sure you give it plenty of time to soak up the resin after you release the vacuum as well. I'd usually let it sit overnight at the very least.

Initially I was curing the blocks wrapped in aluminum foil in the oven. My main problem with this was when I would unwrap them, they'd be covered in quite a bit of resin. I eventually started putting them on a rack in a toaster oven with a drip pan below. This way when they cured, it was a lot less clean up work to get the excess resin off as there was very little left over since the excess had dripped into the pan.

My main complaint with cactus juice (and I don't know if things have changed by now) was the UV dye that was added to it. In theory, it's nice because you can use a black light to see if the juice fully penetrated. It is nice to confirm your results when you're getting started. Once you are confident in your process though I started to wish it wasn't there... On some woods, they would soak up sooo much juice that they would get a blue tint when you walked outside with the knife handle. Some people wouldn't notice but it bothered me. Otherwise, cactus juice is a great product. It's been a while since I used it so I don't know if they still add the UV dye.
 
I will tell you this about Cactus Juice. Once you pull the vacuum, be sure to not let is sit in the solution, like a month, or more!! :eek: I was told by the Cactus Juice guy that sometime the act of pulling the vacuum on the mixed chemicals it will harden on it's own. I know cause now I have an Elk antler sitting in jar of solid material. That is why they ship the chemicals in separate containers!!!

I pulled a vacuum and held it over night 2-3 times. Then decided to let is sit for a final soak and,...…………………….. somehow it got buried on my workbench. Out of sight out of mind and when I found it, sometime later, about 3 plus months, it was already hard!! Makes a real nice paper weight and a reminder not to do that again!!!!! :rolleyes: You see the act of pulling a vacuum creates heat. The letting it sit for an extended period combined with the multiple vacuum's must have created enough heat to cause the chemicals to harden on their own!!
 
I used a bit of alumilite resin dye (red)...the wood turned out nice and could easily see if the dye penetrated or not. My son made a knife handle out of one of my experiments.
 
I wanted to try this but have to many other "PROJECTS". And after buying scales form other forum members and other places I don't know if it would be cost effective? I am looking into a source for local burls and would probably send them to K&G for stabilization.
 
OK, I have stabilized a few test scales now and I am zeroing in on decent results. I have a question to those who have done this previously. I was expecting the finished scales, once cleaned, to look like they had been finished with poly or something. Instead, they look kind of muted, maybe like they have white stuff on them. Once I wet them with rubbing alcohol they look awesome but dry back to a muted appearance. Is this normal?
 
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