Wood stabilizing question

Gliden07

Gliden07

Well-Known Member
I made a small Vac chamber to experiment with. Made it out of a water filter housing. How important is it to keep moisture out of the chamber when your trying to prevent the stabilizer from bubbling up into the ports. Also are there any other stabilizers besides Cactus Juice that work. That stuff seems to have the market cornered.
 

Attachments

  • 20191111_151313.jpg
    20191111_151313.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 14
Yes there are other products but a bitch to get hold of, oh and don't believe that normal wood resins will cure, they wont. Just a poor mans way trying to do it. Cactus would be the way to go I think.

With regaurds moisture all my stuff if to 0 degrees noisture.

Oh and tht pot......have you run it yet on a full vacuum for 4 hours to test it?

I suggest you do as looks very think, my pots of steel wit a 30 plexi lid...…..That pot might imploded
 
izafireman said:
Yes there are other products but a bitch to get hold of, oh and don't believe that normal wood resins will cure, they wont. Just a poor mans way trying to do it. Cactus would be the way to go I think.

With regaurds moisture all my stuff if to 0 degrees noisture.

Oh and tht pot......have you run it yet on a full vacuum for 4 hours to test it?

I suggest you do as looks very thin, my pots of steel wit a 35 mm plexi lid...…..
Click to expand...
 
Unless your using a serious strong pump you do not need reinforced hose. I have plastic/rubber on mine it works fine.
 
Gliden07 said:
Oil Less Dayton pump
Click to expand...
I'm not familiar with an oil less vacuum pump, both I've had have oil in them. On the water filter housing you've got. I got one of those to use, and don't remember the details but it didn't work so well. I don't remember why not, it sure looks like it would work great. Maybe it just didn't hold enough wood? I like doing blocks rather than scales.

Yes, Cactus Juice is the one to use. There are others around like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TDSFXR4/?th=1 but at $90/gal it's not much less expensive than Cactus Juice so why not stay with a proven product?
 
Mine is a HF 2.5 cfm and it runs fine pulling vacuum for hours on a simple hose. Like the cheap ones that come with new air compressors. I will ask if it is normal for the pumps to run hot. Mine gets hot enough that you would not want to hold the housing bare handed. I have never used one before this one.
 
KenH said:
I'm not familiar with an oil less vacuum pump, both I've had have oil in them. On the water filter housing you've got. I got one of those to use, and don't remember the details but it didn't work so well. I don't remember why not, it sure looks like it would work great. Maybe it just didn't hold enough wood? I like doing blocks rather than scales.

Yes, Cactus Juice is the one to use. There are others around like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TDSFXR4/?th=1 but at $90/gal it's not much less expensive than Cactus Juice so why not stay with a proven product?
Click to expand...

I was going to buy a HF pump but the one I have was giving to me. So nothing ventured nothing lost!! If it doesn't work I can always spend more money!! LOL!! I plan on hooking it up dry pull a vacuum on the chamber and see what happens?? Spent about 30 bucks total so far.
 
Your chamber is a good shape, because you will not need a ton of resin to cover your wood. It foams like crazy for the first couple of minutes so you will need to turn your pump on and off to manage it. Once it recedes you’re good to leave it running until the bubbles stop. I have only used cactus juice so I cannot give info on other products.
 
Pump seems not to go past -27.5. Will that matter?? I realize the deeper the vacuum the more stabilizer gets into wood. 15735812143128647199185702441951.jpg
 
27.5" Hg is nearly full vacuum. The most you can physically get on planet earth, and only if you are at seal level with an absolutely perfect pump with no leaks or losses is 29.9" Hg. If it will hold steady at that reading I think you'd be in good shape.

Andy
 
The good news is your chamber does not leak, bad news is your pump just will not go any further. In my reading, I learned its better to have a stronger vacuum but I guess you will have to judge for yourself. In my uneducated, more than likely wrong opinion, let them have a good long soak in the resin after you release your vacuum. If your pump ran (bubbles flowed) for 4 hours I would let them soak at least 12. I always do 24 to 48 hours and I like my results. Understand, results will also vary depending on how dry you wood is and what type of wood you are using. Maple does very well for me, its cheap and interesting to dye when you are tired of the light wood. If you can, you can also weigh your wood before and after to determine how much resin they suck up. You may have better penetration with scales than blocks too. I always try to use scales for that reason. I am not saying that is correct, its just what I do in my shop. It's actually very fun to me to stabilize wood in my shop but the resin is expensive.
 
Merle said:
27.5" Hg is nearly full vacuum. The most you can physically get on planet earth, and only if you are at seal level with an absolutely perfect pump with no leaks or losses is 29.9" Hg. If it will hold steady at that reading I think you'd be in good shape.

Andy
Click to expand...
I have no doubt you are correct but why? Does it have to do with surface pressure on earth?
 
Never mind I get it. You cannot remove what is not there. So if we pull a vacuum down to -1 atmosphere that is zero and can go no lower.
 
Last edited:
I let this chamber sit overnight lost about 1/3 of the vacuum in chamber so I have a slow leak somewhere?? Gonna start with all threaded connections. If its not there its gonna have to be the valves??
 
While the pump is running that little bit should not matter. Once the bubbles stop you will turn pump off and slowly release the vacuum. Then let them soak for your determined time.
 
Chris Railey said:
While the pump is running that little bit should not matter. Once the bubbles stop you will turn pump off and slowly release the vacuum. Then let them soak for your determined time.
Click to expand...
If you don't slowly release the vacuum, what happens? Does the stabilization not work? Or do voids form?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top