George883
Member
I'm still a newbie having turned only 35 pens so far. My questions is: do you experience any problems using wood that hasn't been stabilized? Thanks.
Unstabilized Wood
- Thread starter George883
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wolf creek knives
Member
I would say that depends on the species. Oily type exotics normally don't give me much trouble. Rocky Mountain Maple and service berry I always stabilize. Maybe you can share what species you would want to know about.
I think the main issue is the extremes of the environment where the pen is stored -- compared to the environment where it is assembled and finished. If the pen is maintained in a controlled climate (temperature and humidity) equal to where it was finished/assembled, then you can expected to not have many issues even with unstabilized materials. Obviously this is unrealistic, so the question is "how much is the environment going to change", and "how fast". As Tom notes -- oily woods tend to be a little more stable, but they also tend be be harder which can make them brittle, a bit of a double-edge sword. Grain is also something to pay attention to, wood swells and shrinks across the grain but much less with the grain. Cross-cut or angle cut can be more susceptible to cracking. Also, segmenting can cause issues -- different materials expanding and contracting at different rates and in different directions. Finally the finish that you use can be a factor -- more flexible finishes are less prone to cracking.
I had a couple of pens crack early on in my penturning and it was pretty disheartening. I now try to stick with stabilized wood, but it isn't always possible or practical. I haven't had much trouble with straight grain woods that are not stabilized, but I try to keep the blanks indoors and only in the shop while I am actually working on them. Also, I try to warn people not to store their pen where conditions change rapidly -- hot cars for example. That said, I don't sell my pens, so if a giveaway has cracked I probably never will hear about it.
I had a couple of pens crack early on in my penturning and it was pretty disheartening. I now try to stick with stabilized wood, but it isn't always possible or practical. I haven't had much trouble with straight grain woods that are not stabilized, but I try to keep the blanks indoors and only in the shop while I am actually working on them. Also, I try to warn people not to store their pen where conditions change rapidly -- hot cars for example. That said, I don't sell my pens, so if a giveaway has cracked I probably never will hear about it.
George883
Member
Thanks. The wood is Oak Burl and as far as I know (I've had it for 3 years) its been at least 4 years since with was cut and maybe more. I live in Arizona so the weather is hot and dry. I assembled one last week when it was about 111 degrees F with about 13% humidity.
If the Oak Burl was sound, then you should be OK.
If it was not sound, you would notice it, probably even before you started to turn it.
With spalted oak you have to inspect it carefully. . But even if it is a little bit punky you don't necessarily have to do a full stabilization with Cactus Juice.
I have had success using Minwax Wood Hardener, soaking blanks in that for 20 minutes and letting it then cure/harden for a day.
If it was not sound, you would notice it, probably even before you started to turn it.
With spalted oak you have to inspect it carefully. . But even if it is a little bit punky you don't necessarily have to do a full stabilization with Cactus Juice.
I have had success using Minwax Wood Hardener, soaking blanks in that for 20 minutes and letting it then cure/harden for a day.
George883
Member
I believe it is sound. It turned easy, there were no cracks, knots or etc. I used Gluboost to finish the pen and it came out looking pretty darn good (at least in my opinion).
