This is one of my Calypso pens in Spalted maple and brass . This blank is one of a bunch of spalted maple blanks that I had bought on ebay . The wood is so punky that it was unturnable , even after a good soaking of CA it still turned off in chunks .
Skye posted about the new Reynolds Handi-vac and I thought it might work for stabilizing spalted and soft tearout prone woods . I mentioned it to my wife in passing and the next time she went shopping she brought me home a present . I love that woman !
I filled a large pickle jar with Minwax wood hardener and put in a couple of these maple blanks , then I poked some holes in the lid and put the jar in one of the gallon size bags and used the handi-vac to pull a vacuum in the jar . As I watched the blanks started bubbling and after a couple of hours they had sunk to the bottom . I pulled them out and let them dry for a couple of days and turned this pen . I won't say that it's as good as commercial stabilization but these maple blanks can now be turned without turning to dust and chunks .
