Another couple of stabilizing ?

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frankonthetis

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Joined
Feb 13, 2018
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29
Location
Thetis Island, B.C., Canada
This is my 6th go at stabilizing some blanks. First efforts all went well doubled the dry weight after baking the blanks. Laid the blanks horizontal, first row sitting on 2 small wooden needles, cactus juice about 2" overtop of the blanks. Have a 6" diameter Turntex chamber, 16" high. The pressure gauge registered 29. In every case the initial foaming when pressurizing the tank never exceeded 1" above the cactus juice. Certainly nothing like all the youtube videos show when initially applying vacuum. No feathering needed. Today placed the blanks vertical, juice 2" over and again the initial bubbling was about <1" over the juice level.
Have changed the vacuum pump oil after 3rd and 5th use. This last time there was a slight smell to the oil and looked like some foreign substance in the oil.

1. should the vacuum chamber be at the same level as the rotary vane pump, higher or lower? Does this matter? Hard to gauge from demo video's.
2. during the stabilizing, after initial foaming, can cactus juice vapour or juice move in the tube between chamber and pump? The video's show the high foaming nearing the top before feathering the connection.
3. is something wrong when the initial vacuum fails to foam high in the chamber? Mixed the juice and starter as per instructions.

Thanks for any insight you can offer.
 
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What type of wood? Denser the wood, the less air in it, so the fewer the bubbles. Also less to be gained by stabilizing, if any gain at all.
But, if it's a soft/punky wood i'd expect to see more air than you're describing.
earl
 
Mostly spalted softwood, alder, big leaf maple, dogwood, monkey puzzle tree, cascara and one lot of arbutus burl. All were dried in a toaster oven, 24 hrs in total at about 225F over a couple of days until weight stayed relatively the same from evening weight until next morning. Plenty of bubbles, mostly very small but my juice never foams like instructional video's describe. Would the age of the cactus juice before starter added make a difference?
 
I would certainly expect more foaming from those spalted woods than you are getting . Level of vacuum pump shouldn`t matter . I have the same Turntex chamber , and have to very slowly increase the vacuum , or I will suck juice into the line leading to the pump , which is a definite no-no . Age of juice before adding starter should not be a problem .

I`m at a loss to figure out your problem . What is the approximate weight of material in your batch ? A chamber that size can accomodate quite a bit . No need to set the blanks on needles .
 
According to the TurnTex website:

Newly revised formula! Virtually no foaming, at least 15% less bleedout, and now water clear! Same great cured properties as previous version, same cure temp and vacuum time.. This is just a formula revision, not an entirely new formula. This version will mix just fine with your existing Cactus Juice.

So I don't think you are going to get the kind of foaming we all used to get (and see on YouTube)...
 
MRDucks2 unsure what you mean by "valve out" your chamber. Understand shutting off the pump but lost me on valve out. Do you mean disconnecting the line from the chamber to the pump? Here are pictures of my chamber and pump. Read that you should always evacuate air from the chamber before turning off the pump otherwise will cause future issues with the pump.
1080Wayne dried weight going into chamber anywhere from 190 - 250g, depending on number of blanks being stabilized. Toaster oven only can hold 9 blanks at a time. Have yet to wrap them in tin foil to get a possible second layer.
 

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KMCloonan said:
According to the TurnTex website:

Newly revised formula! Virtually no foaming, at least 15% less bleedout, and now water clear! Same great cured properties as previous version, same cure temp and vacuum time.. This is just a formula revision, not an entirely new formula. This version will mix just fine with your existing Cactus Juice.

So I don't think you are going to get the kind of foaming we all used to get (and see on YouTube)...
Click to expand...
That may explain a lot! I need to order a few gallons, and probably would have completely missed that update.
Earl
 
frankonthetis said:
MRDucks2 unsure what you mean by "valve out" your chamber. Understand shutting off the pump but lost me on valve out. Do you mean disconnecting the line from the chamber to the pump? Here are pictures of my chamber and pump. Read that you should always evacuate air from the chamber before turning off the pump otherwise will cause future issues with the pump.
1080Wayne dried weight going into chamber anywhere from 190 - 250g, depending on number of blanks being stabilized. Toaster oven only can hold 9 blanks at a time. Have yet to wrap them in tin foil to get a possible second layer.
Click to expand...
I realized after asking the question your set-up may be different than mine. I have valves installed so that I can completely isolate the vacuum chamber, if I want, and work on the pump or tubing without using vacuum. Also helps in troubleshooting leaks.

The chamber should easily hold vacuum without the pump running, if you can shut valves on each side or "valve it out" for we industrial maintenance folks. The same folks who put twice as many valve on stuff at home than normal people. šŸ˜Š

I also have a smaller chamber between my main one and the pump to drop out any cactus juice should there be an incident.
 
Okay, that makes sense. The more the better eh! Took that approach building my last house, why use 2 nails when 6 could fit. My plumber was far from impressed when removing studs to get in his pipes!!! Thanks for the valve idea, something to ponder for the future.
 
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