Can you over soak in Cactus Juice?

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sschering

sschering

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I'm sitting here at work doing my work thing and it occurs to me.. Hey self.. Didn't you vacuum a set of blanks Friday morning then leave them to soak? Umm yes I did.. I intended to bake them Saturday night but I completely forgot about them..

Any down side to a 1 week soak?:bulgy-eyes:
 
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I just stabilized some spalted maple and did the longest soak I've done, after the vacuum stage I poured the juice into a clean coffee can, put the blanks in and soaked them for 24 hours.

They got darker than other maple I've done, but they looked good coming out of the oven, just dark. I'll turn one tonight.

If you leave your juice in one of Curtis' square chambers too long the juice will start "eating" the plastic. So that's why I used a clean coffee can to do my soak in.

I don't know how long you can or should leave the juice in the square chamber.

I hear his new round chambers you can leave the juice in them as long as you want. I may want to get one of those, it would simplify the process.

Happy Turning
 
Not for a week, but I left several soaking in dyed juice for 5 days to see if it would improve the color. Thy turned great and the color was noticeably more vivid. BTW, I don't use Curtis' chambers, I used plastic squeeze bottles inside a glass vacuum chamber.
 
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I made my own rather small 10" round x24" tall chamber.. You know for those days I feel like stabilizing every blank I own.. :rolleyes:

I didn't set out to make one that big.. I just kid of happened but I'm all set if I get the urge to stabilize a few hundred blanks at one time. Somehow I don't think my toaster oven is up to the job..

I have about 8 blanks soaking in a plastic tub I set inside the chamber..
 
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I don't see any harm in letting wood blanks soak in Cactus Juice. I've gone as long as a few days. Prolonged submersion won't help once the wood has reached its saturation point, but it won't hurt either.

[size=+1]Do Not[/size] however, leave Cactus Juice in an acrylic vacuum chamber that long. I did, and the stabilizing solution attacked the plastic. The corner welds are now visibly crazed and leak air.

I upgraded to a larger chamber, and I now put the Cactus Juice (and blanks) in an HDPE liner so that the resin never touches the acrylic.

I hope that helps,
Eric
 
MesquiteMan said:
BTW, I am posting this from my phone while drinking a glass of red wine sitting on the beach in Punta Cana Dominican Republic! How's that for service! :)
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That sounds much nicer than freezing weather we're having out here. I walked into shop this morning and it was 18 degrees. BBBBrrrrrrr
 
Advice from that far off gets garbled and some meaning is lost in translation. Everyone knows that red wine does not pair well with salt water.
Enjoy your time away.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

MesquiteMan said:
You can leave them in the Juice as long as you want. Months, weeks, days, it does not matter and will not hurt the blanks or the Juice.

BTW, I am posting this from my phone while drinking a glass of red wine sitting on the beach in Punta Cana Dominican Republic! How's that for service! :)
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MesquiteMan said:
You can leave them in the Juice as long as you want. Months, weeks, days, it does not matter and will not hurt the blanks or the Juice.

BTW, I am posting this from my phone while drinking a glass of red wine sitting on the beach in Punta Cana Dominican Republic! How's that for service! :)
Click to expand...

Humm, what are you doing here...??? aren't you suppose to be on holidays and enjoying the sunshine...??

Didn't I also read that, you were not taking the phone with you...???

You just can't help yourself, huh...??? bad habits are damn hard to brake...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George
 
Hey Curtis, are you going to see if you can find some exotic wood to bring back from DR? It would be a great opportunity.
 
I am bringing home one piece of driftwood I found on a beach today during a Jeep excursion. My mom paid for all of us adults to go so I am going to Juice it and make a pen for her. Otherwise I only work with Central Texas wood!
 
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After a solid week in the juice they turned out nice..

I think I'm finally dialed in on 200 deg on that toaster oven..
 

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MesquiteMan said:
You can leave them in the Juice as long as you want. Months, weeks, days, it does not matter and will not hurt the blanks or the Juice.

BTW, I am posting this from my phone while drinking a glass of red wine sitting on the beach in Punta Cana Dominican Republic! How's that for service! :)
Click to expand...
real customer service would have entailed taking us with you.

:tongue:
 
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