I might just have to try that. Seeing how the surface of the blank is all turned away by the time the pen is done that surface curing seems a waste of time. I had a heck of a time cleaning up the mess on the outside of my blanks and don't really relish having to run them through the bandsaw again to get a clean surface. This will be especially important when I get to try some pinecone cores in the stabilizer.
I'm yet to try curing the blanks without the foil paper, I know that the issue has been raised and I know that Curtis will do some testing when he has the time that at the moment, he doesn't seem to have so, I could do the tests if Curtis is OK with it, I have all the equipment to do it however, some may not accept my results the same way as if Curtis do them himself, as the Cactus Juice "originator" and seller so, I do not want to interfere with Curtis good work and will accept a "NO" without any "hard feelings...!":wink::biggrin:
In between wrapping the blanks with foil and then cleaning all that dry excess resin that I tend to get a lot more than I would like (due to the blanks being extremely punky/soft and the amount of resin soaked into them during vacuum...!", draining the wet blanks for some hours, didn't change anything at all as the resin stay in the wood until the temperature reaches the curing stage, creating Juice expansion from going from liquid to solid form, therefore expelling the excess resin within the blank/wood.
This excess resin is overwhelming sometimes, particularly because I tend to stabilise and cook equal amounts that correspond with the vacuum chamber and oven, which is 16lt so between 50 to 100 blanks are done at one time resulting is always resin escaping from the foil, either due to a small rip/whole made while wrapping or simply the Juice finding its way to the foil top opening. Even with a tray under the blanks, some resin runs out and into the base of the oven, leaking its way from under the oven base metal joints.
I have noticed that, the liquid solution that runs out, may not be 100% Juice but also water from heat condensation, that liquid never hardens...!
Now, is obvious that, there is a lot of Juice in that oven, about 1 gallon (original size drum) or close enough, remember the chamber is 16lt capacity so, there is a considerable amount of chemical reactions in that oven as the temperature raises to the 90°C for curing so, I would be the first one to appreciate having a little less of a mess to clean however, I tend to believe that, the foil paper may assist the wood to cure, preserving most of the resin necessary for the best results, something that, may could be lost with the resin being expelled and leave the blank parameters, by falling/dripping of the wood...!
Does the foil protect the wood from the possible "burning" off...??? I'm not sure...!
As for the cleaning up of the excess dry resin/juice in the blanks out surface, the best way I found is to take the blanks to the disc sander, making sure the first surface to be sanded is straight with the wood and then rotating the blank of the sander's table, so that the sanded surface is always down, against the table, this way the blanks are sanded square (if the table is set square 90° to the disc...!)
A little time consuming...??? sure it is however, and due to the fact that most of the blanks I stabilized are for sale on my eBay store, presentation is most important so, I doubt that the blanks without the foil paper, would come out good enough to be sprayed immediately with varnish for colours/grains enhancement, without any sort of surface dressing/sanding...!
I could have done all these tests and find out but, I have been OK with the extra clean up, while I get the good results I'm to expect from the whole process, is there room for improvement...??? I believe so...!
Cheers
George
