Help with stabilizing wood

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dancar

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Nov 1, 2009
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3
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Louisiana
Hello folks, I am looking for some help with stabilizing wood blanks for knife handles.. I've decided to use a mason jar with a hand vaccuum pump for my unit.. My question is about what do I use to stabilize the wood?? I've looked on the web and just don't seem to be able to find anything.. So, if anyone can give me some thoughts, I'd appreciate it.. Also, I'm open to any comments on how to actually go about stabilizing the wood.. I'm new at this, but I really want to learn..
Danny
 
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thanks for that info.. Do you know of any liquid resins that can be purchased to stabilize with.. I've tried the Minwax wood hardener, but it doesn't crystalize the wood...
 
I have only used the plexi/acetone mixture. It seemed to work well.

Some have used ultraseal and other products which I can't remember right now but they are pretty costly.

Do a search for stabilizing products or look in the Product Testing and Review forum for more recommendations.
 
Resinol 90c is the stuff a lot of the pros use. Ultraseal also works quite well. Both of these will work much better than plexi-tone, Minwax wood hardner, or other solutions. I have done testing with everythign you can imagine so this is based on actual experience.
 
I definitely agree with Curtis on this one. Although I do continue to use my own home brewed formula of Styrofoam and MEK, no pressure just a nice long period of soaking and pre-drilled pen blanks. Anything larger and I do apply a vacuum and seal off the vessel and leave it for a few days. So far everything is working great for me.

BTW, Resinol 90c is the very material used by the pro's, but they often have their own private and secret additives as well. Don't even bother to try and ask them what that is though as they will not even think of telling you! :wink:
 
Fred said:
I definitely agree with Curtis on this one. Although I do continue to use my own home brewed formula of Styrofoam and MEK, no pressure just a nice long period of soaking and pre-drilled pen blanks. Anything larger and I do apply a vacuum and seal off the vessel and leave it for a few days. So far everything is working great for me.

BTW, Resinol 90c is the very material used by the pro's, but they often have their own private and secret additives as well. Don't even bother to try and ask them what that is though as they will not even think of telling you! :wink:
Click to expand...

Styrofoam and MEK? Cool. Where do you get the MEK?

I'm sure there are better stabilizers out there, but you'll sure pay for them. I get free plexiglass scraps from the local hardware store (leftovers from plexi window installations), and Acetone isn't too expensive.
 
MEK is a readily available 'thinner' available at most professional paint stores. Last gallon I bought was about $26.00 or so. The big boys, HD and Lowe's don't carry large containers and their prices are way up there for a pint or so.

The MEK is extremely toxic to your skin and the vapors are just as damaging to your brain and other organs. Be danged sure and have adequate ventilation and wear high quality rubber gloves. This stuff will and can kill you if you are careless.

Use extreme caution and read all the warning labels and understand them completely. (Kinda sounds like Norm Abrams) Eye contact will definitely ruin your future days ...

I won't even go into how explosive this MEK is. :eek:

I make a mixture that is so saturated with styrofoam that the MEK will not dissolve any more. Then I thin it when using it. The mixture has some shelf life, but the styrofoam will eventually 'glob' up and settle out in time. Throw it all out and start over.

One hint ... DO NOT treat light wood and dark wood in the same mixture as the MEK will leach out the dark oils and thus stain the light wood.

Just be extra, extra cautious and avoid ALL skin contact and don't breath the vapor any more than possible. :eek::eek::eek::frown:
 
Fred said:
MEK is a readily available 'thinner' available at most professional paint stores. Last gallon I bought was about $26.00 or so. The big boys, HD and Lowe's don't carry large containers and their prices are way up there for a pint or so.

The MEK is extremely toxic to your skin and the vapors are just as damaging to your brain and other organs. Be danged sure and have adequate ventilation and wear high quality rubber gloves. This stuff will and can kill you if you are careless.

Use extreme caution and read all the warning labels and understand them completely. (Kinda sounds like Norm Abrams) Eye contact will definitely ruin your future days ...

I won't even go into how explosive this MEK is. :eek:

I make a mixture that is so saturated with styrofoam that the MEK will not dissolve any more. Then I thin it when using it. The mixture has some shelf life, but the styrofoam will eventually 'glob' up and settle out in time. Throw it all out and start over.

One hint ... DO NOT treat light wood and dark wood in the same mixture as the MEK will leach out the dark oils and thus stain the light wood.

Just be extra, extra cautious and avoid ALL skin contact and don't breath the vapor any more than possible. :eek::eek::eek::frown:
Click to expand...

So it's cool to use in my basement shop then?
 
Fred said:
I definitely agree with Curtis on this one. Although I do continue to use my own home brewed formula of Styrofoam and MEK, no pressure just a nice long period of soaking and pre-drilled pen blanks. Anything larger and I do apply a vacuum and seal off the vessel and leave it for a few days. So far everything is working great for me.

BTW, Resinol 90c is the very material used by the pro's, but they often have their own private and secret additives as well. Don't even bother to try and ask them what that is though as they will not even think of telling you! :wink:
Click to expand...

Where do you buy the Resinal 90c????
 
I have 2 gallons of Ultraseal & 4 gallons of Resinol 90C here in my shop. Both work very well, both are expensive. I've stabilized a few hundred pounds of different material with each and have a pretty extensive test log using labratory test methods. You will go through a lot of hoops to purchase 90C and they (Loctite-Henkel) do not sell by the quart or gallon. PM me if you decide to go down this path, I'll help where I can. If you have a lot to stabilize this is the way to go, if not, the economical route would be to find someone that offers this service.

Jim
 
So here is a silly question....Some of the stabilized blanks I see for sale here and in other places such as Ebay have been colored with the stabilizing mixture which I think is pretty cool. Are they adding color pigments/dyes, etc into the stabilizing solution?

Rick (mtgrizzly52)
 
It is solvent/oil dyes that are added to the resin. Not all solvent dye mix well with the resin. That would be a one step process. Aniline( a very generic term) dyes are water based and needs to be done in a two step process.
 
I've tried dying while stabilizing with a water + white glue solution, with plexitone + Solarlux, and plexitone + Transtint.

I got plexitone/ water+glue penetration full through the blank, but the colors were slight at best. Not the deep color all the way through you get from the pros... So, I'm looking at a topical dye like food coloring. That seems to be pretty slick.
 
Fred said:
I definitely agree with Curtis on this one. Although I do continue to use my own home brewed formula of Styrofoam and MEK, no pressure just a nice long period of soaking and pre-drilled pen blanks. Anything larger and I do apply a vacuum and seal off the vessel and leave it for a few days. So far everything is working great for me.

BTW, Resinol 90c is the very material used by the pro's, but they often have their own private and secret additives as well. Don't even bother to try and ask them what that is though as they will not even think of telling you! :wink:
Click to expand...

That's the brew I would like to use. But finding styrofoam in large quantities is difficult. I won't pay the price for new stuff like shippers use. I'm searching for a free source, like companies that discard packing materials.
 
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