Home made mini stabilization set up

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RODNEYBREAN

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My version, a hand held food vac pump from W-mart,($22) pickle jar, Minwax wood hardner. Kept the pump on til the bubbles stopped. Flipped the blanks, vaccumed again. Now letting them dry. Started with 24 oz of hardner, when done had 17 oz left. used 4 blanks. Didn't weigh blanks before or after (should have) If nothing else , sped up the time for the product to soak in.
 

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I am very new to this, I had read many post of turners using Minwax wood hardener to stabilize soft or rotten blanks. If I misused the term then I apologize. Again, I am new to this and thought I would share my idea.
 
Well I'm not one to argue semantics, but if your process yielded stabilized blanks, than the wood hardener was used as a stabilizer. In my mind, call it what you will. No harm, no foul. :)

Picking of nits aside, great job on thinking outside the box! Being able to perform this process on a budget will surely get some attention! Please keep us informed on your journey through this process, and PLEASE post pics of the pens that you create from it. WELL DONE! :biggrin:
 
I have heard of people using wood hardeners or other store bought hardeners for stabilizing, but they said the problem was that the liquid never hardened.
 
Yep, looks like my first. I used a gallon pickle jar. I never used wood hardener though. I have seen lots that have. Like said, if the blank is solid and stable then it is a win. I know folks use white glue watered down, Plexi and Acetone, Styrofoam and Acetone all with successful results. Nice work.

one question though. Wheres the Pen?????
 
Early on, I did our stabilization with a pickle jar, a cheapo manual brake bleeder/pump, and minwax. The stuff took way too long to dry, but it hardened punky wood pretty good.

Certainly, cactus juice (and similar products), a real vacuum chamber, and an actual vacuum pump work way better, but as a budget solution, this worked.
 
I've also used miniwax wood hardener. No it doesn't work as well as cactus juice, or professional stabilizing, but it is better than nothing. And even though it may not penetrate the fibers of the wood like the other methods, it does a decent job of making a blank usable.

Oh, and welcome Rodney!!
 
Nothing wrong at all with using a pickle jar as a stabilizing chamber! I did it for many years. I also used Minwax Wood Hardener as well as my own homemade version. If you are happy with the results you got with MWH, then you might want to make your own. You can do so by dissolving plexiglas in acetone. That is basically what MWH is. It is 72% acetone, 6% mineral spirits, and 22% acrylic. Be careful with this mixture under vacuum though. The exhaust from your pump will be very highly flammable acetone gas and the acetone will boil off quickly. Also, remember that whatever you get in the wood, 78% of it will evaporate leaving only 22% behind as solids which is the part you are looking for.
 
Thanks for the replies, I just ordered Cactus Juice this morning. Kinda to get things out here, used what I had available. Just thought the hand held food vac was a way to speed up the absorption process. Seems like it did. will let the blanks dry for a few days and see if I can get a pen from them. Will post pics if it worked.

Mahalo,

Rodney
 
Great test. I know my food vac doesn't create a very strong vacuum but it's better than just soaking. I gotta say it looked like I dropped an alka-seltzer it the jar for about 10 min.
 
I have done the same thing with a vac food sealer, using plexi and acetone. One thing I did, (probably saw the idea on this site) was to pre-drill the blanks with a 7mm bit. Pre-drilling helps get the stabilizer in from the inside===better penetration.

I had good results with corn cobs and punky wood.

Steve
 
Home-made & watch this....

Redneck, home-made and, "hey, watch this" is what innovation is all about! lol It may not be 100% stablizing but I have been experimenting with the same process! I mean, poor folks gotta' make do with what ya got. I drilled a hole in the lid of a pickle jar, threaded in a fitting, and hooked up a discarded pump that I found & pulled a vaccumn for a while.
Then I soaked the blanks in some discarded stuff from Sherwin Williams and put them in a pressure pot for a while (again discarded stuff) and turned out a decent pen...It's all about relaxing & having fun while you create something unique...Total cost: Less than $10.00
 

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Phillip Kelley said:
Redneck, home-made and, "hey, watch this" is what innovation is all about! lol
Click to expand...

Ha!! Ain't that the truth!!!
Rodney, you are an innovative man to be sure! Remember when you go to CJ they have to get warm/hot (200*+/-) to cure. I like your set up; the only suggestion I can offer is to leave a little more room in the jar so all surfaces of the blank are exposed to juice. Really want to see how those blanks come out!
Keep us in the loop!
 
Is there an update on this

Thinking about making one with a jar and a brake bleeder. Has anyone else done this with good results? Will use cactus juice and a toaster oven
 
Brake bleeders suck (and not in a good way!). It takes quite a while to pull vacuum and you need a constant pull with the pump running for best results. You could pump it down, let it set, come back and pump again, repeat, repeat, repeat but it is going to take a good while.
 
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Ok, I don't have anything useful to add but I want to say that Curtis gave me the best laugh of the morning with a comment in that "Cactus Juice a Plus!" post linked earlier in this thread.

MesquiteMan said:
...like comparing apples and peacocks!
Click to expand...

I don't know why that got me, but thank you for that :biggrin:
 
Has anyone tried adding any color or dyes to the Minwax Wood Stabilizer?

I have ordered some Cactus Juice, but I figured, since it is kind of expensive for the average "for fun" turner, that the Minwax might be an option to practice and try with until I have perfects a technique. also if in just stabilizing stuff for fun and I know may not work, it would be cheaper to use up some MWH to test a theory first before using the cactus juice.

recommendations?
 
Some types of resins flow much more easily when warm, like alumalite .... they also cure quite a bit faster when in a warm environment.

The main issue that stabilizers typically cost MUCH LESS than casting resins.
 
Interesting thread.


Curtis

Having got some cactus juice and wanting to tey it. One guy said to boil the soaked pieces in bags and foil after vacuuming them ? Rather than toaster oven ( SWMBO might not be too happy ).

Your thoughts / experience please?

Regards Ian
 
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