What did I do wrong?

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crabcreekind

crabcreekind

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Feb 16, 2011
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OK, so I set up a pressure pot/ vacuum system with a harbor freight pot. I got my gallon of cactus juice today. I catalyzed it just like it said on the instructions. Then I found a plastic rubbermaid container the fit the the pot. After that I got some chicken wire, cut it so the blanks would lay off the bottom the the container. I put the blanks in, and put some more chicken wire on top of it. And the put some pieces of steel on top of it. I put the lid on clamped it down. And proceeded to vacuum for 2 hours. I was a -27-28ish inches of mercury the whole time. After that, I took the weights on and they still floated! and didn't feel any heavier. There looked like resin was splashed out from the container into the sides of the pot. And Yes before I took the blanks out they were still submerged. So I figured I might as well cook them. I put them in the toaster oven wrapped in foil. For 2 hours. I pulled them out. Then looked at them, they weren't all crusty and stabilized looking like in the turntex video. So, I cut it open. The resin in the redwood burl was penetrated about a 1/8. I have no idea what I did wrong? Please help.

James
 
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Hi James: It sounds like you did everything just right, except for one thing----you got too anxious. One of the problems with using a pressure pot for vacuum work is that you can't see what's going on. Had you been able to see in, you would have realized that the system was still hard at work, with vigorous foaming action still taking place. I would say that leaving the blanks in a vacuum 10-12 hours will give the system sufficient time to work. You won't need to keep the vacuum pump on all that time, as a vacuum should be maintained if you have no leaks in your system. A quick check of the gauge every few hours will confirm that.

As for the fluid splashing around inside the pot, I can only offer a guess. When you reintroduced air into the system in order to open the pot, did you gradually open the valve, so that the air came in more slowly, as opposed to opening it full and allowing the air to blast in? Its the only thing I can think of that would create a "cactus juice storm" inside the pot. Others may have other ideas.

Bill
 
For what it's worth, I sent some Redwood burl to River Ridge (professional stabilizers) and they came back in the same condition they left in. No weight gain and no resin inside anywhere. The fact that you got it to take any resin at all is impressive!
 
Like Constant said, RW is tough to stabilize. I have tried a couple of time w/ the juice and not seen any penetration. It just seems that it does not do well with vacuum stabilizing. I would like to make a high pressure stabilizing set up one day but lack the know how right now.

That said, don't give up on the juice. It is a great product. I think leaving it in for 2 hours was plenty long enough. I have done Oak Burls, Box Elder, Buckeye, Maples, Walnuts and some others that escape me. It works well but not so much on conifers (ie Redwood, cedar, juniper)
 
I'd go with the to much to fast. You need to be able to see the solution as it will foam under high CFM for a bit. You need to be able to lower the vaccum until the foaming subsides then seal it off and let 'er rip! Just guessing here...but your juice may have foamed out of the container. I do burls frequently without issue.
 
Jim Burr said:
I'd go with the to much to fast. You need to be able to see the solution as it will foam under high CFM for a bit. You need to be able to lower the vaccum until the foaming subsides then seal it off and let 'er rip! Just guessing here...but your juice may have foamed out of the container. I do burls frequently without issue.
Click to expand...

+1 on what Jim said. Another possibility is as OOPS stated. You can solve the air blast problem by putting some sort of diffuser on the inside of the pressure pot lid where the air enters. I taped mine inside for a quarter inch pipe plug then drilled a set of holes across the flats of the plug and one down the center from the threaded end to the cross drills. This allows the air to enter in four directions, all to the sides instead of blasting straight down into the pot. I could also have install a quarter inch snubber/muffler(a small porous brace fitting used to muffle/restrict air flow at valve exhausts) but I didn't have any.
 
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