Worthless wood prep question

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J

Justturnin

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I recently came across a good bit of Water Oak Burl. After cutting it down to blanks I am stuck w/ a good bit of worthless wood. The sad part is the bulk of this wood was around rot and is Spalted and some of the best wood in the lot. I knew what I wanted to do with it but didnt know where to start until I found Curtis' worthless wood article. I have some casting PR coming and should be here tomorrow. Worthless wood will not be my first endevor w/ the resin but will come along shortly.

My question. How do you prep your worthless wood? I have been poking and proding it w/ an Awl trying to knock off the bark & rot but want to make sure once I give it a good DNA cleaning there is not a step I missed before introducing the resin. I want to make sure I have good adhesion to the wood. Any tips would beappreciated.
 
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I've only done a handful of WW castings but it appears you've got it prepped well. Are you using pressure with this? You'll definitely need it, especially with PR. It doesn't stick to wood as well as alumilite. It's possible, that's how I cast mine. It just has a tendency to come undone on the lathe if hit just right. CA will be your friend. Another thing to think about will be securing the wood in your mold. If it's not held down it will float up in the resin. Hopefully some of those that are more experienced will chime in. Good luck!
 
No pressure pot. I thought pressure was just for the alumilite. My have to wait till I can buy a HF death bomb........I mean pressure pot.
 
Chris I would save up for a couple of more months and get something that won't kill ya. I had a HF blow up today....very scary!!!! I spent $80@ HF and it lasted 4 days, so now I'm saving "again" for a good one. Just something to think about.
 
Chris, call Curtis directly and he can walk you through some good pointers. He's a wealth of info and the phone call will be well worth it.

Dave
 
I have done a heap of PR WW and here is my prep:

  • Remove all the bark and loose materials
  • If smooth, use wire brush to roughen (I have one on a bench grinder and hand held grinder)
  • Ensure timber is COMPLETELY dry (even use oven, the drier the better)
  • Use thin CA on any soft spots you want to keep
  • Heat resin before adding catalyst
  • Pour in resin and place in pressure pot (mine's safety valve is set at 45psi)
  • I leave overnight in pressure pot to ensure it is completely set whilst under pressure.
Hope this helps

Cheers
 
I want to try some of these as they seem interesting to me. I have read where the folks that do snake skins brush a coat of the raw resin (no hardner) on prior to doing the mold system. Maybe this would be worth a try in an effort to help eliminate bubbles and improve adhesion. Richard
 
Great info Neil,
I am going to try this out.....once I get a pressure pot. In the mean time I am practicing on some regular blanks.

Dai Sensei said:
I have done a heap of PR WW and here is my prep:

  • Remove all the bark and loose materials
  • If smooth, use wire brush to roughen (I have one on a bench grinder and hand held grinder)
  • Ensure timber is COMPLETELY dry (even use oven, the drier the better)
  • Use thin CA on any soft spots you want to keep
  • Heat resin before adding catalyst
  • Pour in resin and place in pressure pot (mine's safety valve is set at 45psi)
  • I leave overnight in pressure pot to ensure it is completely set whilst under pressure.
Hope this helps

Cheers
Click to expand...
 
I never thought to wire brush the wood. I'll have to remember to add that step in. I'm not having any cohesion problems, but it can't hurt.
 
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