Xcasting cocobolo blanks

[Xcallmaker]

Hi folks, I'm new to the forum and thought I would pick your brain. I want to cast cocobolo and alumilite blanks. I have a pressure pot and I am wondering If I'm going to run into trouble casting coco as it is a very oilly wood. Will soaking it in acetone help, or putting in the oven prior to casting? What am I up against?
Thanks in advance

Kelly

 

[Edgar]

Welcome from Texas, Kelly.

I don't have any direct experience with casting cocobolo, but it is a good idea to warm any kind of wood in an oven or microwave to remove moisture before casting with Alumilite. Alumilite & water do not play well together. I use an inexpensive toaster oven & a $30 moisture meter that I got at Amazon.

Soaking oily woods in acetone sounds like a good idea too, perhaps others will add their thoughts.

 

[Xcallmaker]

Welcome from Texas, Kelly.

I don't have any direct experience with casting cocobolo, but it is a good idea to warm any kind of wood in an oven or microwave to remove moisture before casting with Alumilite. Alumilite & water do not play well together. I use an inexpensive toaster oven & a $30 moisture meter that I got at Amazon.

Soaking oily woods in acetone sounds like a good idea too, perhaps others will add their thoughts.

Thanks Edgar

 

[robutacion]

Welcome from Texas, Kelly.

I don't have any direct experience with casting cocobolo, but it is a good idea to warm any kind of wood in an oven or microwave to remove moisture before casting with Alumilite. Alumilite & water do not play well together. I use an inexpensive toaster oven & a $30 moisture meter that I got at Amazon.

Soaking oily woods in acetone sounds like a good idea too, perhaps others will add their thoughts.

G'day Kelly,

Cocobolo is not an easy wood to cast and you would achieve nothing by trying to stabilized it however, I'm quite experience with some oily woods such as the Olive wood and I can tell you that you can improve the adhesion properties of the Cocobolo by trying to "neutralize" the natural oils in the wood and how do you achieve that?

Well, you need to put the wood in an oven at 90Celsius for at least 24 hours and if everything goes well, the oils will crystallize so, they will transform from liquid to solid., it works with Olive wood...!

Cheers
George