Stabilizing wood

[Jon Kennedy]

Originally Posted by boatbuilder

I built myself a steel vessel. 20" diameter and about 36" tall. I can get approx 125-150 handle blocks in it. When I am done with vacuum cycle I just switch over to about 120 psi in the vessel.

Jon. Will you vessel be able to handle pressure? Can you get bigger size tubes? I would really like to have a clear see through vessel.
What is the juice you are using and is it safe to work with or do you need to mask up for handling it?

Thanks
Jim

Jim the chambers i have are able to with stand presure of up to 130 psi with the right type of caps, and no you need no mask when useing my resin

[Matt Bufford]

I was thinking of setting my chamber up with one of these

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-1-2-h...ank-66839.html

I've seen several variations of using it as a vac and pressure combo, resins won't hurt it during the soak, and half of the plumbing is already there. Only down side is you can't see through it... But how big of a deal is that really? Considering the long amount of time you keep stuff under vac and pressure, being able to see the bubbles shouldnt be that important - from my understanding. Once you have a recipe and technique that works, I'd assume you just stick with it right?

[Tkrueger]

I use the resin that Jon has and if you run a vacuum cycle at -28.5 in of vacuum till all the bubbles are gone you will not even need a pressure cycle. But you have to get that deep vacuum or the process will not work. Spalted wood will take about a 2- 3 hr vacuum cycle and then a soak cycle and into the heat cure and done . Troy

[jdale]

I think i have my first successful batch of stabilizing with the cactus juice. I already put it under black light to see if all went as planned (cactus juice fluoresces under black light) other than that im not sure how to test to see if it is working as intended.

[Matt Bufford]

Originally Posted by jdale

I think i have my first successful batch of stabilizing with the cactus juice. I already put it under black light to see if all went as planned (cactus juice fluoresces under black light) other than that im not sure how to test to see if it is working as intended.

You could cut a cross section through your blank, and sand it down to 400 grit or so. You should be able to see wether it penetrated all the way through by the consistency of the sheen.

Remember... Pictures or it didn't happen!!

[Tkrueger]

When I do game calls (2x2x6") I use the weight of the wood to tell me how well the penetration is. If you got a - 28.5 in of vacuum till the bubbles stopped you should have 100% resin penetration . Or a good test is to color the resin and then you can see it . Troy

[Jon Kennedy]

Jim, I will have to look to see if i can get that size clear pipe, the pipe will handel 130 psi of presure but the caps will not, you are depending on the glue on the pipe caps to hold more than what they are desinged for, there are presure vessels out there that will hold 3000 psi but they are very expensive, I can make you a clear square chamber that size but you will not be able to put presure on it. After looking at all the blanks you are doing at once makes me wonder how big of a cure oven you have? it would be very simple to make the chamber you have now into a dry vac chamber and it will speed up the process.
Jon

[combs6136]

Want to make a chamber...Need to know how to do it...I have the pump and a chamber...How to hook up?///

[Hapay]

I would love to hear from anyone who has used this stuff... Or any other similar products. please suggest me the best tube size also. Thanks