How to STABILIZE wood or bone?

[esa]

hello,i had a question,i have alot of different types of wood,and was wanting to know how to stabilize for handle scales?would anyone have a thought on this thanks so much eric

[Ray Rogers]

Several thoughts: one, not all wood can be effectively stabilized. Oily wood like cocobolo, many tropical woods, and super dense wood like ironwood are not goot candidates for stabilization.

Two: for woods that are good candidates nothing you can do at home - and I mean absolutely NOTHING - will be as good as having the wood stabilized by a professional outfit like K&G Finishing or WSSI. Home brewed processes do work with various levels of success but these guys use chemicals and processes that most of us can't begin to hope to match and they can do it for you much cheaper than you can do it yourself in some cases.

Three: if your question is aimed at doing it yourself there are many ways various people have worked out to stabilize their materials. Some ways are elaborate and expensive, requiring vacuum pumps and pressure vessels and others are inexpensive and require only a suitable chemical and maybe a jar for fruit canning. These methods and the many home brewed chemicals that have been tried with varying degrees of success have been discussed in detail many time in these forums. Do a Search for 'stabilizing' or 'stabilized wood' or 'stabilizing chemicals' as a starting point for locating some of these threads....

[B.Finnigan]

I have used 2 parts mineral spirits to one part polyurethane. It has worked real well for me on several different types of burled and other woods. If you have a vacuum setup then it can be done in around two days, if not then 10 days to two weeks of soaking time is needed. This mixture may not be better then commercial stabilizing but it does not darken the wood as much. I had a nice piece of burled big leaf maple come back looking as dark as claro walnut.

[nozh_scrap]

hey...I'm a beginner and I wanted to get in on this conversation too... What if you have a piece of wood, (other than the exotics)...lets say...walnut, or some kind of a really nice tiger, or burl, or birdseye type of figured wood... could you just coat that with a few coats of danish oil, or some other kind of oil, let it soak in and buff it out and be done? Is that the same thing as stabilizing? :confused:

[Andrew Garrett]

Nozh,

Not the same thing. Danish oil is a good way to finish fine wood and will work for knives. It will. however, require regular maintenance over the years to keep it nice.

Stabilizing is a process of infusing the wood with a resin, acrylic, or other polymer to give it the physical properties of the impregnant while maintaining the visual qualities of the wood. This means it is all but impervious to water damage and shrinkage and requires little if any maintenance.

[Andries Olivier]

Using too much oil on a wood handle might turn out hazardous, especially on a full tang knife. You might find that it penetrates right through the wood and loosen the epoxy bond. I found that out the hard way.

[nozh_scrap]

oh ok...so in other words, stabilizing wood is kind of like...pickleing it? 8o

What do you have to do as far as maintenance goes for a wood handled knife just sealed with a danish oil? Do you have to apply any other kind of sealer like a polyurethane or anything?

thanks guys for your answers

[Andries Olivier]

I don't think polyurethane will work on oiled wood. I normally use oil such as linseed oil or teak oil just to feed the wood and afterwards apply rennaisance wax to seal and protect the wood. It however needs to be rewaxed often to maintain the beauty of the wood.

I understand some guys use a locktite product of some sort to impregnate wood either under pressure or by vacuum.

Can anybody give some clarity on the issue? I would also like to do my own experiments on impregnation.

[esa]

Thanks For Taking The Time And Replying To This Tread,i Also Am Intersted In The Loctite To Put On Wood,i Was Wanting To Use Walnut And Persimmion Along With Different Kinds Of Maple For My Handles.and Again Thanks For The Helping!!! Eric