Anyone uses Minwax to stabilize wood?

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

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Aug 13, 2002
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I tried my first batch using a vacuum pump I bought from Robert Mayo here on BladeForums. Great guy by the way I had fun meeting him and his wife and seeing the very nice knives he makes.

I put the pieces in there (26 inch vacuum) for about 30 minutes and let them sit with the vacuum turned off for another 30. Using Minwax wood hardener.
Penetration seems to have been good but I did not cut the blocks in 2 yet. But they where small blocks so I am not worried about this.
The thing is the hardener is very thin and some of the porosity of the wood is still there as you can see. (blocks sanded to 320 grit and buffed with pink scratchless).

wood_minwax1.jpg


Is the hardener too thin?
Should I repeat the process more than once?
Should I be sanding more of will this be the same whatever the depth?

Thanks for our help.

Patrice
 
Assuming everything worked and it really did penetrate the wood, the porosity wouldn't bother me. It may be well-stabilized but still have a fairly natural feel. Cut some up and see how well it penetrated.
 
Minwax wood hardener is NOT waterproof! I tried it a couple of years ago to stabilize some maple burl..... I took the wood out of my vaccum chamber, and since it was a warm day, placed in on a picnic table in our backyard, where I forgot it at the end of that day. That night we had a heavy dew, and the next morning I found the wood.....all milky in appearance. I thought it just might be on the surface due the the moisture, but after cutting into 3 different pieces, I found the milky appearance went all the way through.

I did a little experiement, and laid a wet rag over another piece of wood that was "stabilized" with the minwax, but had already been allowed to dry for a week indoors. Next morning the milky appearnace was all over the wood, and had penetrated about 3/8" from the surface(s)....my conclusion is that minwas wood hardener is not something to use for stabilizing.
 
Well, to heck with that, then Ed. That would really not be cool to have a hunter come back looking all milky. :thumbdn:
 
Thanks for sharing that Ed, and here I thought it was the el cheapo answer. Time for plan B I guess.

Chuck
 
I'm moving away from el cheapo answers. I've been doing a little math and finding that really really nice wood bought from guys around here, professionally stabilized, is going to cost me less than $50 per handle in every case. That's by far the high end of the price scale. I've been told by a couple cabinet/cabinetmaker's supply shops I can scrounge around in their scrap bins for free. Even better, all I'd need to pay for is stabilizing and shipping.

Is $50 or less worth it to me to have a handle I can guarantee with confidence? HECK YES.

If not, I think you might as well stick with micarta or dymondwood. (and nope, I don't turn my nose up at either of those.)
 
I appreciate the heads up Ed.
I am bummed though. I did not think I was taking the cheap way out. :(
Any of you guys do use something else to stabilize your own wood that is at least remotely possible to buy for an individual?

Patrice
 
Patrice Lemée;6740410 said:
Any of you guys do use something else to stabilize your own wood that is at least remotely possible to buy for an individual?
Click to expand...

Patrice, I understand that being in Canada, shipping costs/exchange rates may be a much bigger deal to you than they are to me. I wish you the very best of luck in finding a way to do it yourself that's comparable in quality and cost to what the pros do.

If you do, perhaps you should offer your services to your countrymen to offset your costs and perhaps even make a profit. That's how small businesses are built.

As for me, I simply haven't YET found a way to do it myself at similar prices, with similar quality, than letting the pros handle it.
 
I've been doing this for a year, but i use minwax, woodhardner and acetone to make it even thinner. i leave it in my pot for 3 days, release the vacuum then put it under pressure for a day or two.
let air dry ,then put it in my hot box with a 100 watt bulb in it .

you can put them in water, take them out and they dry in min.
goes all the way through,
 
IG can you put a color in this mix like blue or red or something ?
I use min wax wood hardener and thin with acetone and it works good.
I have some maple i would like to stain.
 
Like IG said, it is not an overnight process. I use the hardener and B72 also. I keep blocks under vacuum for at least two days, then pressure for a day. No issues with milkiness after it is dry. I just finished a fillet two weeks ago that has already seen some hard use on a commercial spearing boat and no problems. I am considering trying resolute down the road when I get time. IG, I should switch up to acteone, I have been using MEK and that stuff has some flavor!

http://www.cuecomponents.com/nelsonite.html
 
Last edited:
gixxer said:
Like IG said, it is not an overnight process. I use the hardener and B72 also. I keep blocks under vacuum for at least two days, then pressure for a day. No issues with milkiness after it is dry. I just finished a fillet two weeks ago that has already seen some hard use on a commercial spearing boat and no problems. I am considering trying resolute down the road when I get time. IG, I should switch up to acteone, I have been using MEK and that stuff has some flavor!

http://www.cuecomponents.com/nelsonite.html
Click to expand...

I have a batch in and the solution is like syrupy and I still got a ton of bubbles. Next batch I will not use acteone at all.I am using a Hi-Test pump.
 
Thanks guys, I will see what if I can find those products locally.

By the way, I am treating pre-shaped handle scales in the 1/4" to maybe 1/2" thickness range so hopefully I can get full penetration a little quicker.

Thanks again.

Patrice
 
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