Box Elder Burl Blocks - Pentacryl

[Shaughnessy]

I just cut these up and soaked them in pentacryl for about a day. These are the pieces that were real wet and on the verge of crumbling in some cases. Ironically it always seems like these are the ones with the best color. I figured it would be a good test to see how they are affected by the pentacryl and if they will be useable in the future after stabilizing. Now I just gotta let them dry for a few months.

Larry

 

[J. Hoover]

That's some good looking stuff there. Hope it works out well, those pieces are crying for blade tangs.

 

[Karl B. Andersen]

If you ever cut some more of those up, send me some BEFORE you do anything to them.

 

[Shaughnessy]

Hey Karl,
That was just the stuff on the bottom of the burl, the rest of it is pretty dry. Heres a couple other pics. In the stack pic, the bottom square is Box elder burl the other 2 with bark are black ash burl.

I just wanted to test out the pentacryl on the worst punky pieces I had, and then stabilize them later, if its possible. I know the pentacryl works on wet wood, but I want to know, (after it dries out) if it can then be stabilized.

Some of the pieces have big pieces of bark in them, and some have bigger holes. I was thinking about "casting" with those pieces. Pen guys seem to have perfected this process. I think it might be a good alternative to those pieces that have holes too big for CA. I just love experimenting with this stuff to see what I get.

Larry

 

[kc custom]

I've had good luck drying box elder slow and in the dark, if you want some of the natural red pink to remain. After stabilizing the red got much darker almost like when the wood was wet off the saw.
Ken.

 

[Shaughnessy]

I've heard that before Ken, Sometimes people put it in newspaper and then someplace dark and cool to dry. After I get it all cut up and sorted, the primo stuff is going down to Mike to get double dyed and petrified.

Larry

 

[Phil705]

What is pentacryl and what is it's intended use?

Phil Millam
Winthrop WA

 

[Shaughnessy]

Heres some info and a link:
"Pentacryl stops all green wood from splitting, checking and cracking. Great for any wood worker that wants to take advantage of working with green wood but not worry about the finished product splitting. Easy and safe to use. No equipment necessary. Fast penetrating. All types of finishes and glues can be used once the Pentacryl has dried in the wood."

DOES NOT harden the wood though, so you still need to stabilize it.

http://www.preservation-solutions.com/category.php?category_id=1000

Larry