Fully stabilized or not? That is the question.

bodog

bodog

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According to Ben (Greenberg Woods) K & G might not fully stabilize wood if the customer wants to save some money.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1369724-Stunning-Lace-Redwood-Burl

I'm assuming most people just send their stuff in and it gets stabilized however K & G sees fit, and K & G has a really good reputation, but I guess it begs these questions.

Should buyers start looking for the qualification that a piece from K & G is fully stabilized before buying it?

Should people who send wood to get stabilized make sure to state that the wood needs to be fully stabilized?

If they used only, say, half of the juice normally required, would people be able to tell? How?

Since each piece of wood is individual and absorbs stabilizers differently, with different weights both before and after stabilization, do sellers need to start listing before and after weights along with the other physical characteristics of the block?

How would you know the wood absorbed as much as it could and still came up a little light instead of K & G just shorting the amount of resin?

Sorry, it never crossed my mind that K & G or any other reputable place would knowingly and willingly allow less resin to save money. Not with a reputation to uphold, anyway.
 
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I don't know the answers, but since they charge by weight, I would guess that they would want to pump as much resin into each piece as possible. Less resin equals less money, I can't see why they would want to make less money, unless it was a specific customer request.
 
This is a good question, I will be watching for the answer. I would hope a company that we trust to deliver quality service would not short change the customers.
 
It is too late for me to call them on the phone but it really sounds like someone misunderstood things when talking to them.
I have been using K&G for years and have never heard of getting wood partially stabilized to save money. That just doesn't make any sense.
There is a thinner stabilizing solution that can be used on oily or extra dense woods.
But that is still infused into the wood under pressure until it fully penetrates the wood before it is cured and hardens.

Before I started getting my wood stabilized by K&G I did my own stabilizing for a few years.
Wood not being fully stabilized usually happens when a home stabilizer is not able to get high enough pressure to fully penetrate the wood with the stabilizing solution.
You don't just say I am only going to inject 1 ounce of solution instead of 3 ounces so I can save some money.
It just doesn't work that way.
 
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I've never heard of that either. Like Mark said they have two different solutions they can use depending on the wood. I was just happy I was listed as a reputable dealer :)
 
I couldn't even see partially stabilizing to save money. The $ you would save would be so small per handle. Maybe a couple $ each at best. If I am getting something stabilized I may as well pay the extra dollar or so and get the complete job. There must be more to this.
 
The reason I included the line was when I posted some redwood burl, 3 separate people emailed me to ask if it was "fully stabilized" and I told them that I had sent it to K&G. One of them told me that some people specifically ask K&G to pump less product than normal into the blocks to save money. I had never heard of it, but figured I might as well include that I had not give K&G any instructions to stabilize the wood any different than normal.

I love K&G and if I'm not mistaken they are the best stabilizers. It seems Mark will contact them tomorrow. I deleted any references to it, as I am not even aware if it is something they actually do provide. I guess i learned not to trust random guys who email you over the biggest name in wood stabilizing

Bodog, in the redwood burl listing you quoted me. Woud you mind deleting that quote? I dont want to give people the wrong idea about K&G
 
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Greenberg Woods said:
The reason I included the line was when I posted some redwood burl, 3 separate people emailed me to ask if it was "fully stabilized" and I told them that I had sent it to K&G. One of them told me that some people specifically ask K&G to pump less product than normal into the blocks to save money. I had never heard of it, but figured I might as well include that I had not give K&G any instructions to stabilize the wood any different than normal.

I love K&G and if I'm not mistaken they are the best stabilizers. It seems Mark will contact them tomorrow. I deleted any references to it, as I am not even aware if it is something they actually do provide. I guess i learned not to trust random guys who email you over the biggest name in wood stabilizing

Bodog, in the redwood burl listing you quoted me. Woud you mind deleting that quote? I dont want to give people the wrong idea about K&G
Click to expand...

No problem. It's done on my end. There are a couple of other people who quoted it too.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
The reason I included the line was when I posted some redwood burl, 3 separate people emailed me to ask if it was "fully stabilized" and I told them that I had sent it to K&G. One of them told me that some people specifically ask K&G to pump less product than normal into the blocks to save money. I had never heard of it, but figured I might as well include that I had not give K&G any instructions to stabilize the wood any different than normal.

I love K&G and if I'm not mistaken they are the best stabilizers. It seems Mark will contact them tomorrow. I deleted any references to it, as I am not even aware if it is something they actually do provide. I guess i learned not to trust random guys who email you over the biggest name in wood stabilizing

Bodog, in the redwood burl listing you quoted me. Woud you mind deleting that quote? I dont want to give people the wrong idea about K&G
Click to expand...



This is why you don't repeat anything on the internet that you don't really know. Just because "some guy" said "something" doesn't make it true. These posts get repeated and become untrue internet "facts".


The only "partial stabilizing" I am aware of is the home stabilizing methods using all sorts of resins and things. These do not do the job that K&G and others like WSSI do.
I have never heard of Ken at K&G or Mike at WSSI doing any partial processing.
 
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K&G is without a doubt a great company but WSSI gets all my stabilizing business. I prefer fully stabilized wood. All my wood gets stabilized.
 
John Andrews said:
K&G is without a doubt a great company but WSSI gets all my stabilizing business. I prefer fully stabilized wood. All my wood gets stabilized.
Click to expand...

For the record....anything stabilized by WSSI AND K&G are 'fully stabilized'. :)

And I agree completely with Stacy's post, it captured my thoughts exactly.
 
I've talked extensively with the stabilizing people at K & G and have never heard of anything like that. They do ALL of my stabilizing and I have sent pieces they consider to be maximum size (2 X 4 X 12) and they are always stabilized through and through.
They process the wood in LARGE chambers that contain wood from several different customers so it all gets the exact same treatment. I'm a happy customer and will continue to use them.
 
Glad that's cleared up. I was more worried about fly by night people doing it and selling on places like ebay than anyone here. I have used stabilized wood from, I think, three or four different vendors on this site, a couple of the vendors using K & G, and I've not been disappointed by any. Thank you all for the info.
 
If they state that the wood is stabilized by K&G or by WSSI, you can pretty well trust that it will be properly and fully done. There are a few others who do excellent work.

If you don't know their company name by reputation, or they say it was stabilized in Cactus juice, or they do it, "In House" or by some other method I would just click the back key.
 
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