How does one "Stabilize" wood?

[Carl_First_Timer]

I have seen much talk on here about stabilized wood. Some mention that theirs has been on the shelf for a over a year, some say theirs was bought stabilized with wax.

How would I go about stabilizing wood for scales? Is there a process laid out around here? Any help would be great.

BTW...I am a bit upset about finding this forum, because now most of my idle thoughts are about what to make, and how to make it.

 

[foxx]

I can only suggest reading about it as much as possible. There is a search funtion on this forum, and of course the rest of the internet. There are guys that sell stabilized wood right here on this forum, Burl source comes to mind.
Not all "stabilized" woods are the same, some are done well and others are..uhm, not so well. And yes, you can do it yourself, but you might find buying some stabilized wood scale material is the way to go.

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

I guess you are right. I did a search and there are many products out there. I was trying to get a consensus of what works best from the guys on here though.

 

[jll346]

Best thing to do is get as many sets as you can and send them out to be done professionally. They sell some stuff in like the Depot but you will not get the same quality.

 

[grlangr]

first off Welcome to the forums!! Many woods do not need to be stabilised. However many softer or spalted, as well as some burls need to be due to their lack of strength. Stabilization is (if propperly done) a process of infusing some type of resin into the structure of the wood. Usually, at least the proffesionally done stuff, is done in a vacuum chamber. The plusses of stabilization include strengthening weaker woods and making them impervious to weather, especially moisture/drying. Depending on where you live, this could be a Big Deal! I have had bad shrinkage and warping on a set of pistol grips made by a friend due not being stabilised.

So if you have a really amazing peice of wood that you don't want to worry about being a problem (like 75 year old walnut from your grandpa's old house that is way to dry to use) and you want to do something special with it, get it stabilised! But if your just starting out, and not trying to break the bank, don't sweat it to much. Or you can buy it that way from a bunch of places
Just ask if you want the list!

Best of luck, stay sharp

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

@grlangr - Perfect. I am just starting out, and have a few projects started. I bought some wavy maple from Woodcraft, for the first scales I plan to make. I hadn't planned on stabilizing it. The more I read, the more concerned I got. Thanks for clearing this up.

I do however live near the ocean and find great driftwood from time to time. Sounds like that would be the perfect candidate for stabilization. Is this correct?

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

Best thing to do is get as many sets as you can and send them out to be done professionally. They sell some stuff in like the Depot but you will not get the same quality.

So get the scales roughed out, then in the stage before assembly send them out?

 

[12345678910]

Send to WSSI

http://www.stabilizedwood.com/wssi.shtml

This is the industry standard
K&G is also well regarded.

You pay by the pound (Dan is right)
You don't want to lose huge amounts in sawdust in cutting after stabilization, so cut to reasonable sizes, but not too closely.
The wood can warp in the process and you need to leave material to straighten.


The wax you mention is put on the end cut of fresh cut woods to slow down the drying of the wood, so the piece does not split and check from drying too quickly on the ends.
You do this just after cutting the fresh wood and then put it away for drying for a year or more.
Some use latex paint to do the same thing.
You clean all this off and send clean dry wood for stabilization.


People try to home stabilize with polyurethane, or some other products that do not work well at all. Forget that, the wood will turn milky white from moisture exposure with polyurethane.

 

[Dan Pierson]

You really want to send out oversize pieces because some warping is almost
guaranteed. Also the pieces will come back with resin all over them which you
will have to remove. Note: I have gambled with sending pairs of scales out
several time with generally good results but still think it's too risky to recommend.

While the process is proprietary for each company there are several companies
mentioned in threads here that people have had good and consistent success with.
The two most common are WSSI and K&G. I've used both with good results.

The maximum size wood the places can take also varies. WSSI doesn't have
much in the way of length and width limits, at least in the size ranges I have,
but recommends keeping the thickness under 1 1/2" to limit warping and cracking.
When I used K&G they didn't mention that thickness limit but had a max size
something like 2x4x12 inches. That was about three years ago.

Edited in response to The Count:

Actually the charge is by total weight after stabilization (which will be substantially
higher than the weight you send in).

All wax, varnish, markings, etc. must be removed from the wood before sending it
in. WSSI suggests using ONLY a white-out marker to mark your pieces. They'll
use one anyway to mark each piece in your lot. Other kinds of marker can bleed
into the wood during processing.

 

[A C Richards]

I spent a lot of $$ trying to get it right. With the $$ I spent I could have had about 300 blocks done professionally. I send mine to K&G. Always have had superior results from them.