Questions about Stabilizing Wood

Peter Atwood

Peter Atwood

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
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I'm wondering if folder slabs can be stabilized or will they warp? What is the thinnest cross section of wood that can be stabilized? I just cut up some Amboyna Burl and some Padouk Burl. Amazing woods! I have some Minwax wood hardener that I thought I might try but am uncertain whether to brush it on or just dunk it. If I sent some to WSSI would it make that much difference in the final quality of the pieces?

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I've been playing with this so I'll jump in.
A scale 3/8ths thick will almost always warp when soaked and dried.
Anything thinner will be worse I'm sure.
You can stop some of the warping by placing it under a flat, heavy weight when drying with hardener. Make sure it is completely dry before removing from the weight.

WSSI does a great job and their results are much better than home brewed wood hardener. Most of the pieces I have sent them (3/8ths, 1/4, that range) came back with some curl. (less than my attempts) They will tell you to have an oversize piece treated to take this into account. This isn't a slam against them. It's just the nature of wood.
I have had blocks warp, twist in the 2"x2"x5" range although this is much less apparant and frequent.

If I had thin scales to do, I'd brush on the hardener lightly and let it dry, several times. I'd also keep it under a weight when drying.

On a side note: I've been testing products called Pentacryl and Polycryl. The polycryl is marketed as a wood hardener for soft wood. I've tried it on punky spalted maple and it does harden it some what but it is not what I would consider hard enough for a knife handle. I have sent some off to WSSI to treat for comparison.
Pentacryl simply won't work on soft or punky wood. After a lot of trials, I now have my doubts about this stuff too.
Minwax wood hardener does make punky or soft wood a lot harder but does not fill the pores of the wood with 'poly' like the WSSI treatment does. I am going to try a 'triple quench' (us stock removal guys can throw that around too:D ) and see if that makes a difference.

WSSI is good at what they do. They will charge you $12/pound for small lots for their goop and seems to be the cheapest way to go after fooling around with all the hardener and other stuff I have been.
 
Tracy, I've experimented with the Minwax wood hardener stuff a little bit, I cut it about 50% with acetone, and then soak the scales for a week. Then I let it dry for a couple days, and then resubmerged it for another week and let it dry. Not sure if I repeated it again, but it seemed to have done a pretty decent job filling the voids in maple.
 
What kind of wood were you using Chang? Did they warp?

This wood is dry and greedy for moisture. It sucked up the Watco that I put on it. I'll try the brush on method with the wood hardener. Thanks for the info!
 
Peter, it was birdseye maple cut into 3/8 x 1-1/2 x 5". After you do the double soak, it might be good to brush a little bit of uncut solution onto the handle to make sure everything is sealed. My birdseye maple split when I hit a thong hole tube at the wrong angle, so I didn't try finishing it up, but I will try finishing up the scraps just for testing this weekend and let you know how it works.
 
I just did some 1/8 inch maple for spacers in wood hardener for three days and had no warp problems. I sure wouldn't cut it with acetone.I am sure WSSI would do a better job than home brew.Minwax wood hardener helps stop shrinkage and growth depending on humidity.
Take Care
TJ
 
i have sent hawaiian koa wood to K&G suppy for stabilizing with great results. i found sending over 1/2" thick pieces helped cut down on warping. so 1/2"x3"x5" will give you 2 pieces 1/4x1 1/2 x 5" and you could cut the lenth down if five in" is to much. this and wssi's treatment if far better than our home grown :D
 
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