stabalizing wood for handles?

Hmmm... I wonder if you could use a vacuum sealer to create a vacuum on a jar. I have an atachment for my vacuum sealer to jar salsa's and such and it does the same thing that heating the hot stabilizing medium and sealing the jar. The same technique can be used to can fruits and vegitables. Any thoughts?
 
There are other posts about using a vaccuum packer for putting a vaccuum on a jar. Some folks have had success with it. I also read and talked to a guy who is using a pressure cooker with a couple valves on top of it to pull a vaccuum and put pressure on the cooker. I have the drawings some place but haven't gotten around to trying myself.
 
It all comes down to how much your time and health is worth.

The amount of time and money spent on stabilizing a small block or two of wood at home is so great that you'd really have to realize $200.00 a pound minimum to break even. And the chemicals some use are extremely hazardous and some are putting this stuff in the refrigerator with family foodstuff, etc.

That's just crazy! Send it to WSSI in batches of 10# or more and it's $8.00 a pound to have them stabilize it, professionally. It might have gone up slightly. Or buy it already done from places like Alpha knife supply.

Their tanks and methods(WSSI) are light years ahead of what can be done at home.
Just the fees they pay in environmental costs alone exceed the worth of most knifemakers entire shops.

This subject comes up every year and there must be a thousand posts on it in this forum alone.

http://www.stabilizedwood.com/

http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/
 
Thanks Mike for plain horse sense talk.I have never found anyone who does stabilizing better than WSSI.They can stabilize BIG ( read huge) pieces of wood.The real savings come when you buy a 16X20X6 inch block of select maple burl and have them stabilize the whole thing (I have bought a block like this for about the price of 10 handle blocks from a supplier).All you have to do from there is slice off the blocks and scales as you need then.You will get over 100 handles from it,150 if you don't make big knives.
 
Yes, plain horse sense talk is what one gets from Mike Hull. Not horse s**t and this is refreshing.
I got a bit of his sense talk in a few personal e-mails a couple of months ago when I wanted to set up my own heat treatment facility at home for Stainless toolsteels. Nothing nasty, just facts that I had not thought through and I really appreciated it, I sometimes like to reach for the stars but forget to keep my feet on the ground!:o
You clearly think things through Mike, facts are facts. We often would like to do things ourselves just to experience the whole thing but some things are best left to the pro's, it is not a case of take 5 minutes and teach me all you know! If you see the setups of some of the pros then you have to think there must be a reason for it.
I hope I have not offended anyone, I have just aired my personal opinion from personal experience. After all, we are all entitled to our own stupid opinion.:foot: :D

Stacy, where does one get hold of these bigass blocks of fancy wood, what you say also makes a heck of a lot of sense. Did you find out about it while you were doing the devilish flame talking thing?:D :D
Seriously, I would really like to get my mitts on a big chunk of good stuff that I could have stabilized.

Mike
 
miden said:
..................................
I hope I have not offended anyone, I have just aired my personal opinion from personal experience. After all, we are all entitled to our own stupid opinion.:foot: :D

Stacy, where does one get hold of these bigass blocks of fancy wood, what you say also makes a heck of a lot of sense. Did you find out about it while you were doing the devilish flame talking thing?:D :D
Seriously, I would really like to get my mitts on a big chunk of good stuff that I could have stabilized.

Mike
Click to expand...


You certainly haven't offended me, Mike. That's what the place is for, questions, answers and opinions.

I'll see if I still have some links to bulk suppliers of woods. I ran a program(anti spyware) a year ago or so and it ate many of the links in my favorites, at least in IE.

http://www.arizonasilhouette.com/index.htm

http://stores.ebay.com/Cook-Woods

http://www.cookwoods.com/

http://www.exoticburl.com/

http://www.eisenbran.com/

http://www.exoticlumberinc.com/

http://www.gilmerwood.com/Default.htm
This place is good but has a $100.00 minimum order. I don't know how hard they stick to that rule.:eek:

http://www.goosebaylumber.com/

http://www.recofor.com/
Real good place for bulk woods at a good price. Get on their mailing list if it's still offered.

http://www.righteouswoods.com/woodmenu.html
Lots of burl in bulk.

http://www.anexotichardwood.com/

Australian Woods.
http://www.bukartilla.com.au/a1timber.html

http://www.aussiefantom.com/.

http://www.akc.iinet.net.au/woodpage.html

That should keep you out of trouble for awhile. maybe someone else has some additional links to bulk hardwood suppliers that we can add to this thread.:confused:
 
Miden, you can get big blocks at Woodcraft. Check on Ebay,too.They are used by wood turners.I regularly see 4" thick blocks at dirt cheap prices.I often cut them into smaller blocks with the width being the length of the handles I want (5"-6"),So a 15"X20"x4" block will make three 20X5X4 blocks or four 15X5X4 ones..If there is any warp when it stabilizes,it won't matter,because you will be slicing the scales/blocks off like a loaf of bread.Keep the blocks as thick as practical,almost square in the end profile,and you will get the best results.Even a small(?) block of 12X8X3 can be had for $25-40 and will cut 16 to 20 big handles.Make sure they are DRY before you get them stabilized,6-9% is good.
Stacy
 
I gotta say.....
Arizona Ironwood has some sweet stuff...not stabilized since its ironwood, but i didnt see it yet.....but heres a set going on a big 15" fighter coming soon:
sx103.jpg
 
TikTock, that is one very lovely piece of timber.

Post a pic when you are done.:D

Mike
 
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