stabilization

M

MKustom

Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
56
I lucked into some waxed and dried burl ov varies species. From Maple to Black Walnut, all very dense woods, I have tried a couple of times with thinned epoxy and I cannot seem to get the wood to take.

I am looking for any suggestions for alternate products to stabilize.

This is my first attempt at stabilizing wood I have the ability to pull 26-28 lbs.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
 
send it to K&G. If you really want to mess with it there are 2 stabilizers that the average knifemaker can use. Nelsonite you can get it from Darrin Ellis. And resolute used extensively in pool cue stabilizing. Google it. Neither will make the wood like plastic. You can research and draw your own conclusions. Pressure is just as important as vacuum. Talking with Ken at K&G help puts 4000psi into his tanks. Not for the faint of heart. I tried all the readily available epoxies and resins, even some acrylic. Nothing performed like the big boys stuff. I just send it off and save the aggrivation. There have been some interesting tutorials on using plastic bag and threading the wood with a pipe fitting. Good luck
 
Especially with burl, send it to the profesionals. Mike at WSSI is supreb. Ken at K&G is good ,too.
Stacy
 
how long are you letting the blocks soak in the vacuum? I normally let mine soak for at least a couple days. The more the better.
 
Hi M :) I send my stuff to Mike at WSSI too, he does a great job ! You mentioned the maple as being a "very dense" wood. One thing that surprised me was the weight gain of some of the first birdseye maple blocks that I sent to wssi. Mike told me that maple(hard&soft) takes in more "stabilizing chemical" than many of the other hardwoods :confused: I'm currently waiting on a box of birdseye I sent to him. The clear is on its way, the chroma-brown will be a week or so. If you send some make sure and give him about 30 days. Sometimes you'll get it back in 2 wks, sometimes not. I think it depends on the process you choose (clear, dyed, double dyed)


I have never tried K&G. Does the end product from either place ( wssi or K & G ) come out pretty much the same or are there differences when finishing ?? Anyone tried and compared ??
 
I have used both in the past. I find the work done by Mike ,at WSSI, to be superior, and more consistent. I have several hundred pounds a year done by him, with never a complaint.
Stacy
 
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