How To Stabilize wood

Not sure about J-B Weld, but there's lots of information available on-line on how to stabilize wood.
 
You can maybe get a surface coat of epoxy on scales, but that's more sealing than stabilizing. JB Weld isn't thin enough to penetrate without being thinned down with a solvent like mineral spirits, and the standard shop vac in a homemade vacuum chamber doesn't pull enough Atmospheres to push that penetration much past the surface. Given the amount of mess, cost of materials, and tinker time, sending out some scales to a professional is pretty attractive. Bear in mind that stabilizing wood changes the color profile and can't be sanded out like an oil coat, and the effect is much more pronounced in paler woods or species that have bigger pores.
 
These types of rotted wood hardeners haven't proven effective in what is needed for handle material. It's more along the line for pouring on rotted landscape timbers or decking. Too much solvent.

If you want to stabilize wood at home, read up on Cactus Juice. If you want the best cycle treatments under high pressure and vacuum, send it out. Really effective equipment for those techniques to do complete acrylic impregnation is expensive.
 
Rock Farmer said:
Can I use J-B Weld 40001 to stabilize wood scales?
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No.

No, not even a little.

No....not even if you overcome the ineffective penetration.

The biggest problem is that it is solvent based, lots of solvent. The solvent will make wood swell, but when it all dries out there isn't actually much "stuff" left behind...because so much of the fluid volume was solvent. That is not how real wood stabilizing works, nor how cyano-finishing works.

I had considerably better results getting a tall narrow container (500ml soft drinks bottle with top cut off) and submerging a finished knife handle in Danish Oil for 72 hours, wrap cling film around the bottle mouth/blade to prevent too much evaporation. If you try this with that rotten wood hardener, the solvent in THAT will dissolve your handle epoxy and make the scales swell and fall off.
 
Short answer...no. you need an agent that will penetrate the wood not sit on the surface.
 
Welcome Rock Farmer. Fill out your location in your profile so we can offer specific advice.

As said, it takes a different type of resin to stabilize wood. Minwax Wood Hardener and JB Hardener have both been tried. It isn't even close to what proper stabilizing is like. Cactus Juice is used by some home stabilizers, but the vast majority of us send their wood off to K&G or similar professionals. It is worth the cost.
 
I can only second what Stacy says about it being worth the cost…if you can afford the time and up front expense.
I live in the UK. I have had two batches of wood treated by K&G. I figured the volume that would exactly fill a Medium Flat Rate box. The wood was stuff I had harvested myself, seasoned myself and cut up myself. Access to a bandsaw helped a lot, but only for turning logs into board thickness. I calculated cost, with shipping both ways, processing and UK taxes I still saved 55-60% on price of stabilized blocks available here.
Butttt….I have still done a bunch of Danish oiled handles and some have been used hard in tough environments and held up well.
 
I look for wood done by K&G or another reputable company. I used some wood done with cactus juice by a company and there is a big difference in how well the wood is stabilized. Years ago, I also used some blocks that were supplied to me by a store to do 30 knife handles. I believe all of those handles swelled, shrunk, curled, cracked, etc after a couple months in the shop. The store owner checked them out, loved them, sold a bunch of them, and then like 2 or 3 months later, the phone calls and emails started. I got all he had left back to rehandle and we had the customers send direct to me for rehandles as well or he gave them a big store credit.

Even a few years later, I had a set of scales left over that I had removed from this batch. If I put it into my regular freezer, the scales would curl/flatten, and move again when it got back to room temp.
 
While many of us love stabilized wood for our handles, there is nothing wrong with a good hardwood handle and a proper finish .... done right.

Millions of knives have had handles from hardwoods like maple, hickory, walnut, ebony, etc. For a finish probably most had boiled linseed oil or a similar oil finish.
Drying the wood properly and letting it acclimate before use is paramount. This can take years for many woods. What you buy from places like Woodcraft and most wood suppliers is for woodworking and turning and is not dried for knife handles. It still needs up to a year to become stable (different kind of stable).
Applying a finish that will last and protect the handle can take weeks to longer for some finishes.

The thing you want is the oil IN the wood, not ON it. That is accomplished by letting it absorb for a little while (usually 10-30 minutes) and wiping all the excess off with strong rubbing and friction.. Let it cure for at least 24 hours, lightly sand or steel wool, and repeat about three to five times. The handle will glow with an inner shine. It will last for decades with an occasional quick BLO treatment every couple years.

Other oil finishes work pretty much the same. It is a good thing to know that many finishes have a name that implies they are one thing but really are mainly BLO. Tung oil finish/varnish and other Danish finishes are regularly partly BLO. Thinning BLO with about 25% turpentine makes it dry faster, but it still needs time to cure. My final finish on many things from axe handles to leather sheaths to furniture is 40% BLO, 30% turpentine, and 30% beeswax. You can play the beeswax up and down to make a more solid wax or a thinner absorbing finish.

SAFETY NOTE - store of ALL rags and paper towels that have oil finishes on them in a water can. Dispose of properly. I used to be pretty nonchalant about just tossing them over a sawhorse outside and letting them dry before throwing in the trash bin. On day I picked one up and it was HOT! That is why all those spontaneous combustion videos are made to educate us.

I remember about 50 years ago doing a raw linseed oil finish on a classic puukko for a couple months before it was fully soaked and cured - soak 24 hours, drain and wipe off, dry for a week, repeat about 6 times. BLO greatly shortened that time on later knives and axe handles, but it still takes a good week.
 
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To your question, no. Epoxy can be used to fill cracks or voids to large for CA glue to fill, but you won't saturate and stabilize the wood.

This is an article i wrote which i think should have a basic explanation and overview of stabilizing. If you have any questions not covered there let me know.
 
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