Sweet gum for scales?

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wesessiah

Joined
Feb 23, 2012
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Has anybody here tried sweet gum? I figure the gnarly grain structure may look interesting, but does it hold up well? Outside it not being as dense as a lot of other hardwoods I know the grain structure can cause it to weaken from warping as it dries. I have some very nice looking white oak I'll probably make some scales out of as well, and also thinking about doing black walnut, one side heartwood and the other side sapwood to give a contrast between the sides. Thanks for any responses.
 
I had some red gum (sweet gum heartwood) stabilized. It worked fine. As with any wood, it needs to be properly dried before stabilizing.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I had some red gum (sweet gum heartwood) stabilized. It worked fine. As with any wood, it needs to be properly dried before stabilizing.
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Thanks. This sweet gum should be at a very low mc, as it's been cut and split for probably 6 years, but I'll still check and kiln dry if needed. What's your preference for resin with wood scales? After some searching I'm leaning towards liquid diamonds epoxy, but I'm open to urethane or polyester if they would be better to use.
 
wesessiah said:
Thanks. This sweet gum should be at a very low mc, as it's been cut and split for probably 6 years, but I'll still check and kiln dry if needed. What's your preference for resin with wood scales? After some searching I'm leaning towards liquid diamonds epoxy, but I'm open to urethane or polyester if they would be better to use.
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The general recommendation is to send it out to professional places, usually K&G in the USA
 
Stabilizing is not done with casting/bonding type resins. It is done by impregnating the wood with mono-acrylic resins under vacuum and then pressure. The resin is thermo-setting and forms poly-acrylic chains. Polaroid-B72 is one that professionals use. The closest home method is Cactus Juice. It takes a bit of equipment and good vacuum pumps and compressors.
K&G does most of the stabilizing for US knifemakers.
 
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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Stabilizing is not done with casting/bonding type resins. It is done by impregnating the wood with mono-acrylic resins under vacuum and then pressure. The resin is thermo-setting and forms poly-acrylic chains. Polaroid-B72 is one that professionals use. The closest home method is Cactus Juice. It takes a bit of equipment and good vacuum pumps and compressors.
K&G does most of the stabilizing for US knifemakers.
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Thanks, glad I asked, I was going to treat it like home brew micarta. Equipment won't be a problem, I still want to try it myself. One of those deals like "it's not about the destination, but the journey there."
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Stabilizing is not done with casting/bonding type resins. It is done by impregnating the wood with mono-acrylic resins under vacuum and then pressure. The resin is thermo-setting and forms poly-acrylic chains. Polaroid-B72 is one that professionals use. The closest home method is Cactus Juice. It takes a bit of equipment and good vacuum pumps and compressors.
K&G does most of the stabilizing for US knifemakers.
Click to expand...
Are you thinking of Paraloid-B72? I've been using it for consolidation in archaeological conservation. Lots of things, not just wood. Usually just soaking the material in a thin solution with acetone. The solution soaks in and then the acetone evaporates leaving the resin. In conservation, the treatments need to be reversible, but for knife handles that's not necessary.
 
Dang Spell Check!!!
Years back, Paraloid B-72 was a major stabilizing liquid for wood. It thermosets at around 200°F, IIRC.
Also, it is used as-is for penetrating bones and things to stabilize them for field removal and conservation.
 
Interesting, I didn't know whether it thermosets. We more often use it as a glue. Like 20-25% Paraloid-B72 in acetone. Not particularly strong in my opinion, but useful for a temporary bond that cures quickly
 
Stacy, do you have any other information on using paraloid-b72 for stabilization, such as what concentration b72 and kind of solvent? I'm a graduate assistant to a conservation lab and mentioned it to the professor. He has another student doing some wood conservation experiments and wants to go give that a try. I saw some older posts using 20% b72 and toluene. We might end up using our freeze-dryer as a vacuum if they decide against buying a new vacuum pump and container for these experiments.
 
I would give Ken a call at K&G. He is a nice guy and if he doesn't know he will put you with his stabilizer fellow. I believe they use a liquid mono-acrylic, so he may not have what you want.

All I recall about Paraloid B-72 was it was thinned with acetone and MEK.

Honestly, I would suggest trying Cactus Juice. It is pretty simple to use on softer woods like gum. You can buy a whole kit with the tanks and all for a couple hundred bucks. Check out Woodcraft they sell it and the equipment.
 
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