What Materials Need Stabilizing?

T

The Gopher

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Mar 4, 2011
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I am new to the world of stabilizing and thought it might be a good idea to have a list of materials that are should/require stabilizing and another list of materials that don't require stabilizing. I think it's pretty easy to determine if a wood requires stabilizing such as spalted woods and soft woods, but what about woods that are already hard or oily? I'll start the list although it will be short, please keep adding to the thread, Thanks everyone!

Materials that should be stabilized
Spalted woods (maple, tamarind, birch, etc.)
Burls
Antler
Horn
Black and Red Palm
Walnut
Oak

Materials that don't require stabilizing (or don't accept stabilizing)
Cocobolo?
Bocote?
 
This subject comes up pretty frequently, and it isn't really a matter of fact so much as it is a matter of opinion.

One could say that no material NEEDS stabilizing. Some materials benefit more from it than others, but none absolutely need it. Spalted woods and burls are among the ones that benefit most. Other less dense (more porous) woods benefit significantly. Dense woods may benefit from stabilization, but the benefit is significantly less than the more fragile materials.

Moreover, the benefits of stabilization are offset a bit by the cost, added weight, and changes in appearance.

Finally, it needs to be understood whether we're talking about professional stabilization or just soaking something in cactus juice (i.e. superficial stabilization).

- Greg
 
Thanks Greg, you're right this is certainly a subjective question, but are there woods that just flat out won't benefit from stabilizing? assuming that cocobolo is dry and "stabil" before you start working on it, would stabilizing even do anything to it?

I am most definitely talking about professional quality stabilization, but also fully believe that professional quality results can be achieved at home with the proper equipment. Just soaking a chunk of wood in anything won't do much regardless of the material it is soaking in. As i understand it, Cactus Juice is an acrylic polymer activated by a catalyst and heat, making it no better or worse than professional brews. The key is the process (Dry material, vacuum, etc.) I think cactus juice is getting a bit of a bad rap because it is not being used properly.
 
A pretty good "ROT" is if the wood sinks in water when dry before stabilizing, then doesn't need it. If the stabilized wood sinks in water, turned out good. A wood that barely floats in water (Black Walnut, etc) will work "ok" with no stabilization, but is even better with K&G (or other professional) stabilization. Per Curtis (name right?) with Cactus Juice Black Walnut doesn't work very well with Cactus Juice - doesn't soak up enough to be good, and that's the result I got.

Ken
 
The Gopher said:
As i understand it, Cactus Juice is an acrylic polymer activated by a catalyst and heat, making it no better or worse than professional brews.
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You sound like you are trying to convince yourself. I'm pretty sure:
1) liquid acrylic polymers that
2) require a catalyst and
3) polymerize with heat
are NOT the same. Some are better, and some are worse.

Having wood professional stabilizedly is inexpensive. Cutting costs on stabilizing tells collectors about your attitude towards quality. Think hard about how your customers will interpret your decisions.

We've had excellent results with bocote stabilized by WSSI and K&G.

Chuck
 
for me it's just simply not worth the hassle and equipment space to stabilize my own woods.

Shop space and Time are the premium concepts here
 
I'm inclined to agree with those that suggest using professional stabilization services is superior to DIY jobs. Again, just an opinion, not meant to be stated as a fact.

As for which woods I would not bother to stabilize, I'd have African Blackwood on the list for sure. Again, opinions vary (and I'm certainly not denigrating anyone who does stabilize it).

- Greg
 
Just because something is labeled as DIY, doesn't mean in any way that it is of inferior quality to a professional job, whether it is building a deck or stabilizing wood. That isn't too say that the pros are bad, only that the DIY jobs can be just as good. For me I already have the equipment and it is a cost savings at the same quality.

It could also be said that taking the time and effort to research a product, process, etc to get the best product proves your commitment to quality by taking it in-house and knowing exactly what going into a finished product.

I am also just a "hobby" guy. If i were making knives for a living im sure that sending wood out for stabilizing is a time saver relative to the other aspects of knifemaking.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, it just seems like there is such a negative feeling towards home stabilizing, when it's really a simple process, much easier I would argue than heat treating, but I'm sure there are a ton of people who achieve professional quality heat treating by DIY.
 
Just some food for thought.....

Stabilizing can change the weight and appearance of the piece. Maybe a good thing. Maybe not.

There are quite a few woods that are perfectly suited to use as tool handles and have been used that way for hundreds or thousands of years.

Custom and factory gun makers make a whole bunch of wooden rifle stocks from a huge variety of woods and I have never heard anyone ask if their rifle stock was stabilized and I'm pretty sure the gun makers would laugh at you if you asked. A lot of those gunstocks take a whole lot more punishment and abuse than any knife handle should.

Just sayin'.....:cool:
 
The Gopher said:
I'm not trying to be argumentative, it just seems like there is such a negative feeling towards home stabilizing, when it's really a simple process
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What is simple about using more than 3,000 psi as part of the stabilizing process like the professionals? :confused:

Chuck
 
J. Doyle said:
There are quite a few woods that are perfectly suited to use as tool handles and have been used that way for hundreds or thousands of years.
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Many tools are changing handle material to man made materials.

J. Doyle said:
Custom and factory gun makers make a whole bunch of wooden rifle stocks from a huge variety of woods and I have never heard anyone ask if their rifle stock was stabilized and I'm pretty sure the gun makers would laugh at you if you asked.
Click to expand...
The most accurate rifle stocks are composite, not wood. To get the best accuracy from a wood stock the action is bedded in metal or another material. Wood is unstable, moves and changes the point of impact. Custom rifle makers spend hours bedding the action and free floating the barrel so the point of impact is not affected by the wood.

DIY is fun. I like learning new processes. However, if I am selling a product, I give my customers the best quality possible. Especially if my future income could be affected by having to do warranty work on returned items.

Chuck
 
The Gopher said:
Just because something is labeled as DIY, doesn't mean in any way that it is of inferior quality to a professional job.....
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Common use of the term might lead to argument, but I believe that DIY and "Professional" do in fact infer that the end products are not equal in quality. "Do it yourself", is what people do when a professional is either not available, or costs to much to employ.

The Gopher said:
............ I'm sure there are a ton of people who achieve professional quality heat treating by DIY.
Click to expand...

If someone can achieve "professional HT" with their knowledge and skill, they are professionals.

Not arguing, I just like the true meaning of the word professional and prefer not to quibble about it.
 
You bring up an interesting point Ron... Custom knives are by definition DIY. Made by professional DYI-ers... but still do-it-yourself. Heck some custom makers even cast their own brass, silver etc! If that's not DYI I don't know what is!

I think the connotation of the words "do-it-yourself" lead people to believe that the product is of lesser quality.

Now if I were going to think about stabilizing wood, I'd have it done, rather than do it myself. Costs too much to get professional results at home.
 
The Gopher said:
, much easier I would argue than heat treating, but I'm sure there are a ton of people who achieve professional quality heat treating by DIY.
Click to expand...

When I HT I use industrial quality quenchant, a commercial grade oven with very precise heat control and follow proven guidelines for HT recipes, frequently followed up with testing on an industrial Hardness tester.

yes, I do it my self, but it's hardly a DIY process....
 
I have found a significant difference between the two main professional stabilizers. One has to constantly check out the new polymers sent to stabilizers by mfgs to constantly improve the product. It runs about $13 a pound for small amounts of wood treated and about $10 for 10 pounds or more. That is a hell of a lot of treated wood and MANY knives. Some of the chemicals are only available in 55 gallon drums. They get expensive for small operations. I have bought some wood on ebay called "stabilized" and have to send it out for a proper treatment. Poor treatments usually means poorer polishes.

Back in the 60's/70's there were wood treaters who could go gunstocks and had a lively business. Fell out of favor and current treaters usually cannot do large enough pieces.
 
Chuck, I wasn't really talking about bedding and free floating a barrel. Nor was a talking about best accuracy. I was talking about all the MANY beautiful wood stocks out there in the field still being used and banged around in the brush. These burl wood stocks aren't cracking to pieces and shrinking away and falling off these high end rifles. If they were, there wouldn't be any demand for them at all, which is hardly the case.

I've seen a few high end high power rifles that had free floating barrels and glass bedded actions still crack stocks on occasion. I'll bet you have too. So you can't tell me that a rifle stock doesn't take some abuse from recoil alone. But the point of this was more that wood rifle stocks see the same kind of weather and abuse that a knife handle would, maybe more so and yet they're not stabilized and no one is demanding that they should be.

My point was just to offer a perspective for folks to think about besides the one that many push which is basically claiming that if your knife handle isn't stabilized, it's a piece of junk just waiting to crack apart and fall off the knife. It just isn't necessarily true.

For the record, I use and sell a fair amount of stabilized wood so I'm not biased. I just think sometimes stabilizing gets pushed as a magic cure-all snake oil.
 
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