Wood stabilization question

[Willie71]

I have some highly figured spalted wood needing stabilization. How do you guys prep the wood? Does it need to be cut into blocks, specific dimensions, or can it be left in odd sizes? Some have mentioned sanding. Since the outside surface will be ground/sanded away, is that needed? Also recommendations for specific providers. I live in Canada if that makes any difference.

 

[Dan Pierson]

Stabilization will work if the surface is rough but you'll be sanding/routing off and paying for all the resin trapped
in the rough surface. Wood is likely to warp some under the stresses so somewhat oversize is good. Different
stabilizers have different maximum sizes they can process. WSSI is pretty generous but strongly recommends
that the smallest dimension be no thicker than 2" to reduce warping dangers. K&G had stricter limits when I
last used them but may have gotten larger tanks since.

 

[quint]

The biggest thing is making sure the wood is dry. Less then 10%. If its not it can warp and crack. I usually (on recommendation from Mark) take the blocks down to a little above final size. You dont want a really large chunck of wood but I have found if you go really thin with burl (<1inch) you can get some warping. I usually do about 1 1/2" thick if I can.

I use Knife and Gun supply but WSSI looks like they do good work as well maybe even better I just have not tried him yet.

Hope that helps.

 

[quint]

Haha Dan beat me to it.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I'll give you Mike's suggestions/requirements (WSSI):

Dry the wood to below 10%..... 7% is better.
Cut off all waxed surfaces with a band saw...... DO NOT TRY AND SAND THEM OFF..... That will just melt the wax deeper into the wood. Any wax will seal that surface from penetration.
Sand all surfaces clean to 120 grit - sanding smooth and brushing the sanding dust out of the end grain allows good penetration of the chemicals.
Mark only with a white metal marker or white out type marker. DO NOT USE A FELT MARKER. - black markers with any type of ink will dissolve and darken the chemicals, making the wood darker. This can ruin $1000 in stabilizer solution.
Cut to a usable size. Bigger pieces are OK, but plan the final cuts, or you will be paying to stabilize waste wood.

An example is a block of wood 7X5X2.5" You would be far smarter to cut it down to 6X5X2" and then after it is stabilized cut three 6X2X1.5 blocks from it. If you don't you will pay for 1/3 of the wood that you will end up cutting away.