Thread: Thiers Issard Dreadnought 7/8 in blue box elder burr

Thanks for the excellent information regarding the stabilized burl, i'm a Carpenter by trade, and find this very interesting.

Jamie.

How do they get the blue color in the wood?

Love your Thiers-Issard and especially the blue burl. I have a similar T-I 7/8 Oak Wing, and their razors are a pleasure to shave with as Glen has already stated. Enjoy, sir!

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

How do they get the blue color in the wood?

Its a really cool process actually. I love processes, and I guess anyone on this site does too! The exact step by step, + the make up of the stabilizing resin is usually a really closely guarded secret of each stabilizing service. The basics are pretty simple in concept.

First the wood must be as dry as possible. It can be kiln dried, or naturally seasoned over a period of about a year to get it to the 9% or less moisture content required for stabilizing. (Another reason its much easier to buy pre stabilized, otherwise if the wood you have isnt dry, you gotta play the waiting game. As someone who cuts and dries many many burls each year, this can be frustrating if there is a piece you really wanna work with!)

Once you have the wood prepared, you have to decide if you want it to be open cell (lighter, less durable, must be sealed when worked with), or closed cell (heavier, fully coated inside of every cell, very durable, most costly to make). There are advantages to either, and some woods do better, or look better, with one type of stabilizing or another. Closed cell is what the razor the OP bought is Im fairly certain, its what makes sense for razor handles since its completely waterproof.

When you know what type of stabilizing you want to use, you mix up the appropriate resins and get to work. Now, since I only know what I have researched, having never done this myself or witnessed it first hand, I am not sure of the types of resin necessary or what type of stabilizing requires what individual steps, but I know the gist of it...

The resins are anaerobic, so a vacuum chamber large enough to hold the wood inside a glass container is needed. The wood is then placed in said glass container which must have at least an inch and a half of room left over the top of the piece of wood. Next you fill the container with your pre-mixed resins. It is at this point that you can add dyes if you desire the wood to be a certain color.The vacuum chamber is sealed, and the pump switched on. The mixture will appear to boil. This is the resin being sucked into all the pores of the wood. After it stops bubbling (I am unsure of the required time), the pump is switched off and the vessel's pressure allowed to stabilize.

You then retrieve the wood from the glass container and place it on aluminum foil. It must be heated in order for the resins to solidify. I believe you can use just any old oven, and bake it at 250 Fahrenheit for around a half of an hour or so. Once the piece hardens, the wood is completely penetrated with the resins and any dyes you may have used, and it has the same working properties as an acrylic (plastic). This is how you get the color all the way through the wood, which allows it to be worked and retain that color as a finished product. This process is also used for woods that may be too soft or fragile to work in its natural state, since it pretty much will make any wood workable. (this process was originally used restoring old boats I believe.)

Once it gets out of the oven, it will most certainly be at least slightly warped. Some pieces bend and curl and end up completely unusable which is a downer. It must be made flat, so you run it through a planer or a drum sander, and loose precious centimeters.

As you can see, its a pretty elaborate process. Ive heard many describe it as a science and an art. I would have to agree, it takes great skill and knowledge to create the look you want. The ones who are truly gifted at it can turn a regular looking piece of wood into a radiant beauty.

Not to mention its ridiculously expensive to set up shop. One of my suppliers for the stuff spent $30,000 USD on resins in one month...

I hope this helps!

Thanks,Guess I will put my bell jar away

Thats some very interesting information, but it's quite easy to make your own home made stabilizing kit on the cheap, i'm very greatful for the other info you threw in like wrapping the wood in foil and baking it in the oven, i'm going to give this a go in the not to distant future, thanks again, before i go i will show you a nice video of a home made stabilizing kit.

Jamie.

please read before attempting!!!

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Thats some very interesting information, but it's quite easy to make your own home made stabilizing kit on the cheap, i'm very greatful for the other info you threw in like wrapping the wood in foil and baking it in the oven, i'm going to give this a go in the not to distant future, thanks again, before i go i will show you a nice video of a home made stabilizing kit.

Jamie.

The method in the video, using ANY product from Minwax, is NOT STABILIZING AS I DESCRIBE ABOVE. So if you heat that wood that has soaked up flammable minwax, you are likely to burn your house down. Minwax is NOT anaerobic resin, doesnt need to be used with a vacuum chamber (one can be used to saturate the wood, but is not necessary), and should NOT be heated up after use. Please read this and dont burn anything! LOL.

Minwax is a consumer product available for wood workers. The process I describe above is a professional acrylic stabilizing regimen, the chemicals and process are completely different (for one the resins cost thousands and are not available in any consumer outlet). You can "stabilize" a piece of wood with minwax (actually diluted epoxy in alcohol works much better), IE make it more workable if it is soft or damaged, but you are not changing the nature of the material to a plastic like the pros do. That is the difference between acrylic stabilizing, and other so called stabilizing products. (The acrylic stabilized wood will literally melt, it doesnt burn like wood anymore...)

I dont suggest you try it, I only made it sound like you could do it in your garage, the nuances and actual steps are much more complicated im sure!.

Just please dont burn your house down!

A professional's stabilizing set up is likely to look like this

Not quite a ball jar and a hand pump, lol

Bell jar and a pump on a small scale DIY program will work fine,Vacuum is vacuum,neat looking device for sure.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Bell jar and a pump on a small scale DIY program will work fine,Vacuum is vacuum,neat looking device for sure.

Sure it will work if you are using a consumer wood hardener, and your desired end result is just an easier to work piece. Using it at a vacuum level past whats needed to preserve coffee starts to get unsafe fast.

As far as using one for professional, or similar resins, it would implode far before it reached the required -30psi for absorption. For that you need steel or aluminum (or at least PVC) walled pressure vessels.

However, A ball jar could be used in vacuum dying thin pieces of wood like veneers if you wanted to do that.