Thread: Stabilized wood finish - suggestions?

Hi all,

I finally got around to ordering some Cactus Juice and setting up a vacuum chamber à la gssixgun (thanks for the inspiration Glen!). I was a little worried as I couldn't get my highly professional setup above about 25-26" hg. It could have been my improvised sugru seal, my cheap brake bleeder vacuum pump, or perhaps I had the wrong brand of pickle jar...

Anyway, I gave a couple of spalted maple brush handle blanks a good soak and bake last night, turned one today and the stabilizing turned out brilliantly. The resin penetrated right to the middle of the blank and cured properly right through. I don't know if it was necessary, but I cooked them for about twice the recommended time since that time appears to have been determined for pen blanks, not brush handles.

So now as I wait for a couple of knots to arrive, I am pondering finishes. On my other brush handles I have used a CA finish. I like CA for the tough finish it gives as well as its ability to add a bit of strength when using it on softer woods for scales. But I also find CA to be a pain in the butt to work with sometimes. Since I don't really need it in terms of strength/toughness with these handles and wouldn't mind an excuse to avoid it, I'm wondering what you guys like to use for a finish on stabilized woods? Does anyone specifically with Cactus Juice experience know if it reacts differently to various finishes than other types of stabilizers?

A few pics in case anyone's curious.

The blanks fresh from having the foil removed, another untreated blank form the same batch for comparison.



End grain after a trim



The new handle so far

Dang! Not only looks like the wood I just stabilized, but the shape is even similar! I knew I should have patened it! LOL. The surface of stabilized wood is almost, but not quite, as hard as plastic. It should be finished, however. A penetrating finish, like tung oil, won't work very well - nothing to penetrate. So, CA or poly. Poly could be spar, brushed or wipe on poly. I have used wipe on poly with some success. It is a tad soft, however. I much prefer CA. I apply it on the lathe, spinning slow, with a finger cut out of a Nitrile disposable glove. First coat thin, then 2 or 3 coats of medium. Sand between coats - with lathe spinning. I also use 3M pads. I finish the top and bottom after the piece comes off the lathe, using much the same system. I want a finish that is as close to permanent as possible. Good luck with your project.

Great minds clearly think alike, as that's exactly how I apply my CA finishes on brush handles too.

I was on the right track, which is encouraging: I knew it was still at least a little absorbant and so would need some kind of finish (not to mention wanting to darken it a bit and make that grain pop), and I figured an oil would be splotchy at best and completely useless at worst.