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Has anyone tried using a vacuum chamber to pull in the neatsfoot oil into the horn scales, or mineral oil into the bone or ivory?
...or neatsfoot oil/mink oil into a strop?
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Has anyone tried using a vacuum chamber to pull in the neatsfoot oil into the horn scales, or mineral oil into the bone or ivory?
...or neatsfoot oil/mink oil into a strop?
I don't think the strop needs a vacuum. The fibers are perpendicular to the strop face. Oil and water sink in easily.
OTOH, using a vacuum probably won't hurt except for pulling the moisture out of the leather. The leather should stay around 21% moisture.
How many people have access to a vacuum chamber?
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I do, and I want to use it if it will help.
Don't know of anyone doing that, but I would certainly try it if I had a vacuum chamber. I wonder if there is a chance of oversaturating the scales/leather to the point where there is an oily residue for a while.
I remember someone using a vacuum bag to mold wet leather when making a holster. Not exactly the same, but thought it was worth mentioning.
If you try it, I would be interested in hearing what you learn. Even methods that don't work can be learned from.
Do you stabilize wood with your setup?
My brother used my vacuum pump and built his own chamber from 1/2" acrylic. He used that setup to stabilize some spalted maple.Quote:
Originally Posted by JP5
I had several years earlier used a "pressure pot" made from a spray painter that we had outfitted with a couple of gauges. That was used to also stabilize some spalted maple with polyurethane. It took a bit of time to dry but was very effective.
From the above post by Rolodave I can see that it would not be useful for leather. However, I can see that it may work very well for horns and bones. It would simply give a faster result.
I do have some very dry Texas Longhorn horns that may benefit from this method as well as some old Sheffield razors.
Wish me luck. :)
I have played around some with bone and my vacuum chamber. I have to say it is helpful with dye and hydration. Not woohoo this is the bees knees but helpful. Before I had a vacuum I had some crazy chalky chippy bone that was close to unusable and Roy ran them through his vacuum chamber with mineral oil that helped it a lot. I have rehydrated some old bone scales too, and it sped up the hydrating process.
Is a vacuum chamber something we could make, like a mason jar, a rubber squeeze bulb and a one way check valve?
Or heating the fluid on the stove and soaking the jar in boiling water then adding the hot fluid, the item and sealing it with the lid then leaving it.
Or does a person have to buy them commercially if so, what are we looking at?
Like Rez said, I think Roy tried the bone and horn thing with decent results.
Steve, you can buy one at harbor freight. And I know some folks have made them. Its has to seal and pull a vacuum and hold that for hours if not days. I have an A.C. evac setup I had thought of trying. Just never got around to it.
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A vacuum chamber can be made from a mason jar with a lid, a one-way check valve, and a one-way brake bleeder. Gssixgun had a thread on this in the past. Check with him or someone may have a link. I simply went overboard and bought a vacuum pump because it is much easier and faster at removing the air.
Might be an interesting experiment but personally, not optimistic it’s yield much better results than a slow warm soak at ambient temps TBH.
Did a fair bit of vac bagging in aviation, as well as a bunch of hobby type work on this forum pre mg..
The thing with vac chamber and bagging is it does all it’s air evacuation pre hardening, or while the epoxies or resins, or lacquers are still solvable and allows air to flow and molecules to ebb, flow and move around each other. Chambers allow the air out the top, bags use a non compressible porous strip all around the edge of the bag for the air to wick.
Once things are hard, as in bone, horn, or post cured epoxy projects, you won’t pull much beyond the outer 64th of an inch maybe, and IMO, risk crushing the outer cells and causing shadows or fog on the surface once things return to atmospheric pressures and de-flex.
Could be wrong of course, just thinking of the way it all works from my experiences..
I’d say go for it on a scrap piece, as you have all the goodies.
Maybe a series of low pressure pulls to cycle the horn as opposed to a 28 inch long steady pull overnight might flex the materials and yield good results.
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Wow, I understood absolutely nothing of that, you must have been a rocket surgeon in a previous life :rofl2:Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeB52
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I was considering a series of low-pressure pulls. I would guess that the brittleness of ivory is greater than horn or bone so It might be prudent to use a low-pressure series of pulls on the brittle stuff. It would also seem prudent to use weights on the material after the vacuum to keep it flat while drying, otherwise, it may warp. But no matter which method is used this is not an overnight process.
Thanks, but more likely this was my last iteration.Quote:
Originally Posted by STF
Attachment 340213
Randy, as soon as you see any bubbles during the pull, I’d stop, and let her hold and release. Burp again, etc.
All while fully below liquid levels of course.
Over a night things should start to get subtle and lubed again.
Post lots of before and during pics please. Curious as hell about the results.
:tu
I see a band name in that sentence.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeB52
Mike's our mad scientist, Steve. He's from another parallel universe, eh!Quote:
Originally Posted by STF
One of the things that I’ve found is that the air comes out easier than the liquid goes in, so soaking after the vacuum is released is when the work gets done.
