Im looking for stabilized wood to make scales with. all I can find is pen blanks and they are to small.
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Im looking for stabilized wood to make scales with. all I can find is pen blanks and they are to small.
Somewhere in the search mode you can find a do it yourself recipe if you're interested. Trying to think, but it has something to do with warming some kind of minwax in a mason jar with your scales, then screwing on the lid to create a vacuum which forces the goop into the wood.:shrug:
Also try www.stabilizedwood.com
I'll be looking for the info on the home made stuff...
Pretty cool final result. I believe that ventilation and soaking for several days is important..
So if you live in an apartment use the flower box on the outside ledge
:)
I've heard of people using minwax wood hardener - you would just soak your scale material in this stuff and let it dry out. I can't comment on results as I've not seen any, but I imagine it would do a fine job.
Ok, dig it. Take a large pickle jar, and a coffee can. With several cans of the minwax wood hardener in the pickle jar, place it in the coffee can. Water should be in the coffee can. Your making a double boiler. I use my BBQ since it has a burner on the outside of it to heat the water and Minwax. DON'T DO THIS INSIDE YOUR HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS STUFF IS FLAMMABLE!!!!!!!!
With the wood in the minwax, bring it to a "near boil", you'll see it foaming white. Remove from flame and screw the lid on tight.
Let it cool down, a vacuum will form which will cause any air in the wood to be displaced by the minwax. Let the jar sit a couple days. Open the jar, remove the wood and let it dry for a few days. The minwax will change the color of some woods. When the wood is dry, you can sand the wood smooth (wearing your respirator of course).
This is how I stabilize all my scales, it's works well.
The process of stailizing wood involves two ingredients, a resin and a solvent. The solvents are all flamable so be very careful. I am experimenting with different resins and solvents now and so far Acryloid B-72 is the best. I use a 2 gallon spray paint pressure tank and 56 PSI of pressure. I can tell you that Nelsonite or Min Wax Poly Clear Gloss are not what you want.
The cost is not cheap. Even the Minwax wood hardener is expensive. The reason I am doing it myself is that I have a lot of wood that can be processed, spalted maple, ash burl, highly colored boxelder, apple, plum etc. and the cost is shared by a friend.
A one gallon mix of B-72 & acetone solvent costs approx. $35. The tank, compressor and gauges cost ~$200.
Denmason,
After you have sanded your scales, is it a matter of buffing them to a luster, or do you have to then coat with CA or poly? I seem to have read with other things like acrylic stabilzers, all you do is polish. I think resinol from loctite is one of them.
This is definately good info for future and up and coming scale makers.
Jerry
Just been tinkering in the shed. Pulled out my old 3.5 gallon pressure pot and slapped a new seal ring in it. Replaced the pressure release valve with a more suitable valve. Removed the siphon tube, changed out the gauges to vacuum gauges. Got hooked to the vacuum pump and it's pulling as I type. I might be changing my stabilization method very soon. We'll see, just hope it hold a vacuum, should though, this pot is built like a tank.
Is vacuum method is needed for something like Minwax wood hardener? From what I remember, it's not a viscous solution at all - I thought it would penetrate a piece of wood as thin as scale material without vacuum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by denmason
Hello Jerry, I do use CA on the scales after sanding. The minwax product doesn't help with getting a shine out of the wood.Quote:
Originally Posted by kilowattkid
So far we have had excellent penetration with 56 PSI pressure and a 3 day soak at that pressure but we are stabilizing soft woods like spalted maple. From what I have read the preferred method is a vacuum at 2 bars and a long soak time.Quote:
Originally Posted by denmason
The process of stabilizing does not seal the wood, the resin is absorbed by the fibers and coats the fibers making the fibers waterproof. But... the capillaries are still somewhat open. Although water can get inside the piece of wood it will do no damage. The razors still need to be sealed with something if you wish to avoid the absorbtion of moisture.Quote:
Originally Posted by kilowattkid
This morning I took out the first batch of wood from an acrylic stabilizer solution called Acryloid B-72 and let it dry for 3 hours.. I sanded and then buffed the wood and it looked very good. In the future I will be making up a "dipping", thicker, solution of the same stuff to use as a sealer.
Loctite Resinol 90C is supposedly very good but at a minimum order of $300 for 4 gallons I will be experimenting with some other proven performer's like Acryloid B-72 that archeologists/bone diggers use to preserve their finds.
Hope this helps,:)
Well the pot is holding at just under 4 bars. I give it another day as I seem to have a "belly bug" and I'm not feeling so good. Never thought I'd be using the vacuum pump for this. I usually only use it when I build phase change units for my computer cooling systems. This is too kewl.... :tu
4 Bars!?!? Thats a powerful vac! What kind of pump is that?:)
It's a home made job. Actually 3 pumps working as one using old refrigeration pumps. Learned to make it from an Overclockers site. I use it to evacuate phase change units. I use phase change to cool my rig (computer). It freezes my cpu. My little E6600 that is rated at 2.4GHz is running at 4.2GHz full time. Benchmark drag racing stuff. :roflmao
I assume you mean refrigerator compressors? Cool!:tu
That's pretty sick stuff! Way to get some speed out of a bargain chip!
Quote:
Originally Posted by denmason
Exactly what they are, I just took them out of old refrigerators.Quote:
Originally Posted by randydance062449
Gotta love overclocking, cpu on phase, north & south bridges on chilled alcohol along with the vid card.Quote:
Originally Posted by fotoguru
But, better get back on topic.
My pot seems to need a new seal ring, I'll replace it on next batch of goodies. I'm off to crack it open and let the first batch dry out for a couple days.
damn denmason! u got 4.2 outta your E6600!! wow man wow.
i am just using air with a tuniq tower to OC to 3.0 stable for many months now and thought i was doing alright but 4.2 is a doosy. have you measured how much electricity you're burnin up with your computer on? must make your bill nice and high.
good work and reporting you guys on the stablizing. keep it coming!!
~J
I just sawed some B-72 & acetone stabilized ash burl into 1/4" thickness that had been drying for a week. It warped!:cry:
Let your stuff dry.
Did you put a "T" connector on each vacuum line and then connect each "T" ?
The reason I ask is that I need to build a vacuum for stabilizing wood. Using pressure is OK but a vacuum is better.