Thread: Homemade Vacuum Chamber- recommendations for products

Originally Posted by randydance062449

That is essentially what we did. The seal on our pressure pot was not perfect so the pressure would drop from 60 psi down to 0 and then we would repressurize. This occurred 2-3 times over the span of a week.
In this application I think an imperfect seal was best.

Just my $.02

Maybe you misunderstood, or I did for that matter (and it sure wouldn't be the first time...LOL) But I was referring to the vessel being under a vacuum, and that this would cause the wood to expand slightly allowing the fluid to penetrate. I think the reverse would be the case if it was under pressure.

Pressurizing the jar pulls air out of the wood, and the hardener into the wood to fill the voids. This process occurs either way (with or without vacuum pressure), but using a vacuum speeds up the process; as well as makes sure the wood is free of all air and filled with the hardener more thoroughly.

Originally Posted by jumbojohnny

I recognize the light burl...

You should Thanks again, for the piece, will send a PM as soon as I figure out what razor they are going to go on

Also was sent a link to a product called Cactus Juice that looks very interesting and of course rather expensive

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You should Thanks again, for the piece, will send a PM as soon as I figure out what razor they are going to go on

Also was sent a link to a product called Cactus Juice that looks very interesting and of course rather expensive

Thanks for the info - I see that price tag = Ouch...but, I think I am going to order a small bottle tonight. If it works that much better than Minwax then I will buy more. At the moment I have 20-30 burls sitting in the basement air drying so I will need to slicing some slabs and test this Juice out.

My buddy's parents both just started to turn pens and I showed the husband some burls...they are coming over tomorrow to shop in the basement. My buddy tells me that they wanted to come over tonight, but I am too busy to go flashing my wood around to a married couple.

If I remember right, Glen said he was using around -25psi on the vacuum side of the process. What would be good for the positive pressure? Thanks

Hopefully your water heater of furnace is not in the basement also,Just a thought.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Hopefully your water heater of furnace is not in the basement also,Just a thought.

We have all electric heat and hot water. Its a tankless system so I dont need to wory about excess moisture. Good thinking on the situation though.

Thats good,was thinking more along the lines of a gas ignition spark and fumes.

Originally Posted by skipnord

If I remember right, Glen said he was using around -25psi on the vacuum side of the process. What would be good for the positive pressure? Thanks

Whenever I have used the vacuum, I start -20psi, after the wood sinks I use a light +10 psi (I am chicken shit of the jar shattering), I usually only did (+) pressure for 2-4 hours. Let dry for four days. I have gone through 100+ burls and never found any issues.

I don't have a nice gauge on my jars...I was broke and used a tire gauge lol.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I actually just placed it inside a Tuperware container when I first pulled the vacuum because of all the warnings I had read about,, Oddly enough, I read about warnings in near ever thread on every forum yet never found a pic or even read about one actually imploding

Way back when folk would use bell jars so you could see what a vacuum does
to things. High schools, universities .... and yes they did implode but this was before
Youtube. If you see look at modern labs you will see all the vacuum vessels all have
protective screens surrounding them.

These folk sell bell jar cages so a grain of salt may be in order:
EH-92-2 Implosions Under Negative Pressure
The math makes sense... at 14 lb/sq inch the energy over the surface
of a container adds up. Jars with a flat bottom pose an extra risk...

Anyhow it is easy to cover it with a cage that keeps the bits from
flying.