Thread: Homemade Vacuum Chamber- recommendations for products

Thanks to Glen and all the rest of the responders - this is a wealth of great information. Has anyone tried two part poly resin? I use is for brushes, and it hardens in about 6 hours at 100 F. That may be too fast?????

I think that Glen will be able to eventually answer the question about warping...and that will be key. If the wood does not warp then using a thin piece will be processed easier & quicker.
To me, the porosity of the wood & the thickness determines the thinness of the mixture that can be used.
When you use a very weak, porous wood such as spalted woods and burls, you really need complete penetration to provide the necessary strength for thin razor scales. After you have obtained the penetration then you could go back and repeat with a thicker mix.
Regarding your 2 part poly resin........how about thinning the mix with acetone the first time to achieve penetration then repeating with a thicker mix?

Hope this helps

Don't you want to use Pressure rather than Vaccuum ?

Originally Posted by Johnus

Don't you want to use Pressure rather than Vaccuum ?

You want to use both, a vacuum to pull out the air & moisture and pull in the solution then pressure to push it in further.
When you use only pressure you trap the air in the wood which prevents the solution from making contact with the wood fibers plus the solution may contain air which would also be forced into the wood.

I realize this explanation is far from perfect but it is what has been written in the various knife forums. I hope it helps to explain this a little bit.

Hope this helps,

Originally Posted by gssixgun

hehehe Pickle Jar (Vlassic 1 1/2 Quart) brass fittings, hose, and Vacuum pump,,,, pretty damn boring honestly

Pickle Jar.....?
Please tell me that you have it covered with a screen/hardware cloth safety cage
when you pull a vacuum. Glass is strong but one day a scratch and ka-whump you
have an implosion with flying glass. It may never break but....

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Pickle Jar.....?
Please tell me that you have it covered with a screen/hardware cloth safety cage
when you pull a vacuum. Glass is strong but one day a scratch and ka-whump you
have an implosion with flying glass. It may never break but....

Wonder if a two QT canning jar (mason,Kerr) might me a better option,may be stronger.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Pickle Jar.....?
Please tell me that you have it covered with a screen/hardware cloth safety cage
when you pull a vacuum. Glass is strong but one day a scratch and ka-whump you
have an implosion with flying glass. It may never break but....

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Wonder if a two QT canning jar (mason,Kerr) might me a better option,may be stronger.

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

I recognize the light burl...

How you are doing it it basically the same exact method I use. I stopped using the vacuum method only because I wasnt in a rush for the burl. Leaving it sit for a week is just as successful and I already had a lot of burls to use.

I used mason jars with the vauum because of the strenght of the glass - now I use a giant pickle jar. I have not found a better hardener than Minwax...but I havent looked very far past the shelves of Home Depot, Lowes, and the local hobby store. If you find something please share that info.

Just a thought, but wouldn't lowering the pressure on the wood in a solution allow the wood pores to expand and allow the solution to penetrate?

Originally Posted by JoeSomebody

Just a thought, but wouldn't lowering the pressure on the wood in a solution allow the wood pores to expand and allow the solution to penetrate?

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