Thread: Stabslizing wood

I am going to order some olive wood and cocobola to make ale some scales and shave brush handles from. Since these are naturally oily woods what do you use as a finish for them? I saw where you can order acrylic resin and vacuum treat the wood, but will it work on oily woods?

You can stabilize oily woods but is not really an advantage if the wood is dried properly.
I use no finish on CoCo,sand to 600/800 grit.polish with rottenstone and oil than several coats of ren-wax,It takes on a natural shine that lasts.

No finish here other than the above (african Blackwood)

There are multiple finishes to use on Dense or Oily woods..
For my vacuum chamber on the dense stuff I treat using Daly's Seafin for less dense woods I treat using Polyurethane..

This takes at least a week of advance prep some woods will suck in finish under vacuum for 48 hours, I treat all of them until they are done.. Even the most dense woods will still take on finish for 8 hours..
After treating they have to dry, I treat the scale blanks well in advance, the brushes are dried for at least two weeks...
Once they are treated you can go from there, with a minimal coating like Ren Wax to a Full blown CA finish that just depends on the wood...

BTW there are instructions on Youtube for making a Vacuum Chamber that will cost you less then $30, and it works very well

For wipe on finishes for Oily and/or Dense woods look at Teak oil and Danish oil and decide which will work best for the wood you chose..
You are after penetration, the deeper the finish goes into the wood fibers the better the waterproofing is...

Glen's vacuum system may well be the best in the long run. So far, I have had success with very oily woods with just a couple of coats of tung oil, and then Renwax.

You use the sea fin sealer or teak oil?

In the Vacuum Chamber I use Seafin but honestly any of the thin Waterproofing fomulas will penetrate even the most dense oily woods..

To give you an idea

Lignum Vitae considered by many to be one of the most waterproof natural woods out there will suck up finish for 8 hours
Cocobolo 24 hours
Ebony 24 hours
The Olivewood you mentioned will do the thicker Polyurethane for 24 hours


For a wipe on finish on the really dense stuff I use Teak oil, it is very obvious on how it is working for penetration, easy to use also..
Just make sure whatever you use you follow the directions and how ever long they tell you to let it dry just double that
Most people have problems with finishes by rushing the job, in either the Prep or the Drying time..

There are tons of finishing tips here in the workshop but two that are very important to learn IMHO are
1. Pre-Finish Acetone wipedown
2. Washcoats, what are they and how do I use them

Just scored a 110V vacuum pump from a broken air conditioner service machine. Experiments with containers to follow. Has anyone tried using Thompson's Water Seal? It's cheap-----

Have anybody been working with PEG?
Polyethylene glycol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amazon.com: Rockler Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) Green Wood Stabilizer: Explore similar items


Wood Hardeners that contain PEG are out there but I never read on any of the wood workingsites that they are vastly superior