wood stabilizing ???

I'm interested in wood stabilizing where they use a liquid acrylic or other resin under pressure to impregnate wood, I saw some very dense hardwood that had been treated with stain and resin, I'm interested in the process used, pressure or vacuum, resin, color, The wood I saw was small pieces for use as knife handles and was wandering whether they treat larger pieces of wood for other projects.

Here is a link to the one of many sites offering this product and service. but not much information on the process.

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I have no connection to this site just posting to show the process I'm talking about, any information would be great, Thanks, Ben

Reply to
Mac
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If you aren't affiliated, how is that you posted this twice in 5 days??

dave

Mac wrote:

Reply to
Bay Area Dave

Because I didn't have any response to the first post is the reason for posting again, sorry if it offends those with nothing to contribute, perhaps if you checked the link or checked some other site on the topic you might have had something to contribute to the group and just be a wee bit brighter, learn to use your time more constructive, and stop your wining. have a great day.

Reply to
Mac

cranky SOB, aren't you? I ask a simple question, and you vilify me for it. Thanks!

and how about learning to spell? "wining"??? maybe "whining" is what you were trying to say. I don't need YOU to tell me to have a great day. I had one anyway. We've got a new gov today, my friend.

dave

Mac wrote:

Reply to
Bay Area Dave

Hi Ben,

Stabilising can be done with a number of things from hardeing oils to slow setting, clear epoxies (Generally, 2 part acrylics and polyurethanes have too short a potlife ). I use a vacuum chamber and epoxies. Luckily, most of the places I freelance for have vacuum chambers for resin work and I do my wood pieces on the side. I make a small box out of perspex just big enough to fit my prepared pieces in, but about 3 or 4 times higher than the wood, just cover the wood with resin, pop it in the chamber and give it a vacuum untill all the bubbles begin to subside, this should suck a lot of gases out of the wood, when you release the pressure, the wood wants to replace what it has lost and sucks in the resin. Make sure the resin you use has a low viscosity for deeper penetration, you can dilute it with alcohol or acetone and prewetting the wood with a little alcohol or acetone can help reduce the resistance of surface tension. When the chamber is back to normal air pressure, fish out the wood, wipe off the excess and leave to set on a piece of waxed paper. Some Epoxies need a post cure in the oven. Once set, finish and buff. For bigger pieces, I would stick with 1 part substances like hardeing, finishing oils, etc. as it will be reusable and catalyzed resins aren't (as well as the waste and cost of the resin on a larger piece).

Reply to
Simon

On 08 Oct 2003, Bay Area Dave bitched:

Glad to see that your 'friend' has finally arrived, Dave.

Before you start correcting other folks' spelling, you might work on your own capitalization and punctuation - for example, the plural of 'pro' is 'pros,' not 'pro's.' And unless she was a big fan of e.e. cummings, I'm guessing your mom named you Dave, not dave.

As for crown molding, I always scarf and glue.

Reply to
Scott Cramer

Also have a look at this page from their site - beautiful!

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particularly like the gold-effect process. I am hoping to build a side table for our entrance hall (which is painted orange), so getting the top done with this treatment would be nice (I think orange and gold go together well). I'm off to find out if someone in the UK can do this ... but if anyone can put me out of my google misery in the meantime ...

Cheers, Rob.

Reply to
Rob Bowman
[snip]

We've got a new gov today, my friend.

What do we do now? j4

Reply to
jo4hn

Hi, Thanks for the information, very helpful, would you happen to know what sort of vacuum or pressure would be used?? Thanks, Ben

"Simon" > > I'm interested in wood stabilizing where they use a liquid acrylic or

Reply to
Mac

Hi Ben,

Most of the degassing equipment I use has a vacuum pump with a displacement of 9CMH. Here's a link to a company that supplies them reconditioned

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build your own is possible but the chamber has to be reasonably strong to cope with that kind of vacuum and the pump has to be able to operate with a negative pressure, most freezer compressors would cut out under pressure.

Reply to
Simon

smile!

dave

jo4hn wrote:

Reply to
Bay Area Dave

Try to recall the President? I hear Sylvester Stallone wants a shot at it.

Reply to
Silvan

it's not just the vacuum pump it is high pressure too. but it is also the very nasty chemicals it takes. not something a home user really should be doing. some woods the stuff will not penetrate in any real thickness either.

Reply to
Steve Knight

I say vote for the REAL brains behind "Bedtime for Bonzo". This time, give the Chimp a go! .......

Ohhh ..... I forgot ...... Dub's already in the White House. ;-)

Reply to
Simon

respect to you and the magnificent work you do, but could you elaborate? This method has worked for me. On release of the vacuum, the vacuum created in the wood naturally sucks the resin in. How deep the resin goes depends on a number of circumstances and yes, wood type is one of them, obviously the denser, and oily woods have more resistance. Also a factor can be surface tension, resin viscosity and amount of vacuum. I agree that some woods won't get a great penetration, but that can be controlled by further thinning of the resins and pre wetting the wood to break surface tension. As to Nasty Chemicals? You mean Epoxies? Compared to polyesters which are what most 2 part wood fillers are, Epoxies are relatively safe and don't give off poisonous fumes like styrene in the same way that the 2 part wood fillers, that most people here have probably used, do. Epoxies are available to and regularly used by the home shop worker. I work with resins in manufacturing and I would class Epoxies very low down on the scale of "nasty chemicals" in resins. Methacrylates, polyurethanes and polyesters being considerably higher up.

Reply to
Simon

respect to you and the magnificent work you do, but could you elaborate? This method has worked for me. On release of the vacuum, the vacuum created in the wood naturally sucks the resin in. How deep the resin goes depends on a number of circumstances and yes, wood type is one of them, obviously the denser, and oily woods have more resistance. Also a factor can be surface tension, resin viscosity and amount of vacuum. I agree that some woods won't get a great penetration, but that can be controlled by further thinning of the resins and pre wetting the wood to break surface tension. As to Nasty Chemicals? You mean Epoxies? Compared to polyesters which are what most 2 part wood fillers are, Epoxies are relatively safe and don't give off poisonous fumes like styrene in the same way that the 2 part wood fillers, that most people here have probably used, do. Epoxies are available to and regularly used by the home shop worker. I work with resins in manufacturing and I would class Epoxies very low down on the scale of "nasty chemicals" in resins. Methacrylates, polyurethanes and polyesters being considerably higher up.

(original post went AWOL on my server so posted again)

Reply to
Simon

I used to do it with water thin poly. cocobolo and other dense woods I think had any penetration. woods like oak had a lot of penetration. maple looked terrible. but the poly really did not do anything. I am not sure what the pro's use but I had talked to the lumber lady about it and it is not nice stuff. a temp curing epoxy may work where you have to heat the wood for the cure to happen. but you also need pressure after the vacuum. I am not sure how many PSI you need though. but when it is done right the wood is more like plastic then wood.

Reply to
Steve Knight

I only know UK suppliers and perhaps 1 or 2 US suppliers. Acrylic would be too fast, I think. and unthickened epoxy has a very low viscosity. I'd try it unthinned on a test piece first and if it doesn't get good enough penetration then dilute it 1:4 acetone to resin and pre wet the surface of the wood with a wipe over with acetone (use chemically resistant gloves with acetone, it's viscosity is so low that it goes right through latex like it isn't there right through the pores in your skin, enters the blood stream and attacks the liver. it's also highly flammable so be aware) a good starting place and a commonly available epoxy is West System, it's as good a starting place as any. Stain can be in the resin or stained prior, either way. Testing is the way.

1 part polyurethanes would also work quite well, Bonda G4 clear comes to mind this is a company in Houston Tx. that do a clear 2 part polyurethane with a 30 minute potlife, plenty long enough working time for vacuuming. Resins are definitely not all the same quality, there are 100s of epoxies, alone, out there with different qualities.
Reply to
Simon

oops ... forgot the link

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Reply to
Simon

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