That was the simplest, most easily understood demo I have ever seen for this. Thank you for sharing this, not nearly as difficult or intimidating as I thought. Thank you!!
@@WoodByWright I was wondering can you glue this stabilised wood to untreated wood. I'm thinking of trying this for bass fretboards.. Your thoughts would be appreciated
Thanks for the vid man. Also vacuum chambers have no pressure. Which implies positive pressure. They have a negative pressure or “vacuum“ . And you would pump atmospheric pressure out, not in. As for the pvc its warning is against positive pressure, no negative. Also, the valve wo a line is basically an air bleed, you dont have to start the pump with it open. You can leave it closed always til ur ready to take the lid off if the chamber is under vacuum. Thanks for the vid man
As a bowyer I'd love a discussion on the changes to the mechanical properties of stabilizing wood. We have similar needs to people in the fishing rod hobby. High tensile and compression strength.
I got the supplies to do this a year ago and was just intimidated by the process too much to take a day and get it figured out. This was an extremely easy to understand tutorial, and I’ll be doing this soon.
I just cut down a black locust that is spalted and worm/ant tracked. I was merely cutting it down to make way for 2 large mulberries to come down. I'm a little excited to see what it looks like when I get to milling it. This spring I'm moving to town, so I'd figured I would do some maintenance logging before the place is sold, so I'm quite excited to see what all I end up with slabbing elm, black and honey locust, mulberry and a few others we haven't identified yet. Originally I was just going to mill up a bunch of fence posts and call it good, but now I seem to be hooked on "gold mining" wood lol. Having different options to stabilize and add value to certain woods is nice.
Seems to be the best wood stablization video I found so far. Explanations are great too. But I imagine that this is a bit of an overkill and completely changes the density and composition to try to use on guitar builds... I'm from a place where we have very little humidity so the indian rosewood fretboard I got started to bend almost as soon as it arrived so now I have it clamped lightly on a flat surface hoping it doesn't warp or start to crack as it dries.
Darn! I just burned a bunch of nice looking cherry pen blanks because of a little rot. Didnt know about this option. Thank you very much James for sharing this! I am totally going to order this stuff. Thank you!
That was interesting James. Thank you for the tutorial on wood stabilization and the stabilization chamber. My wife hundreds of rose bushes at one time and as some died when I dug them up the roots were actually big enough to make somersmall. Most were pretty solid but some pieces would have a punky spot or two. I have saved them hoping to be able to use them One day and I believe you have given me the anwer. Thank you and God bless.
James, this is the best video I’ve seen on stabilization and I’ve seen quite a few. Your explanation between Cactus Juice and epoxy was super. While I don’t have a need to stabilize anything right now I’m sure that sometime in the future I’ll want to. The information in your video will be very helpful when I do. Thanks.
Great tutorial! I've been sitting on a bunch of birch burls that I've been wanting to dig into, but it's so dang spongey, it would just crumble as soon as I started working with it. Gonna try this out. Thanks, homie!
No sooner did I ask the question and you do a video on it...excellent, and informative..I had been watching the Tally Ho Restoration for a while now and all I can say is that kid is a genius...Nathaniel Bowdich would be very proud.
Very useful! I am fixing to start into turning and I kept running across this as a suggestion without explanation of what it is. Thank you very much for the info and demo.
You'd have to go full on imagination. For example, do to the material and zippers they use for space suits. Keeping the zippers up out of the several expensive gallons of juice. Pain, BUT, when done, you would have what you were hoping for. Meanwhile, consider doing what I did for years, and argued with the then [and now] expert in finishing about - saturating the wood with thinned poly, in stages, letting the solvent gas off. Deep penetration, in my opinion, ALWAYS trumps surface coats that require more maintenance. If you want to share ideas, do a search for ImaginationUnincorporated, which is me. Then contact me via that information.
I just now found your channel, and the info youve given me today and the quality of your videos im surprised that you dont have more subscribers, you taught me/showed me alot of good stuff today. And today was a day I wish I knew all this before hand. But such is learning curves sometimes!
Great video. I've been wanting to learn more about this. I saw a thread on some web site where a guy made a small set up with a gallon pickle jar and a $25 hand operated brake bleeder pump from Harbor Freight, along with various fittings and some silicone.
ya I have seen that. the problem with the bike pump and no gauge is you 1. do not know how good the vacuum is, and 2. with a bike pump you can rarely get it halfway as far which is ok for most it just means the juice will not penetrate as far in some woods.
Hi, great video well detailed. Do you leave the vacuum pump ON for the full duration when sacking all the air out of the wood? Or just like the pressure pot once it gets to the desired level switch off and leave as it is?
It depends on how good your valves are. If I can get it down low enough and close it then I do. But most the time it takes a good 20 minutes plus to get it all the way down to a solid vacuum.
How long do you think the chamber will last with the resin? If you look in the description of the chamber it does say "Chambers are not compatible with stabilization resin (i.e. Cactus Juice™, Gator Venom™, Minwax™ etc.)".... I'm not sure if this actually does anything that it wouldn't otherwise do to regular stabilizing chambers that are made for it. What are your thoughts?
it should last forever. two parts that can fail one is if you splash epoxy/resin up into the valves. the chamber itself looks to be made of stainless steel. the other part that might have issues is the seal getting hard and not sealing because you get epoxy/resin on it. but then they sell the seals for cheap
Great video. I've been thinking about getting the supplies to do this. I have a bunch of spalted stuff that is getting too punky to work with. This would work. :)
I have a liberty hatch cover that I found on my property, can I stabilize the wood if it’s too large to fit in a vacuum pot? And oven? I imagine the resin won’t be able to penetrate the whole piece.
Without a full vacuum you would not be able to penetrate the whole piece. However with large items like that you really don't need to penetrate the whole piece. I would personally just use a penetrating epoxy depending upon how punky the wood is it will absorb in a 1/16-in to a quarter inch. And for most uses that's all you need. If you really want to try and pull it in a little bit further you can use a vacuum packing bag but that won't help that much more.
I am considering buying these tools myself and I can choose between a chamber with the valves on the lid or on the pot. Do you have any suggestions or comments.
So I have some really old pine that has lots of cracks. I want to turn some and use some for knife scales. Should I stabilize first then fill voids with epoxy?
wow never heard of this very interesting. Does stabilizing actually eliminate wood movement. im trying to make carvings with inlays Would stabilizing help with movement ???
If you create a full vacuum it will completely dry the wood. The problem is you don't want water in the wood when you put it in the oven otherwise it will then boil and push out the stabilizer. but if it's a green wood put in the microwave for a little bit and it'll dry it out nicely. Or when in doubt leave it in vacuum for 30 minutes before then stabilizing it.
WOW!, amazing! when you said 200 degrees, you ment ºF, dont you? Because I read the cactus juice label and its sais Cactus Juice is heat cured at temperatures between 80ºC -96ºC...
It comes with a small bottle of activator that you mix in when you first get it. It does not come pre-mixed because then if it gets too hot and transport it would solidify.
I am curious about doing a large piece like a table top. I have done a couple of red oak ones and spent endless time filling tiny voids. What about putting the top in a polyethylene bag, pouring some epoxy and drawing a vacuum on the bag to suck the stuff into the voids? Then fill the larger voids?
That actually works fairly well. I've done that on a few of them. You just have to make sure you set up the bag right so that the air can get out without it drawing up into the vacuum hose. You won't get quite as good of a vacuum as this but it does good enough for filling cracks and voids and bug holes.
it does not state that on the label but like with epoxy I consider it food safe once cured. but everyone has a different level for what they consider "food Safe"
James isn't Cactus Juice, a 2 part resin. All that I have seen requires the harder ( small bottle added to the larger one) or have they brought out a new product.
Yes there is a small bottle they ship with it you have to add. The reason being is that the temperature may get high during shipping so they don't want to include that ahead of time. But you can add the hardener to it as soon as you get it and it will stay liquid in the shop for years and years to come. So it's considered a one part resin as it is heat cured not chemically mixed curing.
The link to the vacuum pot you provided says that this pot is not suitable for cactus juice and resin stabalizing. How has this held up for you so far?
You made a comment the the cactus juice will not fill a void. My question is till epoxy stick to the wood after you stabilize a piece of burl or should the epoxy be put in the void first
Thanks for the video!I see that you remove the vacuum,then add the vacuum again,watching for more bubbles,cycling a couple of times..I’ve seen some people leave the vacuum on until the bubbles disappear,usually 2 or 3 hrs,then release the vacuum and let sit. Is there a difference? If so,which is better?
Could i end up with a nice quality stabilization withouth a vaccumchamber, but instread just letting it soak for like a week or something? i kinda dont wanna spend alot of cash on a vaccum chamber, but i still wanna stabilise the wewd i got
You can stabilize any wood you want. Sometimes with pine and other soft woods you have to leave it in a bit longer as it just takes a little longer for it to get into the small pores.
I have a piece of cocobolo about 2x4x6 inches with hairline micro cracks on the ends about 1/8-1/4" deep would this cactus juice work on cocobolo? Would it fill in these extremely thin cracks?
Yes. This would work perfectly there. You want to make sure you take that vacuum down as far as it can possibly go though It takes a bit more force to get it through that type of wood.
Very clear and ilustrative, thank you for your video. I'm trying to learn because I want to start doing some things on wood and this video clarifies a lot my doubts about stabilizing wood. Can I ask you if vacuum is also the good way for stabilize wood + coloured resin?
The hardener comes with it it's just a small container You don't add it when you use it you just add it when you get it. They don't add the hardener to the fluid at the factory because a tractor trailer delivering it may actually get hot enough to activate it. when it arrives at your house you can just add the hardener to it immediately and it can sit with the hardener in it for years as long as it doesn't get hot enough for it.
I would like to encase a scroll sawn design in resin. Should I stabilize before or after cutting the pattern into the wood?? This will be both thin baltic birch and solid hardwoods, up to 1/4"..
Is there any benefit, or would it even work, to use cactus juice to deep penetrate thicker woods, like a trunk/log, first, then follow up with a penetrative epoxy?
Not really. The only reason to stabilize wood is if it is unstable or if it's going to be glued to something that is incredibly stable such as steel. stabilizing it will decrease the amount of expansion contraction or if the wood is punky and soft it will harden it so it can work much easier. larger chunks generally don't need the stabilization as long as they're solid wood.
That is the activator. You put it in as soon as you get it in the mail. They do not add it at the factory as the trucks get hot and it may cure it in route. Once you add it this will sit on the shelf for years.
Teak oil for any other polymerizing oil can help some but it doesn't actually stabilize the wood. It will just soak into the wood and very slowly polymerize. Depending upon the block that may take months or years. But it does help.
This was very good video but I have a few questions. Do you have to use vacuum chamber always or is it enough to leave the wood in cactus juice for a long time? For example a week or two. And does the wood need to be completely dry before the stabilization? Thank you for the answer.
Just soaking the wood for a few weeks. We'll get the resin a little ways into the wood, but it won't fully penetrate it. Even if you soaked it for a year or more it wouldn't make it all the way through. It does need to be dry. It doesn't have to be 100% dry though. Just very dry. Unless you're doing large pieces such as things more than 4 in a cross. Those you probably want to stick in the oven beforehand to make sure they're fully dry.
Can anyone tell me if the HF vac pump is sufficient and or good for 10 quart pot for stabilizing, I under stand it has a vacuum pull of 22 microns ????
Generally I do it when I get down close to the size I want. You don't want to do it after you have done your finished carving as you still have to go back through and remove the stabilizer that's left on the surface. Also the stabilizer will warp the wood slightly so if you have an exact shape it won't be the same afterwards.
Do you have to let the blocks sit in the resin after your 2 cycles or once you let the final air back in you can pull them out? Great video, very helpful.
but I noticed that when you pulled them out of the oven the sides looked as if there was no hardener on the surface ... you think it's still pulling it from residual vacuum in the wood fibers while it was sitting in the oven? Would be fine I suppose if the surface is coming off, but what if you just wanted to keep that surface, should you keep it in the solution for a bit longer at atmosphere before pulling them out?
I'm just learning about stabilization and I was curious if you still cure with cactus juice but don't have a vacuum system. I know it probably won't soak in as deep but I don't do turning but I do a lot of colored epoxy & polyurethane so I'd like to stop it soaking up so much.
Nice video. I am not in the Cactus League yet as I recently started doing knife scales. I have made four knives with Ebony Macassar and have noticed some "puggyness" to the wood, especially after using and cleaning the knife for a week. Now I have two orders and think I should put the scales through the stabilizing process. Have you heard of using Winwax Wood Hardener with two parts Acetone?
sounds like fun. yes that works like a penetrating epoxy in that it hardens the surface. it will not stabilize the wood from expansion and contraction but it will harden it down a bit into the wood.
That was the simplest, most easily understood demo I have ever seen for this. Thank you for sharing this, not nearly as difficult or intimidating as I thought. Thank you!!
thanks David. that means a lot
@@WoodByWright I was wondering can you glue this stabilised wood to untreated wood.
I'm thinking of trying this for bass fretboards..
Your thoughts would be appreciated
@@WoodByWright is there some place where I can private message you? Or even FB. Thank you!
Came here to say the same thing!
Thank you for your time and video . 👍🏻 Very helpful and easy to understand. All the best. 🤝
This was super helpful, of course now I have to save every last tiny scrap of wood in the shop.
Lol. Yup got to love that pile of almost sawdust scraps for some future project!
frank howarth wait, you don’t do that already?
Same, I already had a problem...
Got a 55 gallon garbage can full.
Year
Thanks for the vid man. Also vacuum chambers have no pressure. Which implies positive pressure. They have a negative pressure or “vacuum“ . And you would pump atmospheric pressure out, not in. As for the pvc its warning is against positive pressure, no negative. Also, the valve wo a line is basically an air bleed, you dont have to start the pump with it open. You can leave it closed always til ur ready to take the lid off if the chamber is under vacuum. Thanks for the vid man
They still have pressure, the pressure is simply lower than atmospheric pressure
@@stevenleadeswhich is called vacuum
Ty sir. I have started to fo some wood rings. And I have been watching people stabilize wood. But they never went onto detail. So this helped alot.
As a bowyer I'd love a discussion on the changes to the mechanical properties of stabilizing wood. We have similar needs to people in the fishing rod hobby. High tensile and compression strength.
I got the supplies to do this a year ago and was just intimidated by the process too much to take a day and get it figured out. This was an extremely easy to understand tutorial, and I’ll be doing this soon.
Cool. Let me know if you have any questions I'd love to help you out.
Thank you for sharing! Even 4 years later it`s helping people like me
I just cut down a black locust that is spalted and worm/ant tracked.
I was merely cutting it down to make way for 2 large mulberries to come down. I'm a little excited to see what it looks like when I get to milling it.
This spring I'm moving to town, so I'd figured I would do some maintenance logging before the place is sold, so I'm quite excited to see what all I end up with slabbing elm, black and honey locust, mulberry and a few others we haven't identified yet.
Originally I was just going to mill up a bunch of fence posts and call it good, but now I seem to be hooked on "gold mining" wood lol.
Having different options to stabilize and add value to certain woods is nice.
Sounds like a fun time.
Seems to be the best wood stablization video I found so far. Explanations are great too. But I imagine that this is a bit of an overkill and completely changes the density and composition to try to use on guitar builds... I'm from a place where we have very little humidity so the indian rosewood fretboard I got started to bend almost as soon as it arrived so now I have it clamped lightly on a flat surface hoping it doesn't warp or start to crack as it dries.
Darn! I just burned a bunch of nice looking cherry pen blanks because of a little rot. Didnt know about this option. Thank you very much James for sharing this! I am totally going to order this stuff. Thank you!
thanks man. my pleasure. it is perfect for that!
That was interesting James. Thank you for the tutorial on wood stabilization and the stabilization chamber. My wife hundreds of rose bushes at one time and as some died when I dug them up the roots were actually big enough to make somersmall. Most were pretty solid but some pieces would have a punky spot or two. I have saved them hoping to be able to use them One day and I believe you have given me the anwer. Thank you and God bless.
That sounds like a great project. Nice man!
200 c or 200f
I like your philosophy of trying to match any old wood to a use where it will work. nice one
Thanks!
Stabilisation explained very well.. I have a vacuum pot so I can give it a go thank you for the video
Sweet! thanks!
James, this is the best video I’ve seen on stabilization and I’ve seen quite a few. Your explanation between Cactus Juice and epoxy was super. While I don’t have a need to stabilize anything right now I’m sure that sometime in the future I’ll want to. The information in your video will be very helpful when I do. Thanks.
Thanks man. That means a lot.
Great tutorial! I've been sitting on a bunch of birch burls that I've been wanting to dig into, but it's so dang spongey, it would just crumble as soon as I started working with it. Gonna try this out. Thanks, homie!
No sooner did I ask the question and you do a video on it...excellent, and informative..I had been watching the Tally Ho Restoration for a while now and all I can say is that kid is a genius...Nathaniel Bowdich would be very proud.
LOL my pleasure. thanks Neil. I am really hoping to get out there and help him again some time.
Very useful! I am fixing to start into turning and I kept running across this as a suggestion without explanation of what it is. Thank you very much for the info and demo.
Thanks for the info James. I want to get into pen turning and I've been saving some nice spalted tulipwood for it. Time to get into stabilising.
Damo
Sweet man. Don't have too much fun!
I’m looking at making outdoor signs, this seems like a great technique for that.
You'd have to go full on imagination. For example, do to the material and zippers they use for space suits. Keeping the zippers up out of the several expensive gallons of juice.
Pain, BUT, when done, you would have what you were hoping for.
Meanwhile, consider doing what I did for years, and argued with the then [and now] expert in finishing about - saturating the wood with thinned poly, in stages, letting the solvent gas off.
Deep penetration, in my opinion, ALWAYS trumps surface coats that require more maintenance.
If you want to share ideas, do a search for ImaginationUnincorporated, which is me. Then contact me via that information.
Great video, you’ve convinced my to make a vacuum chamber. Your explanation of stabilizing was great, it’s not so intimidating now.
Thanks man. Glad I can help.
Wonderful video! Took the mystery out of stabilization! Thanks!!!!
Exactly the advice and product links I was looking for! Also, that clip at the end made me crack up, subbed.Well played Wright.
Thanks. Glad I could help.
I just now found your channel, and the info youve given me today and the quality of your videos im surprised that you dont have more subscribers, you taught me/showed me alot of good stuff today. And today was a day I wish I knew all this before hand. But such is learning curves sometimes!
If I had a nickel for every tip you gave that blew my mind, I would be a rich man! That pvc pipe idea is gold!
Thanks man. I will try to keep them comming!
@@WoodByWright I've used big pvc pipe to steam with, but never would of thought to use it as a pressure chamber.
Seriously the best demo vid on this I’ve ever seen. Well done man. I feel confident I can do this now.
Thank you. I'm glad I could help out.
Awesome. This video answered all my questions.
That was really really worth watching. thank you for this great video.
Thanks. My pleasure.
Hey thanks I just cut up a burl I found & cant wait to make some knife handles out of it with your methods
sweet! sounds like fun!
James this is great info. Thanks!!!
thanks My pleasure!
Best stabilization vid I've seen so far. Thanks for your hard work.
Thanks Thomas! that means a lot.
Great video. It pretty much answers all my questions. Thanks.
thanks! glad I could help!
Thank you for the video! Very well done and clearly explained. I appreciate it!
Woah, I didn't realize I had the video set at 1.5x and just though you were way to excited about playing with your wood.
Lol sounds about right.
Exactly the response I wanted to my question from the other video, thank you!
Thanks I'm glad you like it.
Great video. I've been wanting to learn more about this. I saw a thread on some web site where a guy made a small set up with a gallon pickle jar and a $25 hand operated brake bleeder pump from Harbor Freight, along with various fittings and some silicone.
ya I have seen that. the problem with the bike pump and no gauge is you 1. do not know how good the vacuum is, and 2. with a bike pump you can rarely get it halfway as far which is ok for most it just means the juice will not penetrate as far in some woods.
This guy used a brake bleeder pump thar had a gauge attached.
@@dannyhale7645 oh I miss read that sorry. I don't think I have seen that one. I will have to look for it.
I found it in a Google search it was on a site called The Shave Den. I think he was making scales for a straight razor.
Great video, clear and full explanation!! Thanks
interesting, before I heard about different methods, but they are so complicated
Hi, great video well detailed. Do you leave the vacuum pump ON for the full duration when sacking all the air out of the wood? Or just like the pressure pot once it gets to the desired level switch off and leave as it is?
It depends on how good your valves are. If I can get it down low enough and close it then I do. But most the time it takes a good 20 minutes plus to get it all the way down to a solid vacuum.
thank you for sharing this knowledge
my pleasure!
Good tip, James!
thanks William
Nice one James. Good video as usual
thanks.
Great video on the topic! Thank youuuu
How long do you think the chamber will last with the resin? If you look in the description of the chamber it does say "Chambers are not compatible with stabilization resin (i.e. Cactus Juice™, Gator Venom™, Minwax™ etc.)".... I'm not sure if this actually does anything that it wouldn't otherwise do to regular stabilizing chambers that are made for it. What are your thoughts?
it should last forever. two parts that can fail one is if you splash epoxy/resin up into the valves. the chamber itself looks to be made of stainless steel. the other part that might have issues is the seal getting hard and not sealing because you get epoxy/resin on it.
but then they sell the seals for cheap
They are just covering their backside. @zifnab has it on the head.
Make sure your chamber has a glass lid! The degassing chambers with plastic lids will fail! I know from experience.
Great video. I've been thinking about getting the supplies to do this. I have a bunch of spalted stuff that is getting too punky to work with. This would work. :)
sounds perfect!
Right.
Thanks for the info James! 👍👊
my pleasure Fred!
Great video! Thank you for the info.
Wow this was extremely helpful and fun to watch!!! Thank you so much!
thanks. my pleasure
very good video, i learned a lot! thank you!
My pleasure thanks for watching.
I find(and found this, the other day,) really interesting. Thanks James...rr
it is so much fun to play with!
Thank you, very informative!
Nice relaxing video full of information. Thanks! :)
Thanks!
thank you
I have a liberty hatch cover that I found on my property, can I stabilize the wood if it’s too large to fit in a vacuum pot? And oven? I imagine the resin won’t be able to penetrate the whole piece.
Without a full vacuum you would not be able to penetrate the whole piece. However with large items like that you really don't need to penetrate the whole piece. I would personally just use a penetrating epoxy depending upon how punky the wood is it will absorb in a 1/16-in to a quarter inch. And for most uses that's all you need. If you really want to try and pull it in a little bit further you can use a vacuum packing bag but that won't help that much more.
thanks for the info, very helpful!
thanks! my pleasure!
It's hard to get wood stabelizer on my local store. So I tried with super glue it work fine🤣. But It cost me a box of super glue
All of the intentional intro misspellings give me Forrest Whitaker eye. 😉
LOL I am glad someone likes it!
I am considering buying these tools myself and I can choose between a chamber with the valves on the lid or on the pot. Do you have any suggestions or comments.
I would get the valves on the lid. You want those as high as you can get them. You don't want accidental splashing to go back up and do a line.
So I have some really old pine that has lots of cracks. I want to turn some and use some for knife scales. Should I stabilize first then fill voids with epoxy?
Stabilizing is more for punky and rotin wood. And it does not work well with pine.
@@WoodByWright well that’s a bummer
Great informative video.
Thanks Brian!
wow never heard of this very interesting. Does stabilizing actually eliminate wood movement. im trying to make carvings with inlays Would stabilizing help with movement ???
Stabilization makes less wood movement. It will still expand and contract due to temperature but far far less due to humidity..
How dry does the wood need to be? Can you stabilize green wood
If you create a full vacuum it will completely dry the wood. The problem is you don't want water in the wood when you put it in the oven otherwise it will then boil and push out the stabilizer. but if it's a green wood put in the microwave for a little bit and it'll dry it out nicely. Or when in doubt leave it in vacuum for 30 minutes before then stabilizing it.
@@WoodByWright thanks
WOW!, amazing! when you said 200 degrees, you ment ºF, dont you? Because I read the cactus juice label and its sais Cactus Juice is heat cured at temperatures between 80ºC -96ºC...
Correct 200F
does that cactua juice need an activator ? or just straight cactus juice ?
It comes with a small bottle of activator that you mix in when you first get it. It does not come pre-mixed because then if it gets too hot and transport it would solidify.
I am curious about doing a large piece like a table top. I have done a couple of red oak ones and spent endless time filling tiny voids. What about putting the top in a polyethylene bag, pouring some epoxy and drawing a vacuum on the bag to suck the stuff into the voids? Then fill the larger voids?
That actually works fairly well. I've done that on a few of them. You just have to make sure you set up the bag right so that the air can get out without it drawing up into the vacuum hose. You won't get quite as good of a vacuum as this but it does good enough for filling cracks and voids and bug holes.
Great video. Is Cactus Juice a food safe product. Can I use it to stabilize wood for spoons and such?
it does not state that on the label but like with epoxy I consider it food safe once cured. but everyone has a different level for what they consider "food Safe"
Could you add dye or stain to the juice to color the wood?
Sure, but that bottle will always be that color.
I wander if I could do this to a vintage wood golf driver!
James isn't Cactus Juice, a 2 part resin. All that I have seen requires the harder ( small bottle added to the larger one) or have they brought out a new product.
Yes there is a small bottle they ship with it you have to add. The reason being is that the temperature may get high during shipping so they don't want to include that ahead of time. But you can add the hardener to it as soon as you get it and it will stay liquid in the shop for years and years to come. So it's considered a one part resin as it is heat cured not chemically mixed curing.
The link to the vacuum pot you provided says that this pot is not suitable for cactus juice and resin stabalizing. How has this held up for you so far?
It works fine. They put that in to protect them selves. Just do not let the pump suck in the liquid.
You can stabilize antique, damaged/punky gun stocks using this method.
Sure. As long as it fits in the vacuum chamber.
Where can one buy the epoxy stabilizing compound?
Where is the cactus juice I use amzn.to/47LMndL. And here is the epoxy amzn.to/3U9k5Xg
Great video 👌🏻 thanks
Thanks mic
You made a comment the the cactus juice will not fill a void. My question is till epoxy stick to the wood after you stabilize a piece of burl or should the epoxy be put in the void first
Yes, the epoxy wheel adhere to it without any problem.
I was hoping to see you turn your spring pole lathe into a vacuum pump.
Lol that would be interesting!
Thanks for the video!I see that you remove the vacuum,then add the vacuum again,watching for more bubbles,cycling a couple of times..I’ve seen some people leave the vacuum on until the bubbles disappear,usually 2 or 3 hrs,then release the vacuum and let sit. Is there a difference? If so,which is better?
I have done it both ways but I found it to work a bit better with cycling it. In the end it's just a personal preference.
Could i end up with a nice quality stabilization withouth a vaccumchamber, but instread just letting it soak for like a week or something? i kinda dont wanna spend alot of cash on a vaccum chamber, but i still wanna stabilise the wewd i got
For a few months you might get enough into it for a decent stabilization. But it would really take a lot for most woods.
What kind of wood can I stabilize? I have a hobby of making canes. My cane handles is usually made from soft wood.
You can stabilize any wood you want. Sometimes with pine and other soft woods you have to leave it in a bit longer as it just takes a little longer for it to get into the small pores.
I have a piece of cocobolo about 2x4x6 inches with hairline micro cracks on the ends about 1/8-1/4" deep would this cactus juice work on cocobolo? Would it fill in these extremely thin cracks?
Yes. This would work perfectly there. You want to make sure you take that vacuum down as far as it can possibly go though It takes a bit more force to get it through that type of wood.
Very clear and ilustrative, thank you for your video. I'm trying to learn because I want to start doing some things on wood and this video clarifies a lot my doubts about stabilizing wood. Can I ask you if vacuum is also the good way for stabilize wood + coloured resin?
thanks. sure I know several people that will add color to the resin.
Can you add dye to the Cactus Juice?
Sure. As long as you're okay with that batch, always being that color. Because you can reuse anything that doesn't get absorbed into the wood.
You were talking about Catus Juice but didn’t mention you have to add a hardner to it to make it work??
The hardener comes with it it's just a small container You don't add it when you use it you just add it when you get it. They don't add the hardener to the fluid at the factory because a tractor trailer delivering it may actually get hot enough to activate it. when it arrives at your house you can just add the hardener to it immediately and it can sit with the hardener in it for years as long as it doesn't get hot enough for it.
amazing video!
Thanks.
I would like to encase a scroll sawn design in resin.
Should I stabilize before or after cutting the pattern into the wood??
This will be both thin baltic birch and solid hardwoods, up to 1/4"..
It's generally best to do it before. As the wood will move a little bit with the stabilization.
@@WoodByWright will a scroll saw cut resin??
yes it will though you may want to slow it down so it does not heat up too much.
Is there any benefit, or would it even work, to use cactus juice to deep penetrate thicker woods, like a trunk/log, first, then follow up with a penetrative epoxy?
Not really. The only reason to stabilize wood is if it is unstable or if it's going to be glued to something that is incredibly stable such as steel. stabilizing it will decrease the amount of expansion contraction or if the wood is punky and soft it will harden it so it can work much easier. larger chunks generally don't need the stabilization as long as they're solid wood.
Is the cactus juice a two part mixture?The stuff I’m seeing on amazon shows a small bottle that comes with the larger.
That is the activator. You put it in as soon as you get it in the mail. They do not add it at the factory as the trucks get hot and it may cure it in route. Once you add it this will sit on the shelf for years.
Hi sir , have you ever tried to stabilized with teak oil, that only thing I can afford
Teak oil for any other polymerizing oil can help some but it doesn't actually stabilize the wood. It will just soak into the wood and very slowly polymerize. Depending upon the block that may take months or years. But it does help.
@@WoodByWright thank you sir, can I dry it in the oven ?
This was very good video but I have a few questions. Do you have to use vacuum chamber always or is it enough to leave the wood in cactus juice for a long time? For example a week or two. And does the wood need to be completely dry before the stabilization? Thank you for the answer.
Just soaking the wood for a few weeks. We'll get the resin a little ways into the wood, but it won't fully penetrate it. Even if you soaked it for a year or more it wouldn't make it all the way through. It does need to be dry. It doesn't have to be 100% dry though. Just very dry. Unless you're doing large pieces such as things more than 4 in a cross. Those you probably want to stick in the oven beforehand to make sure they're fully dry.
Can anyone tell me if the HF vac pump is sufficient and or good for 10 quart pot for stabilizing, I under stand it has a vacuum pull of 22 microns ????
It will work, but it will take a bit longer to pull a full vacume.
Terrific video!!
Could you do the same thing with wood shavings from sanding or using a planer? Im thinking about using some of mine to make knife scales
Sure. That sounds like a great project!
Can you dye the cactus juice?
LOL... I could use a bit of that stabilization as well. 😊
Lol me too!
Do you stabilize the wooden spoons after carving them?
Generally I do it when I get down close to the size I want. You don't want to do it after you have done your finished carving as you still have to go back through and remove the stabilizer that's left on the surface. Also the stabilizer will warp the wood slightly so if you have an exact shape it won't be the same afterwards.
Do you have to let the blocks sit in the resin after your 2 cycles or once you let the final air back in you can pull them out? Great video, very helpful.
once the air comes back in they are good to go. thanks Paul!
@@WoodByWright Oh ok awesome. Thanks!
but I noticed that when you pulled them out of the oven the sides looked as if there was no hardener on the surface ... you think it's still pulling it from residual vacuum in the wood fibers while it was sitting in the oven? Would be fine I suppose if the surface is coming off, but what if you just wanted to keep that surface, should you keep it in the solution for a bit longer at atmosphere before pulling them out?
@@davidaustin6962 I think you are just seeing a trick of the camera. The wood fibers are solid all the way around.
Is the oven you are using a forced air oven, gravity convection or does it not matter?
It really doesn't matter. Mine's just a cheap kitchen oven. As long as it gets up the temperature that's the only thing that matters.
I'm just learning about stabilization and I was curious if you still cure with cactus juice but don't have a vacuum system. I know it probably won't soak in as deep but I don't do turning but I do a lot of colored epoxy & polyurethane so I'd like to stop it soaking up so much.
you can do some of that just soak it over night, but for that you wold get better luck with penetrating epoxy.
It's the quenchiest
Could you use a pressure cooker for the same effect
You might be able to modify it to connect to a vaccume pump and block the valve.
Nice video. I am not in the Cactus League yet as I recently started doing knife scales. I have made four knives with Ebony Macassar and have noticed some "puggyness" to the wood, especially after using and cleaning the knife for a week. Now I have two orders and think I should put the scales through the stabilizing process. Have you heard of using Winwax Wood Hardener with two parts Acetone?
sounds like fun. yes that works like a penetrating epoxy in that it hardens the surface. it will not stabilize the wood from expansion and contraction but it will harden it down a bit into the wood.
Can you add color to the stabilizer to give the wood color?
Sure. It is often to ad dies