Is anyone familliar with this process of stabilizing wood, how it affects the wood, finish, workability, etc? There’s a supplier on eBay which auctions off a lot of woods treated with this method. I’m a bit weary and I’d like some unbiased feedback. Here’s a excerpt from one of their auctions…
We stabilize the wood by impregnating it with a non toxic acrylic. By doing this process we make the wood impermeable to most weather conditions, ranging from humidity extremes, temperature changes, and the ability to resist water. These pieces also resist cracking, checking, warping, swelling, shrinking, color change and or fading. Stabilized wood requires little finishing, mostly a fine sanding will bring the wood to a high luster, and will sand without raising the grain.
This process has been heavily researched and has been used for over 8 years with no problems. We do custom stabilizing to suit your needs as well as bowl blanks as the acrylic is non toxic.
Thanks
~ WebTrooper ~
“But don’t take my word for it. I was wrong once and it could happen again!”
Replies
If you check in The American Woodturner spring 2002 they explain how to use dish soap to stabilize your turnings, it will probably cost lots less.
Good luck,
Jim
Thanks Jim, but I'm not looking to do this process myself - My fault, I should have been clearer. My concern is that I see a lot of really nice pieces of wood on auction at Ebay by this one supplier that stabilizes all their woods. I'd like to bid on some pieces but I'm concerned about the effect this impregnating with acrylic has on the wood, mostly how it affects the wood's accepting a finish, but also the ability to hold glue and it's workability.~ WebTrooper ~
"But don't take my word for it. I was wrong once and it could happen again!"
From what I've seen of these impregnated woods, the wood is, in essence, turned into a block of solid acrylic plastic, and needs to be treated like a plastic, it is no longer wood except in appearance. The material doesn't need a finish, it just needs to be buffed to get a nice sheen.
My guess is, that like solid acrylic, the material needs to be worked with carbide tooling and is probably fussy to work with, you may have to experiment to get good cuts. I doubt if the common wood glues would work on the stuff, this would be something to ask the supplier, who should be able to to supply you with guide to working with the material.
John W.
Similar stuff has been around a long time for knife handles and such. Usually laminated, but sometimes solid. Not really wood anymore after that process. More like woodgrain plexiglass. Doesn't look bad in some contexts, but not what I'd use as a general purpose material.
Thanks guys, that's kind of what I expected. I was hoping it would be more like wax, only temporary and can be cleaned off with solvents. But it doesn't sound like a FWW material so I'm going to avoid it. I just needed confirmation.
Peace!~ WebTrooper ~
"But don't take my word for it. I was wrong once and it could happen again!"
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