Greeting’s, I’m looking for input on product best for the buck if anyone has had experience with the resin and vacuum chambers process already?
Couldn’t pass it up because the wood is absolutely gorgeous.
I recently bought:
Sixteen (16) Maple bowl blanks. You will receive a mixture of Maple bowl blanks which may include clear, ambrosia, and/or spalted blanks. Each blank measures approximately 6 X 6 X 3″. There is no choice of blanks and numbers of each will vary with each pack. All blanks were processed green and completely sealed with Anchorseal. I’m wanting to turn these into candy dishes for my children and understand if I want to have smooth surfaces I need to stabilize the wood.
I’m just an amateur woodworker so detail is best for me to follow along.
Thank You in Advance!!!
Replies
I haven't done it myself, but "stabilizing" (by various methods/materials) is usually for rotten, punky, or very void-ridden woods, which I doubt you'll get much of in what you bought. If there a few small voids, I'll fill them with black-dyed epoxy. You are turning these, I assume? Sharp tools, good technique and a bit of sandpaper and your bowls should be plenty smooth for finishing.
To ensure stability if you are in doubt, you can turn the bowls with thicker walls than the finished product and let them season for a while or microwave them roughly one minute every hour for about a dozen time and then turn them to the final dimension.
I think resin would work nicely on the crack but the rough area I'm just not sure of it.
Epoxy will even things out, I apply thick Coats with the blank rotating on the lathe at 5 rpm .
Rick,
Here where I got my Vacuum Pump. There is a steep learning curve to this.
https://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/welcome.htm
Here is another site with some other info.
https://composites.ugent.be/home_made_composites/documentation/FibreGlast_Vacuum_infusion_process.pdf
These blanks almost certainly don't need stabilising.
The idea is that you turn basic bowls with hefty walls (say about 1 inch) but nice and even.
You then let the blanks dry. Naturally (about 1 year), kiln (about 1 week) or microwave (2-3 days)
After this time they will have distorted a fair bit so you have to re-form the base tenon and then turn your final bowl from the blank.
It's a lot of work, especially as you won't be able to finish the projects for ages.
However...
As a beginner, there is not much better practice than this sort of thing - nice blanks, easily mounted on the lathe.
Start by marking the centre then trimming to round on a band saw if you have one. Screw drive with the tailstock up for safety and turn a tenon and the basic shape of the bowl.
Flip and hollow. Rinse and repeat.
It doesn't matter if you get some horrible catches as it's all going to get turned off anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDwV2Djnj756vpxL51zd4Uw
No stabilisation required!
You could of course also use the blanks for many other fun turned projects, but wet wood is best used for practicing bowls, then when it is dry, for making nice ones.
Great Info...Thanks 👍
“[Deleted]”
What about deformation after say one year?
“[Deleted]”
I am a young 60 and just wanted to put in perspective your vast experience. I have over 50 dried turned blanks from last years harvest and the deformation averages 1/2 inch oval in 10 to 18 inches bowls that have been turned rough to a one inch wall thickness. I take special care in stabilizing the turned blanks in drying them slowly and as winter comes and the indoor moisture drops to 25% I take them inside to fully dry them. I care about stability and I want the same aesthetics to hold for many years to come, and it does. The chestnut and red maple bowls pictures were left with the same contour deformation yielded by the drying process, there is about a 1/2 inch dip all around. In the Norwegian maple and apple tree/ebony vases, the style asked that the wood stay stable for fit ans aesthetics.
Nice
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