Punky & CA, not the movie

[Burt Alcantara]

I turned a maple blank with a bit of punky in it. The punky was solid enough to hold together but did not allow me to get anywhere near a finished surface so out comes the CA. I tried a new-to-me CA -- Titebond. Guess its as good as anything else but the nice thing is it has a screw top.

Back to the punky. I drenched the area until it wouldn't take any more. Let it set then gave a few squirts of accelerant. Went back to turning. The punky surfaced smoothly and I finished the outside and inside with no incidents.

When I reversed it, none of my tools would cut through the tenon which got a good drink of the kool aid. Not EasyRougher or Finisher, not my fresh off the grinder 1/2 bowl gouge, not the fresh off the grinder Oland, scraper, 2 parting tools and just barely made some dents with a fresh off the grinder 3/4 skew. Took over an hour to get that tenon off. Chipped it away tiny piece at a time with the skew, mostly just using the point.

Did I hit CA Hell? Is this typical? Do I need C4?

Burt

[Dan Forman]

I have used CA to stabilize punky spalted maple pens, have never had any trouble turning the blanks after. CA itself is easily turned as well, so don't know how to explain your experience.

Dan

[Aaron Wingert]

Same here. I use a lot of CA to stabilize and fill gaps, cracks, punky spots, and inclusions in burls in the turkey calls I make. Never had any trouble with turning CA glued spots using gouges or scrapers.

I'd sure be curious about what caused the problem. :confused:

[alex carey]

lathe on reverse?

[William Bachtel]

Don't admit it.

[Aaron Wingert]

Good sharpening technique and correct grind profile???

[robert baccus]

CA is awfully brittle and hard which also causes funny looking sanding results. try thinning epoxy or polyesyer resin. mix normally and add a little acetone until it looks slightlt thicker than water.. soak the area and leave overnite. for whole bowls ect. mix a larger batch, pour into a black "vinyl" bag with your piece and shake it up occasionally. again wait overnite and turn. it will look like a piece of wood and not discolor it as ca does. if you want a little color add some kind of analine dye to the mix----good luck----------ol forester;)

[Mark Burge]

Burt: I don't think Titebond makes a CA. I just checked their web site (http://www.titebond.com/download/pdf/ww/GlueGuideTB.pdf) and none of their products are listed as CA. Maybe you are hitting something harder like the polyurethane. - Mark

[Wally Dickerman]

There is another way to effectively treat punky wood to make it workable. (I do believe in the saying, "Life is too short to turn crappy wood"). Sometimes however, the wood is spalted and has lots of figure so it's worth spending a little time on.

I've used the glue soak method a number of times and most of the time it works well. Rough turn the blank, hopefully without making a mess of the punky part. Mix a solution of 50/50 white glue and water. I usually soak the piece for about 24 hours. The glue will soak through the punky part and only a little on the solid wood. The wood is going to absorb a lot of water so plan on some warping. How long you let it dry depends on the wood and how wet it is. A week or more at least.
This method doesn't harden or stain the punky spots as CA or epoxy does. When areas become hardened, it's difficult to sand withoug getting lumpy spots.

I soak the piece in a disposable aluminum baking pan that you can buy for a couple of dollars. I keep the glue solution in an old clorox jug for re-use.

A real plus with this method is that small cracks often just disappear. The wood swells and the glue forms a bond.

Give it a try sometime.

Wally

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Another method used commonly by other Creekers is the epoxy cocktail.

They mix epoxy and thin it with DNA. This is poured over the punky area and let set over night and then turned.

[Aaron Wingert]

Another method used commonly by other Creekers is the epoxy cocktail.

They mix epoxy and thin it with DNA. This is poured over the punky area and let set over night and then turned.

Good idea...What kind of epoxy, specifically? I'd love to give that a try!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Aaron,

I don't believe it was a special epoxy.

I will do a search here later today to find the threads covering it. John Hart was one of the members who used it regularly.

[Burt Alcantara]

Mark,
My local Woodcraft sells it. They've dropped most other brands. So far, it seems to be good stuff.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Aaron...check this thread for epoxy cocktail
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=66085&highlight=epoxy+cocktail

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use the epoxy cocktail all the time on punky wood. I mix 5 minute or 30 minute epoxy (doesn't make much difference) from the local lumber yard and then thin it with DNA to about the consistancy of milk. I soak the area till it won't take anymore then let it sit overnight. Then turn the piece. It works really well for me.

[Allen Neighbors]

I saturate the punky wood with a Lacquer Wash (60-65% Thinner and 35-40% Lacquer) and let it cure overnight. If the piece is small enough, I immerse it, end-grain first, but do not submerge it. (figure that out). Sometimes I leave the piece in the Wash overnight. The escaping air bubbles mean the Wash is soaking into the wood. Sanding and finishing with oil is still possible with this technique.