Alcohol stabilizaton

[Blake McCully]

I have been using Dave Smith's alcohol stabilizing method for quite some time and have been very satisfied with the process.

Has anyone out there used this method to stabilize hollow vessels or lidded boxes? I was wondering how the warp would affect finishing the pieces after they have stabilized.

Let me know if anyone has done this and how it worked. I have a lot of green wood that I want to do some boxes and vessels with.

A buddy of mine and I are going to spend a day with Bill G in June. Can't wait. Can't help but learn something. I'll report back after the lesson.

Later.

[Dominic Greco]

I have been using Dave Smith's alcohol stabilizing method for quite some time and have been very satisfied with the process.

Has anyone out there used this method to stabilize hollow vessels or lidded boxes? I was wondering how the warp would affect finishing the pieces after they have stabilized.

Let me know if anyone has done this and how it worked. I have a lot of green wood that I want to do some boxes and vessels with.

A buddy of mine and I are going to spend a day with Bill G in June. Can't wait. Can't help but learn something. I'll report back after the lesson.

Later.

Blake,
I've tried it with some kingwood and chechen. The kingwood box worked out well. I should have let the chechen one dry for a bit longer.

[keith zimmerman]

Blake,

The two boxes I showed in my recent post were alcohol soaked. I asked questions at a recent chat on another forum specifically about doing lidded boxes. It was suggested that the paper wrap be done with the two halves butted against each other. When the paper is wrapped around them, the inside of the box and lid are exposed to the air such as the inside of a bowl.

I have done several lidded boxes with this wrapping technique and, once I got a bit of experience, have had no problems. I have done both side and end-grain boxes.

Unfortunately, I really can't address the question about vessels as I am just getting into hollowing and have not yet done anything deeper than 5". I have a 4 1/2" deep osage orange burl natural edge "vessel" soaking right now and will post my results once the piece is complete.

Enjoy your time with Bill, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with him and watching him demo. He is a wonderful person and it is a pleasure to know him.

Keithz

[Philip Duffy]

A test piece of popular is drying for a couple more days after I filled it to the brim in a plastic bag and left it for 24 hrs. The result was an inch of DNA in the bag so I have to assume it drained thru the pores. Where it did its job or not will be known in a couple days. Phil

[Blake McCully]

Thanks everyone. I'll give it a try myself now that I know I won't be wasting my time. It'll be a while but I'll post the results when I get it/them done.

[John Hart]

Hi Blake,

I've had some good luck and some bad luck using the method on a variety of shapes. I think I've narrowed down my bad luck to pieces with pith at the stock. Getting that area thinned out seems to guarantee success.