I'm going to try something new this weekend

[Dennis Nagle]

My neighbor took down a Hickory tree the other day. The first 10 feet or so is straight without limbs and about 30" through. I asked him for that part of the tree and he said "sure". it was cut in 24" lengths. I will turn them into very deep bowls with the pith in the center. Turn them down to 1/2", then put one in a vacuum bag from HF, fill the bowl with pea gravel to take up space, fill the bowl and outside of the bowl with Pentacryl Wood Stabilizer, then pull enough vacuum to bring the bag up to where the Pentacryl Wood Stabilizer will cover the entire bowl. Let it set for a week or so, then take it out of the bag and let it air dry. The Pentacryl Wood Stabilizer will displace the water in the wood and should air dry in two months or so. What do you think??? Am I missing anything??? D.

The reason for the vacuum bag is simple economics. With pea gravel taking up space inside the piece and the vacuum bag greatly reducing the space outside the piece, I hope to only have to use one gallon (57 bucks) instead of a full soak tub.

[Roger Chandler]

I have never used Pentacryl..........we have a club member who uses a vacuum system for pen blanks and then puts them in a toaster oven to cure. How will the Pentacryl react with the pea gravel? I think this sounds interesting and the pea gravel should allow the wood to keep its form, but end grain forms do not move as much as face grain anyway.

Will the pea gravel/pentacryl mixture harden into a concrete like mass that you will not be able to remove without damage to your wood form? Just wondering about that......:confused:........good luck Dennis!

[Dennis Nagle]

The pentacryl will remain liquid and can be used again. I am more concerned with cracking around the pith then the piece keeping it's shape.

[allen thunem]

arnt you a bit afraid of the vacuum sucking the liquid in to the pump?? or does that matter

[Dennis Nagle]

The vacuum bags I use are the ones for storing clothes and I suck the air out with a vacuum cleaner just to the point where the liquid is to the point where it is over the top of the piece. It will never get into the vacuum cleaner. According to the tech I talked to, I could just fill the inside and it will soak through to the outside but I have the bags it they keep it all contained.

[robert baccus]

The displacement idea is great. I did that with cardboard boxes and rags when experimenying with DNA. Good luck. I was unimpressed with pentacryl and DNA but others like it.

[Dennis Nagle]

what about it didn't you like Robert? I've never used it before.

[Jim Hipp]

Does the stabilizer not mix with water?

[Dennis Nagle]

It replaces the water in the wood

[robert baccus]

Dennis, it's been a long time but I remember it being a lot of trouble and leaving the wood feeling funny or oily. I use endseal on everything and have almost no defects in curing. Oh--it's easy too. Also it seemed much cheaper and it can be thinned with water for pieces that are half dry. I am lazy too.

[Bob Hamilton]

Hi:
I tried Pentacryl a few years ago and didn't care for it. I roughed out about 8 small bowls of white ash and used Pentacryl on half of them to see what difference it would make. I just painted it on, though; I didn't immerse the blanks. I didn't care for the smell of the stuff and it seems to me there was still some smell when I did the finish turning of the bowls. It also changed the color of the wood. As it turned out none of the bowl roughouts cracked whether they had been treated or not, so the experiment was inconclusive. I put the plastic bottle of Pentacryl on a shelf and forgot about it for a couple of years. I was unpleasantly reminded that the stuff was there when the plastic bottle spontaneously started leaking and made a heck of a mess.

If you do go ahead I would recommend storing the unused or reclaimed Pentacryl in a glass container rather than returning it to the plastic bottle it came in.

Good Luck!
Bob

[Dennis Nagle]

Good tip about the glass jar Bob. I wouldn't mess with any of the stabilizers but I am trying to find a good and fast way of stabilizing the pith because I like the looks of vessels turned on the pith. PEG works but you have to soak it for 2 months. The Pentacryl only soaks for two days. If I am turning on other than the pith, I rough them, seal them, and put them on the shelve.

[Dennis Nagle]

Hi Robert, is "endseal" a product? I've never heard of it and can't find it on the net.