Hardening green wood with Epoxy

[Rob Miller]

There's been a lot of discussion about hardening punky wood, but has anybody had experience with using the Epoxy impregnation method or 50/50 white glue & water method with green wood? I recently tried the white glue method on some green punky bowls and was faced with the problem of drying the glue. If you bag it in plastic, the glue won't dry. If you bag it in paper, the paper will absorb the glue and stick to the wood. If you air dry, the wood will check/crack. I'm thinking about trying this with Epoxy. Anybody had any luck with this?

[Doug Ladendorf]

Haven't tried it but of your choices I would think the paper bag is the best option. Paper sticking isn't really a problem since you will be turning it off anyway right? I'm interested to hear other responses. I have not tried resin.

[Rob Miller]

I sort of thought that the glue would dry on the outside fairly quickly forming something of a seal but that didn't happen. Maybe less water would be better, but penetration isn't that great to start with.

[John Keeton]

Ron, I know you are trying to make this wood usable. But, most of these methods are used on rough turned wood that is not green, but punky from decay. In those cases, cracking may not be as much of an issue.

Were it me, I would move on to another piece of wood. That said, I realize your options there might be limited.

[Rob Miller]

Ron, I know you are trying to make this wood usable. But, most of these methods are used on rough turned wood that is not green, but punky from decay. In those cases, cracking may not be as much of an issue.

Were it me, I would move on to another piece of wood. That said, I realize your options there might be limited.

Thanks, John, but it's less determination to make this specific wood usable than simply wanting to know what methods are available and understand how best to use various products for addressing these problems. I think you've answered my question above and it seems apparent that the wood should be rough turned and dried before trying to use stabilizers for final turning. That's helpful information -- thanks. :D

[john taliaferro]

I have been using polycrill to help spunkie roten wood that i should have put in the stove . It drys fast and penetrates ok , got it at packards.