vacuum stabilization of wood

[Kenneth Hertzog]

does anyone stabilize there own wood?
If so do they have any suggestions on how long the vacuum needs to be on?
doing some stabilizing myself and it seems that the vibration from the pump makes more bubbles when running than after I shut it off.
is this normal and do others have this problem or issues.
thank you for your input.
Ken

[Dave Fritz]

While I have no experience I'll share this resource you may find interesting since no one else has replied. https://www.turntex.com/help-center/cactus-juice-stabilizing-resources

I hear Curtis at Turntex is very helpful if you give him a call.

[Harold Wright]

Mike Peace recently put up a YouTube on stabilizing wood. Take a look at it.

[John K Jordan]

does anyone stabilize there own wood?
If so do they have any suggestions on how long the vacuum needs to be on?
doing some stabilizing myself and it seems that the vibration from the pump makes more bubbles when running than after I shut it off.
is this normal and do others have this problem or issues.
thank you for your input.
Ken

A friend of mine, John Tarpley, does a lot of stabilization. He's a great guy and I'm sure would be willing to answer any questions. You can get his contact information by searching for John Tarpley woodturning - you'll find him on the More Woodturning Magazine site and the AAW member listing.

JKJ

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have the Hold Fast system. They have a nice video, if in case you have not seen it. They say to leave the pump running until the bubbling stops. There is no "time" requirement. That is what I do. Although, after a few hours, yes, an hour or two, there is still minimal bubbling, so I call it good. obviously, the bigger the blank, the more time will be required to saturate the wood.

[Kenneth Hertzog]

thank you all for your help
I've seen most of the youtube videos and no where do they even consider vibration from the pump
helping to dislodge the air in the wood.
I would think that once you pull total vacuum that the pump running is a moog point.
there is nothing more to be had. but I've seen that vibration seem to really assist the process.
will let you know tomorrow, I picked up a vibration table this evening and plan on using it tomorrow.
again thank you for your help
Ken

[Bob Vavricka]

Kenneth,
I stabilize some wood using a Turntex vacuum chamber and a HVAC vacuum pump. I also have a paint pressure pot that I made a clear lid for with a seal so I can use it as a vacuum chamber for larger pieces. I have noticed that after the vacuum has been applied for a while that a very slight drop in vacuum will decrease or stop the bubbles. If you are turning the vacuum off, I believe the air bubbles will drop the vacuum enough that the bubbles will slow or stop until you reapply the vacuum. I leave the vacuum on until the bubbles have stopped or slowed to my satisfaction. On larger pieces, I rarely get to where there are no bubbles. On bigger more dense wood it is not unusual for the vacuum to be on close to 24 hours. When I release the vacuum, I let the piece “soak”in the stabilizing liquid for quite a while to give atmospheric pressure time to force the liquid into the piece. If possible I will put the piece submerged in the liquid into my pressure pot and apply pressure to also help force the liquid into the wood. Interestingly on the last piece I stabilized I noticed that if I tipped the vacuum chamber I would get a short increase in bubbles coming to the top. I never completely figured out why. The piece wasn’t sitting tight on the bottom and I thought perhaps the bubbles were trapped under the piece but that didn’t really make sense. Let us know what you find out using the vibration table.

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Bob and others
got a vibration table and set the vacuum pot on top with a very light shake. Did not seem to make that much of a difference. the wood that i'm stabilizing is 250 year old oak that a company has hired me to make pens from. It seems that
the wood has worm holes of some sort and trying to stabilize the defects with resin. so far so good but the bubbles are still rather aggressive after 2.5 hours of vacuum. so I leave it sit in total vacuum for the night and when I come
out in the morning there is a few but very little. I then let the vacuum off and let them sit in the resin for a couple of hours the cook. seems to be working but thought it would not take this long to stabilize. I also have a pressure pot and vac chamber.
will post a pic of the blanks tomorrow. some are worse than others
thank you for the input
Ken