Stabilizing Punky Wood ??

[WC Bridges]

:confused: :confused: Does anyone have any experience with using a vacuum pump with PVC pipe reservoirs & Plexiglas/Acetone stabilizing solution?
I have dissolved some Plexiglas in Acetone (takes several days) & I plan to place some punky wood in the solution & pull a vacuum on it. But I am concerned about how the PVC will react with the acetone fumes.
As an experiment, I placed a small piece of PVC pipe in pure Acetone & left it a couple days. It did not dissolve like Plexiglas, but it did become flexible. This makes me concerned about the fumes coming in contact with the reservoirs in my vacuum system.
I would appreciate any help that I can get.
THANKS,
WC "Monk" Bridges

[curtis rosche]

i would say that this opperation sounds to complicated. they make wood stabilizers that work well that dont need any vacuum

[Daniel Heine]

Hello,

I purchased 8 box elder burl blanks on ebay a couple of months ago. When they arrived, I was stunned to find that they were very soft, and almost like rotten. I decided I wanted to dye them, and then stabilize. My dye attempt failed with a big, big mess, so... I put a bottle of Minwax wood stabilizer in a large tupperware container that I snuck out of the house while my wife was not looking, and put a couple of drops of the trans tint in. Mixed it up well, and added the blanks. I was very suprised when I went to check on it the next morning, because all of the liquid was gone. The pens soaked up every drop. I took them out, and let them dry, and tried turning one. By no fault of my own, it worked perfectly. I now have several really bicely figured box elder burl pens with a very nice gren tint. Don't ask me how the blue turned green, but I'm not complaining!!!!

Good Luck,
Dan Heine

[Judy Kingery]

Hi Monk,

Similar experience here and I'm not pushing any product or anything, but I did use some Pentacryl and Polycryl on very punky wood the other day for the first time, and man it shored up nicely. Accepted a finish, worked great. So maybe that information can help you a bit, as well. Easy to mix and use, 15% solution/hot water, that was it, wipe on, let soak in, ready to turn! Best wishes. Jude

[Paul Engle]

I have done the same as Judy using the Penacryl stuff , wonderful stuff for punky wood, make sure and let dry good and I did several soakings on some punky maple burl . Any rotton wood restorer should be satisfactory tho as long as there is enuf pulp.

[robert hainstock]

and where do you find it? I've used minwax for several projects, and it works ok. The stuffyou are talking about might be better served by a pressure chamber.:eek: :):) Remember acetone is pretty insidious stuff.:eek::eek:
Bob

[Paul Heely]

Packard and CSUSA both carry pentacryl. I've never used it so can't comment on how well it works or what it is compared to other wood stabilizers.


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Paul