How to stabilize a punky burl?

[John Shuk]

I was driving toward work and saw in front of a house what looked like a couple of Maple burls cut up. Later that day I stopped and picked them up. Parts are pretty punky and soft but there is a fair bit of solid burl there also. There is alot of nice spalting and gorgeous figure. I cut alot of the worst rot away with the chainsaw and while there is more to go there are some soft parts that I would like to keep if possible. Does anybody have ideas on stabilizing this stuff while keeping the color of the wood? CA glue comes to mind but that would entail quite a bit. I don't want to be spending a hundred bucks on superglue. I was thinking some sort of epoxy. How the get it INTO the wood? Any insight would be great. Thanks.
John

[Wayne Swindlehurst]

I don't know how large you are talking about but Steve White at www.rrpwhite.com does stabilizing at a good price. I've had him do a lot of pen blanks and they turned out good.

Wayne

[Joe Tonich]

I read something not too long ago about using a white glue/water mix and soaking it for a day or so. I think it was 1 part glue/2 parts water. It's supposed to stiffen up punky wood. I've been looking for the article (thought it was at WC) but cannot find it. Maybe someone else has seen the same article and can remember where it is.Joe

[keith zimmerman]

I have been experimenting with a white glue/water mix for soaking soft wood in. I am using a 1:1 mix. I have so far completed two oak bowls that were on the verge of being too far gone to turn. The tearout was so bad that chunks of the grain were disintegrating under a sharp gouge. After soaking for a couple of days and allowing the glue to completely dry, I was able to turn them to completion and experience virtually no tearout at all. Here is a pic of each of them.

One thing I have discovered is that if left in the solution too long and not completely submerged, mold will grow on the wood, so the wood should be kept under the surface of the solution.

keithz

[John Shuk]

eith,
The edge of that bowl looks pretty close to how punky some of this is. I just can't bear to let it go. I have grabbed a fair number of burls and this is far and away the nicest figure I have found so far. I have to try to save what I can. Thanks for the tips.
John

[Chris Padilla]

John,

You could try some epoxy (www.raka.com has good stuff at reasonable prices). Keep the epoxy thin and warm and warm the wood as well. The white glue idea above, however, is quite interesting.

[Bill Grumbine]

John, one of the best and most economical ways to do what you want is to use Minwax Wood Hardener. It is not very expensive, it is water thin, so it soaks right in, and it is designed to do just what you are asking. I used it extensively back in the old days when I was turning a lot of spalted maple pens, and I still use it occasionally. There are other brands which will do the same thing, but Minwax is the only one I know of which sells the hardener separate from their filler (Bondo). You can usually find it at most home centers.

Bill

[John Shuk]

Thanks Bill that sounds like a good bet. Its off to the Borg for me!

[Joseph Peacock]

That looks good!

[Matt Haus]

I used the minwax wood hardner and feel it did a great job of soaking in. I was working on a spalted maple platter last saturday and when I got to the tips of the platter to sand, it kept flaking off and chipping. So, I applied the minwax to the whole piece and it did well. It is 7-9 dollars for a little container, so I don't think that it's that cheap. Make sure you don't get it on your hands, it gets real sticky.