# Polyester resin stabilizing,



## indonesianwood

Hello all any one here ever try Polyester resin to stabilize Wood..
I wonder to try this kind of resin..
I found source of resin supplier in here that ussualy use their product use for boat building.
The vicosity of the product are about 5-15 cps @ 25 celcius..
Does Polyester is heatcured resin?
I have many soft Wood need to stabilize..
Many thanks
Arya


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## Don Ratcliff

I tried filling some cracks with it and it shrinks. I have not tried it as a stabilizing agent so will watch the rest of the comments and try to learn myself.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## indonesianwood

What you use Don..
1 or 2 component Polyester?


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## Don Ratcliff

indonesianwood said:


> What you use Don..
> 1 or 2 component Polyester?


2 part is what I have casting resin. I've watched lots of videos since figuring out it shrinks, they use pvc pipe as round molds because it will slip out easy.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## sleevecc

Unless I am misunderstanding what the guy is asking,, he is asking about using PR to stabilize wood not cast it.. for as I know ya dont stabilize wood with PR. you can coat wood with it, reenforce wood with it, patch rot with it, like boats and such but the PR is not going inside the wood much at all.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Blueglass

I used polyester because an older guy near me suggested it thinned with Acetone to stabilize soft ares. I later did much more research and discovered that Epoxy is much better for this it can be thinned with Denatured alcohol. The reason epoxy is better is because the polyester chemical reaction causes it to expand and then contract. The reaction causing epoxy to harden does not work that way. The polyester did work and I had no problems with it.
This link shows my experiment with Polyester Resin.
http://woodbarter.com/threads/my-mesquite-wip.25872/

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## sleevecc

Stabilize soft areas,, rot? sure PR is fine,, but what is he asking? to stabilize an area of wood or to stabilize an entire piece of wood all the way through? or just soft spots? if the entire wood then vacuum chambers and methacrylate ester monomer resins are needed such as Cactus Juice,,,, he has not really said what he is trying to accomplish so Im not sure how anyone can answer at this point.

Reactions: Like 1


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## indonesianwood

sleevecc said:


> Stabilize soft areas,, rot? sure PR is fine,, but what is he asking? to stabilize an area of wood or to stabilize an entire piece of wood all the way through? or just soft spots? if the entire wood then vacuum chambers and methacrylate ester monomer resins are needed such as Cactus Juice,,,, he has not really said what he is trying to accomplish so Im not sure how anyone can answer at this point.


What i mean is stabilize entire wood using vacuum chamber..
Since i read data sheet about this resin (polyester) it said it has very low viscosity about 1.5 cps(abit higher) compare to mma about 0.6 cp @20°C.(source : wikipedia).
Because chemical viscosity ( i thought) are 1 of most important factor to impregnanting wood..
I've done experiment using MMA with same procedure as regular wood stabilize(vacuum,aluminium foil,oven etc) but the wood doesnt harden as what i want,i use yellow cheesewood burl for experiment...
What result i expect is something like plastic wood :D
Thanks..


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## chanser123

First, you need to dry the wood in an oven to make sure it has 0% moisture. This is the most critical step in stabilizing, wood has to be dry dry!! Then yes you put it in a resin such as cactus juice and pull Vaccuum till all the bubble are gone (air is all out of the wood). The second most important thing with stabilizing is the soak time. Make sure the wood soaks for at least double the time it was under vaccuum. For what you are trying to do, poly resin is not the type of liquid you want for stabilizing. Look up cactus juice online and Curtis will be able to help you out!


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