# Stabilizing Wood Question



## BurlsorBust (Jul 20, 2012)

I know a lot of guys on this board stabilize or buy stabilized wood and today I got my first piece from kfuknives. Absolutely awesome stuff, but that is besides the point.

I do a lot of carving and sculptural pieces and stabilized wood really looks awesome to me when finished, far above what most traditional finishes look like. What i am looking to do is rough out a shape and then put it into a stabilization tank and stabilize the wood piece then cure it and when it is all set and ready, do finishing carving, detailing, and polishing. Is this possible or even practical? 

I have done some reading into stabilization for a few weeks now and it seems that only knife makers, pen turners, and calls are made from stabilized wood and the wood is stabilized in block form only, not really shaped or anything. My only guess as to why blocks are used over a more detailed pieces or open, turned pieces is under pressure pieces can crack or break, but I may be totally incorrect with my guessing.

Anybody got any thoughts or advice on this? Might just buy the whole setup and experiment myself, but with the prices of stabilizing resins, I would like to waste as little as possible! :irishjig: Thanks in advance.


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## kweinert (Jul 20, 2012)

BurlsorBust said:


> I know a lot of guys on this board stabilize or buy stabilized wood and today I got my first piece from kfuknives. Absolutely awesome stuff, but that is besides the point.
> 
> I do a lot of carving and sculptural pieces and stabilized wood really looks awesome to me when finished, far above what most traditional finishes look like. What i am looking to do is rough out a shape and then put it into a stabilization tank and stabilize the wood piece then cure it and when it is all set and ready, do finishing carving, detailing, and polishing. Is this possible or even practical?
> 
> ...



One limitation is size. If you carve small pieces then you're OK - big stuff would, I think, get prohibitively expensive to stabilize and having a chamber large enough could also be an issue.

I recently received my chamber and haven't used it yet. If you have something relatively small and would like to experiment with me (you supply carved piece, I supply stabilization) I'd be glad to talk more about it.

Bangleguy has been doing it longer and more scientifically so he might be a better bet if you're looking to reduce risk.

Ken


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## BangleGuy (Jul 20, 2012)

I have stabilized lots of roughed out bangle blanks, which are thin walled (1/4" thick) 3 1/2" OD circles. I would say that if your piece of wood is dry, then you should be okay. Just make sure to leave plenty of wood in place for the final carving. Oh, and if you were really getting particular, remember that all wood will move when it goes through the stabilization process. Rarely do I get a perfectly round circle out of the process. Even though the wood may be bone dry going into the process, it always changes its shape some.

Now if your wood is wet, look out 

Feel free to ask more questions, stabilization is really a cool process.


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## BurlsorBust (Jul 20, 2012)

Thank you both for the quick replies and helpful information. I work with small stuff, mostly less than 12" long or 6" wide at most. From the chambers I have looked at, my pieces will fit no problem. I just don't want to stabilize and entire block and waste what I don't use; just wanted to rough out a shape with a saw, form it up a little, then stabilize and do the detail and final work afterwards.

Does the pieces need to be sanded before you stabilize or can I stabilize it with say saw tooth marks or rough parts???


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## kweinert (Jul 20, 2012)

BurlsorBust said:


> Thank you both for the quick replies and helpful information. I work with small stuff, mostly less than 12" long or 6" wide at most. From the chambers I have looked at, my pieces will fit no problem. I just don't want to stabilize and entire block and waste what I don't use; just wanted to rough out a shape with a saw, form it up a little, then stabilize and do the detail and final work afterwards.
> 
> Does the pieces need to be sanded before you stabilize or can I stabilize it with say saw tooth marks or rough parts???



Since punky wood is stabilized and it's not sanded first, I don't see any reason that you should require any sort of fine finish prior to stabilization.

Also, since I know (or at least think I've read :) that Bangleguy charges by the difference in pre- and post- stabilization weight, it would certainly make sense to minimize the amount of wood you're just going to cut off anyway. So, while sanding isn't necessary the finish could make a bit of difference on the cost of stabilization.


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## BangleGuy (Jul 20, 2012)

BurlsorBust said:


> Does the pieces need to be sanded before you stabilize or can I stabilize it with say saw tooth marks or rough parts???



Saw marks and rough spots are just fine. You can finish the blocks after the wood is cured. Folks who stabilize charge by the finished weight of the wood after curing. My chamber is about 8" x 8" x 7", if you are looking for someone to stabilize for you, I charge $8/pound, weighed after final curing.

Eric


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