# New Stabilization Set Up



## The_Architect_23 (Jan 5, 2013)

For Christmas / Birthday This Year The Better Half Has Gotten Me A Stabilization Chamber From Curtis. TurnTex In Many Forums.

Opened Up The Box And Giggled Like A School Girl. This Thing IS Solid.
I Ran Off To The Horrible Freight And Got Their 3 CFM Vacuum Pump With A 20% off Coupon, And $20 Worth Of Fittings.

I Have A Pile Of Blanks That I Was Waiting To Get Stabilized / Dyed One Day So I Threw The In The Toaster Oven For The Night, And Got To Work.
My First Test Was Just Clear. I Wanted To Know If I Was Doing Things Right, Dry Wood, Hard Vacuum Ect. Long Story Short. Great Penetration, About An Hour Or So Of Vac Time On That Round. I Finished Off The Dozen Or So I Needed Clear. And Thought Why Not Colors! So I Went To The Website And Searched For A Compatible Dye. Alumilite Was Recommended. Added Enough To "Black" Out The Juice ( Green Color ) And Sunk One Maple Burl Blank. Turned On The Vacuum And Came Back 1 Hour Later. No Bubbles. Looked Good. Turned Off The Pump, Locked The Valve And Let The Chamber Sit For 30 More Minutes. Released The Vac, And Then Let Sit Again 30 Minutes. ( As You Can See I Really Wanted This Sucker Green )

Once Finished I Removed The Blank And To My Surprise It Was A Splotchy Light Green. A Cross Cut Proved Only 1/4'' Penetration Of The Color. However The Resin Did Penetrate Throughout.

MY Thought On This Is The Resin Has A Lower Viscosity Than The Dye And Has A Hard Time Keeping Up While Being Sucked In. ??
I Mixed The Dye Very Thoroughly I Though Before I Started.
Any Ideas On What I Could Have Done Wrong?


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## hobbit-hut (Jan 5, 2013)

You need a better opinion than mine. But the first thing I thought was maybe heating up the wood to expand the cells might increase the penatration. Haveing never done stab. your already way ahead of me but I'm doing the research and read that somewhere.


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## The_Architect_23 (Jan 5, 2013)

That Makes Sense, I Dried Them All At The Same Time, Placing The 1 Tester In A Zip Lock While The Clears Were Going Through The Chamber ( Luke Warm )
Perhaps It Cooled Down To Much. Curtis Mentioned For Best Results Every Time Pre Drill And Cut The Blanks. Seems Like It Would Do The Trick, But What If One Day I Decide I Want That Blank For A Phoenix Or Other Way Around.


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## NYWoodturner (Jan 5, 2013)

Andrew - I have the same system. I love the job it does and like the resin. It works exactly as described. I have tried the dying bit 3 or 4 times and always gotten the same results you did. I have not tried the alumalite though. I just assumed my mix was too weak. The last time I tried increasing the intensity I stained the chamber. And I didn't really go crazy with the dye. The subsequent attempts to clean the stain clouded the plexi. Now I have one ugly a$$ chamber that still works like a charm. Its a little hard to tell when it is still bubbling those little fine bubbles, but a flashlight helps with that. Just a heads up - be careful with the dyes. I'm really more a natural wood color guy anyway, so I am fine with it. I share this only so you can learn from my mistakes. I am very happy with the chamber.
Scott


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## BangleGuy (Jan 5, 2013)

You may need to add way more dye than you think you need. I think I use about 10+ drops of the alumilite dye for about 8 ounces of resin. It is usually very dark.

If your chamber is large enough, you might use tupperware containers made of polyethelene. You can leave the resin or DNA in these without a problem. 

Enjoy the new shop toy!


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## hobbit-hut (Jan 5, 2013)

What is DNA ? I've seen it mentioned several times now but don't have a clue.


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## healeydays (Jan 5, 2013)

Denatured alcohol


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## The_Architect_23 (Jan 6, 2013)

@ Jon:
I Let The Blanks Cool To Barley Warm Most Of The Time, I Was Warned About Hot Blanks. If Anything I Think They Soak Up More Juice That Way, Could Be Wrong.
Good Tip For The Dye And Chamber Walls, I Kinda Thought That Wasnt A Good Idea, So Far Ive Been Using A Plastic Sandwich Thing Doing 4 At a Time. I Want To Keep It As Clean And Clear As Long As Possible.

As For The DNA Dye, Wouldn't That Be Bad On The Vac Pumps Internals?
The Fumes And All?

@ BangleGuy:

Im Not Sure About The Amount OF Resin I Had Used, About A Red Plastic Party Cup Full With 15 Drops, Stirred Well For 10 Minutes. Then Into A Small Aluminum Tray For The 1 Blank. I Did Note There Was A " Thickness" To The Resin While Bubbling That Was Much More Viscous Than Clear. Maybe I'll Try A Video OR Something To Explain Better.


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I Will Try Drilling Out The Faded Blank And Dry It Again, Repeat Steps And See If It Does Better.


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