# What is stabilizing?



## thrainson (Mar 1, 2015)

I hope this in the right section, if not feel free to move it.. I looked around but could not find a simple explanation. Can someone help educate me? (As in stabilized burl) Thanks!

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## DKMD (Mar 1, 2015)

It's the process of impregnating wood with plastic.

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## Berserker (Mar 1, 2015)

Along the same lines, what is casting?

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## thrainson (Mar 1, 2015)

DKMD said:


> It's the process of impregnating wood with plastic.


Soooo it fills in the grain, making it easier to turn? Or?


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## JR Custom Calls (Mar 1, 2015)

thrainson said:


> I hope this in the right section, if not feel free to move it.. I looked around but could not find a simple explanation. Can someone help educate me? (As in stabilized burl) Thanks!


suck all the air out of the pores of the wood via vacuum pump while the wood is submerged in resin, release vacuum and the resin goes in where the air was... bake, viola. Punky and softer woods have much more air in them than dense woods... so there's more room for resin.




Berserker said:


> Along the same lines, what is casting?


adding acrylic resin on the outside of a blank to fill in voids, holes, or accent something like the pointy edge of a burl. Some people call them hybrid blanks. Some of the best work I've seen has been from a company called 'Texas Blanks'... they have a facebook page.


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## DKMD (Mar 1, 2015)

It replaces the air in the blank which makes it dimensionally stable. Some really punky, spalted stuff can be turned into solid material by stabilizing.

I don't think it's necessarily easier to turn, but the increased density and dimensional stability are beneficial for a lot of applications. Pens, game calls, and knives come to mind as items that benefit from stabilized wood.

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## Brink (Mar 1, 2015)

Answers to the questions I was thinking, but never asked.


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## thrainson (Mar 1, 2015)

JR Custom Calls said:


> Punky and softer woods have much more air in them than dense woods... so there's more room f


For those of us who don't know..."Punk or punky wood is a soft, rotted area, usually in the center of a tree or log. This condition is usually caused by fungal infection, and may not be easy to identify from the outside."

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