To wrap or not wrap, that is the question

[Chris S.]

For my stabilizing I have abandoned wrapping my blanks in foil. Extra bleed out been minimized by curing at lower temps-about 180 to 195 degree, and any bleed out drips down to collection pan. Keeps blanks nice and clean, especially on Burls for casting. Still some residue on blank but much less. Does limit how much can be cured at one time but I really like results.

So, anyone else here not wrapping their blanks? If not give it a try and see what you get. I do wipe down with paper towel first before putting in oven.

 

[Brain M]

I just started stabilizing, and I have thought about this many times. Might gI've it a try the next batch I do.

 

[Chris S.]

Biggest piece of info I learned was temp needs not to be to high or lots will be forced out from blank. If follow directions should work well. I did batches at same time and unwrapped always was cleaner and I was happy with results.

 

[NYWoodturner]

Chris - I have played with this theory but haven't done enough stabilizing to prove out anything, so I will share some random thoughts for you to play with.

• Line the drip tray with foil. It makes it easier to clean up. New resin doesn't smell as bad (Varies more with which brand you use.) but old resin cooking in the collection tray gets to me and makes me sneeze bad. Ultra seal minimizes that considerable.
• I use a toaster oven to cook, so obviously it heats from the outside in. Bleed out seems to be the same as if wrapped in foil - based on what I see in the collection tray. I just wonder if the same theory as searing a steak would apply... Cook the outside at a very high temp to sear and seal the outside to hold in the moisture on the inside resulting in a more solid stabilization in the center
• A microwave cooks from the inside out - i wonder if a blast or succession of blasts in a microwave would set and seal the inside before the outside and produce a better result?

Let me know your thoughts or trials...

 

[TimR]

First, don't rely on temp knob for the toaster oven. Get a name brand quality cooks thermometer.
Get another thermometer as a verification. They're cheap enough.
Let the temp stabilize in the oven before adding blanks. Otherwise the cycling of the elements can cause real high local temps.
I don't wrap and don't think it makes a big diff. MHO

 

[Chris S.]

I find the big biggest benefit of not wrapping is just that anything that does bleed out drips away so requires less sanding of the blank. From testing seem to have slightly less bleed out with not wrapping as opposed to wrapping but nothing major.

Thanks for the tip on line in the pan sadly my first round didn't think about that pan definitely has a residue that I need to chip it out.

100% agree get a proper thermometer for inside the oven. Those dials are way off my oven dial indicates 250 the temperature in the oven is usually 190 to 200.

For baking my blanks I usually heat the oven up to around 190 to 200°, put Blakes into oven one stabilized which causes temperature to drop to around 150 to 160. I leave in the oven do not adjust temperature as the oven will begin to warm itself up to around the 180 to 190°. I just let bake from there on. I'm not sure about the microwave method as I do not know how you would regulate the temperature in the microwave. As for high heat first then cooling down I did try this with initially baking some around 225 however all I got was higher levels of resin being excreted from the wood. Did not seem to cure the outside to prevent the interior resin from coming out.

This stabilizing thing is addicting half of what I have done is just because I like experimenting to try new things. I try to put everything that I find out on here to help others. There's lots of information out there but especially when it comes to dye some stuff people seem to keep secret.

 

[rocky1]

Yeah, the tin foil in the pan routine works much better than scraping the pan out. Wasn't anticipating the leaks on wrapped blanks the first time around, but leak they did, and kinda made a mess in the pan. Have had the pan lined with tin foil since.

 

[Kevin]

I dont think microwave drying will be successful. Just my gut feeling. Different densities of food (or wood) will heat at different rates. And I'm not even sure the resin would get hard from microwaving, and if it does I think it's going to go boom several times. Worth a try just to see though.

 

[Chris S.]

I like Booms!!! How nice of @NYWoodturner to volunteer his microwave in the name of scientific testing and for the betterment of man kind. Make sure you video the experiment please as feel you may only get one shot at this.

 

[rocky1]

If you really wanted to seal the outside before baking, you could toss them in the frying pan and sear the outside of them, as you would a roast you were tossing the oven.

 

[Kevin]

I think the best option is, once the cycle is finished just don't even remove the blocks from the resin, just take the glass chamber full of resin and blanks and bake it in your wife's oven in the kitchen. Once the mass has hardened and cooled, place it in her sink and beat the chamber with a maul until all the glass is off the resin and in the sink inpieces small enough that she can wash them down the drain when she stumbles upon the scene. Then take the hard cylinder of resin-trapped blanks to the band saw and cut the resin away from the blanks.

I'm not sure why someone didn't think of this earlier.