Sanded a little more, and put another coat of wax on the outside.
What did you do in your shop today?
- Thread starter woodtickgreg
- Start date
Not in the shop but this will help keep it warm next season. 5 tons of pellets. Need to destack and put away so I can get my truck back in there.
How many cords of wood is that equivalent to?
Stabilizing. Part of my deal with John ( @JD1137 ) and that aspen stump.
Anyone else use an oiled vaned vac pump? Mine gets too hot to touch. It seems to work fine and google research says vac pumps are supposed to get hot. But I'm a little worried mine gets hotter than it should. So I stick around whenever it's running. But now the wood is in the soak stage until tomorrow morning when I'll bake them to cure the resin.
Anyone else use an oiled vaned vac pump? Mine gets too hot to touch. It seems to work fine and google research says vac pumps are supposed to get hot. But I'm a little worried mine gets hotter than it should. So I stick around whenever it's running. But now the wood is in the soak stage until tomorrow morning when I'll bake them to cure the resin.
1 ton of pellets equals about 1 1/2 cords of hard wood.
I don't have access to cord wood around here unless I want to pay more then in pellets. Also pellets are cleaner to keep and stack.
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Bad news. The blanks I stabilized have been in the over baking at 200F for over 4 hours and there's still free liquid inside the foil. I'm afraid my cactus juice is old and won't cure anymore. So those aspen blanks are ruined now I think. Dang it!
No woodworking today and my frustration got to me so I didn’t even snap a picture. Did the front shocks on wife’s Wrangler. I was expecting an easy job and access to the top nut on the passenger side was restricted. Fought with it. Shocks aren’t supposed to be that hard. In hindsight, glad the tough one was first. Driver side had just enough extra access that it came out and new one back in like I expected. Good feeling over all not to pay the mechanic though. They get enough of my money, I’m not putting anyone out of business.
While it unfortunately won't save those blanks, the old resin that you still have left isn't likely a lost cause. If I'm remembering correctly (hey, it's been about 7 years since I did any stabilizing, lol), you can get some more activator from TurnTex and add it to the Cactus Juice and then should be able to still use whatever resin you have left. Probably best to contact TurnTex about that and confirm with them on that though.
Thanks Matt, and according to the FAQ's on TurnTex's web page, you are correct. I already sent a note to Curtis last night asking him about it. I have about a half jug left, weighs 39.25oz (1114grams) in the bottle with the cap on. Curtis's site says it has to be measured and proportioned very accurately. Hate to toss out stuff that can still be used.
That's real good to know as I have most of a gallon left.
Traded a couple emails with Curtis at TurnTex. TurnTex is one of the most responsive, customer friendly companies I've had the pleasure to work deal with. Just wanted to get that right out front.
Curtis said to test your juice, put about an ounce (shot glass amount) in a container and bake it at 200F for about an hour. If the juice is still good, it should be solidified in the container - maybe not totally solid, might have a soft spot or be a little tacky in places, it might crack but it should be mostly hard and solid. Otherwise the juice is bad. Curtis said he'll only send enough activator for a half gallon because the ratio has to be very precise and trying to get the proper amount of activator for an odd volume of old juice is too risky for him to feel comfortable with. I only have about a quart, more or less, so that puts me out of the program. Plus, my juice is the color of weak tea so probably has some wood stain and oil from previous batches so who knows what it will take to reactivate it. Lastly, Curtis said I can pour it down the drain because it is not hazardous, is biodegradable, won't hard the sewer system and is legally allowed to be disposed in that manner. So I guess that's where my old juice is headed.
Curtis said to test your juice, put about an ounce (shot glass amount) in a container and bake it at 200F for about an hour. If the juice is still good, it should be solidified in the container - maybe not totally solid, might have a soft spot or be a little tacky in places, it might crack but it should be mostly hard and solid. Otherwise the juice is bad. Curtis said he'll only send enough activator for a half gallon because the ratio has to be very precise and trying to get the proper amount of activator for an odd volume of old juice is too risky for him to feel comfortable with. I only have about a quart, more or less, so that puts me out of the program. Plus, my juice is the color of weak tea so probably has some wood stain and oil from previous batches so who knows what it will take to reactivate it. Lastly, Curtis said I can pour it down the drain because it is not hazardous, is biodegradable, won't hard the sewer system and is legally allowed to be disposed in that manner. So I guess that's where my old juice is headed.
Cut up some walnut blanks. I pulled out an old chainsaw bar, and the sprocket was really stuck. Trying to clear it out, I cut a one-inch slice along the knuckle... But.. CA Glue to the rescue! That stopped the bleeding immediately.
Super stack of blanks! Sure hate to see the damage to your finger! Chuck
Ouch. That’s for the glue, not the cut. I know it works, but ouch……. Glad it was only a Nick….relatively speaking when you mention chainsaw.
Lucky. Very lucky.
It was just the bar, unattached to the engine. The tip sprocket had gotten gunked up. Trying to get the sprocket free slipped.
I was obviously in my shop. The medical "stuff" was 50 yards away. Bleeding pretty good... so CA glue was the best option. Surprisingly, it stopped almost instantly. Didn't really feel it sting since it was already hurting pretty badly. Once it dried, I left it until the end of the day, and continued cutting up the walnut. *Yes, I decided to put a medical kit in the shop.
Lucky, lucky - yes double lucky! I still vividly remember the sting of CA and also of that danged red stuff Mom always had on hand - mercurochrome. Young'ns don't get to experience the joy - something about mercury toxicity. Heck, I turned out OK - at least that's what I think!
Well well, something very strange and confusing has happened. I was going to toss those aspen blanks that I stabilized in the dumpster. But I opened one up and the surface was dry, no free liquid. But it looked like maybe the resin had just soaked in or evaporated or something. On a whim, I wrapped them back up, put them back in the oven and turned it on to around 300F. In the time it took me to mow the lawn, the blanks seem to have cured!! The thinner knife scales and curly mango pen blanks were all hard, crytalline resin, just like they look when the process worked as it supposed to. The three larger pieces of aspen were getting there but weren't quite all crystalline yet. So I'll leave them in the oven a little longer and check them again this evening. According to TurnTex literature, if you take the uncured blanks out of the oven and let them cool, you're finished and blanks are ruined. But it really looks like these are curing like they should be.
I'll sand them off later and if the surface isn't tacky I think they're good to go.
EDIT: Yup, sanded off the crystals on the outside and there's no tackniess, no stickness, and the blanks are super heavy. I think the stabilization worked after all. Glad I didn't toss out the leftover resin yet. I think it just needs to cook at a little higher temperature than I had the oven set.
I'll sand them off later and if the surface isn't tacky I think they're good to go.
EDIT: Yup, sanded off the crystals on the outside and there's no tackniess, no stickness, and the blanks are super heavy. I think the stabilization worked after all. Glad I didn't toss out the leftover resin yet. I think it just needs to cook at a little higher temperature than I had the oven set.
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Found a piece of Pear with two, opposite branches.
Roughed out a natural edge bowl plus got a small core (not turned yet).
Kinda cool with feather figure on both sides of some darker heartwood. About 10” diameter x 4” tall.
I don’t thin the other half of the log will be quite as good. Will find out tomorrow maybe.
Roughed out a natural edge bowl plus got a small core (not turned yet).
Kinda cool with feather figure on both sides of some darker heartwood. About 10” diameter x 4” tall.
I don’t thin the other half of the log will be quite as good. Will find out tomorrow maybe.
