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Thread: New Tube Stabilising tank
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16th December 2014, 02:28 PM #1
New Tube Stabilising tank
I scored a tube stabilising tank whilst on my travels from Mark at 043Turning. It is dia 100mm x 600mm long to enable me to do my pepper grinder blanks. Tested out with a foxtail palm pepper grinder blank and some lumps of Ironbark Bark pen and bottle stopper blanks (plus weight to hold them down. Got some more pepper grinder blanks of Ironbark Bark to do, hope the Cactus Juice I have will be enough.
tube stabilizing tank.jpgNeil____________________________________________Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new
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16th December 2014, 04:46 PM #2GOLD MEMBER
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Thanks for that Neil, what sort of vacuum pump are you using and how much vacuum does it pull?
I'm looking at getting one, as I had to do 60 plates recently, and went through 20 +ml of CA. Not good for the sinuses. Thoughts were if I got a vacuum pump, I could put the blanks in epoxy and seal the cracks, worm holes etc. Would Cactus be better or not for filling gaps or worm holes?
Regards
Kryn
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16th December 2014, 06:36 PM #3Senior Member
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Hi Kryn, I've done a bit with Cactus Juice. It's not good for filling gaps and holes as it's very viscous, which makes is brilliant for stabilizing but not that good for bigger gaps.
Casting resin or epoxy would be the better option in my opinion.
Cheers,
Matt
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16th December 2014, 08:40 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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Thanks for the reply Mat, I thought so, but had to ask.
Regards
Kryn
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16th December 2014, 09:45 PM #5
I bought mine off Ebay, not one of the super cheapies, but a cheap decent one. See the stabilising vid ~1min https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Kftchv8gkc As I live near the coast, and it is a decent pump, I basically pull full vacuum.
As others have said, Cactus Juice is no good for filling, it is for filling the micro holes between the cells only. It is mainly used for rotten or very soft wood, banksia pods, grass tree, bone etc.
Using vacuum for casting can be done but you must be careful. Vacuum pulls the air out of you resin, but also out of your wood, so bubbles can often be still coming out after 2 hours! You can imagine what your resin will look like if it goes off before the bubbles are removed. Also, under vacuum you are at an equivalent higher temperature, not sure of the exact relationship but if it is 25C outside it will be ~30C or more in your vacuum tank (ie so resins go off quicker).
Filling gaps and worm holes etc is best done under pressure, as much as your tank can take, but remember resin can only get to the holes etc that are open to the surface (ie a void inside a blank will not be filled).
Just as a note too polyester resin will not stick to Cactus Juice, so if you need to stabilise and cast with poly, do your casting first (the Cactus Juice afterwards also heaps the poly stick). If using casting epoxy this is not an issue.Neil____________________________________________Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new
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16th December 2014, 11:22 PM #6
You could do both. use your vaccum to cast in cactus juice to stabilize the wood. Then go back and cast it in your resin. Under pressure would probably be better, as it will force the resin into smaller spaces.
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27th December 2014, 04:55 PM #7
Darrin I think it has to be done the other way around and by that I mean you have to cast the blanks before you can stablize them because the resin does not stick very well to the cactus juice but the cactus juice will stick to the resin. I realize that this may sound a bit strange but if you check with Neil (Dai sensai) he may be able to confirm or deny this,
Cheers Ian
PS I always cast then stabelize
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27th December 2014, 05:58 PM #8Senior Member
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I am curious how this works. I am planning on trying the combination of casting and stabilizing but thought the casting process would seal the timber and prevent the air escaping and resin impregnating the timber.
Some wisdom from someone that knows better would be greatly appreciated.
Matt
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27th December 2014, 09:08 PM #9
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27th December 2014, 09:20 PM #10
If you timber is completely immersed in the resin, yes it will be sealed but not stabilised, but then you can sand the cast to expose some surfaces of the timber (assuming more timber than resin). My castings usually don't involve immersing the timber, more placing timber against the mold (with hot melt glue), then placing resin to fill gaps.
Casting under pressure generally doesn't penetrate the timber, it only fills the exposed voids (ie not internal voids), unless you are using extreme pressures. I only achieved it once on a rotten piece of wood with voids using warmed poly resin in Robutacion's (George in SA) pot at 100psi.Neil____________________________________________Every day presents an opportunity to learn something new
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27th December 2014, 11:03 PM #11Senior Member
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28th December 2014, 09:00 AM #12
Matt, a lot of people use this type of pressure pot for casting. Supercheap have them about half price at certain times of the year, or you can look for a secondhand one.
Dallas
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28th December 2014, 03:51 PM #13Senior Member
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28th December 2014, 04:05 PM #14
Usually on special they are just under $100
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29th December 2014, 01:14 PM #15043TURNING
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It's exactly as Neil has said PR doesn't penetrate the fibres so once it's cast sand back till you expose timber and then use cactus juice to penetrate and harden the blank .. Also after you vacuum to remove all the air and them release , make sure you let the blanks sit in the juice for an extra 20-30 mins to ensure 100% saturation
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