Thread: Vaccum infusion of friable wood

Originally Posted by rob streeper

To check up on how much material I am getting into the handles I did a little measurement experiment today. Between three handle blanks I managed to infuse a total of 190 gm of polymer solution. I cut the stock solution back about 30% with acetone.
The label states that the VOC content is 275 g/l. The stock solution from the can has a density of 1.08 g/ml or a liter is 1080 gm. If we assume that the solvent is pure acetone, having a density of 275 gm/l / 0.79gm/ml gives us 348 ml of acetone per liter of hardener. Thus, in 1 l of stock solution 275 gm is acetone and 805 gm is solid, presumably polymer. The volume of this solid material is 1000 - 275/0.79 or 651 ml. The bulk density of the solid is therefore 725/651 or 1.23 gm/ml. The polymer is thus possibly polymethylmethacrylate (~1.18 gm/ml) but more likely it is polycarbonate (~1.20-1.22 gm/ml).
My 30% cut reduced the percentage by weight of polymer in the infusion solution to ~51%. Thus, I managed to get 190 gm x 0.51 or about 97 gm of polymer into the three handles or roughly 30 gm into each one. So the earlier comment was close to correct, dissolve Lexan, not Plexiglas, in acetone.
They're hanging up to dry overnight now. I'll report on their characteristics tomorrow.

I paid $7.49/can on Amazon for 8 cans of Minwax hardener, or $15.81/l.

Polycarbonate pellets are $50 for 18 lb (8.16 kg) with free ship on Ebay, $6.12/kg. Polycarbonate Plastic Pellets 18 lbs Jupilon Ships Free | eBay

The stock hardener is 805 gm/l polycarbonate so to make a liter I need .805 kg/l X $6.12 or $4.93 worth of PC.

Acetone is $19.96 at Home Depot, with tax = $21.60/gallon or $5.70/l. To make a liter of hardener I need 0.348 X $5.70 or $1.98 worth of acetone.

Total cost / liter thus is $6.91. 1 l is 2.11 pints thus the per pint cost to make it myself becomes $3.27.

Home Depot charges $11.86 tax included for a pint. $8.59 for a can? Lesson learned.

BTW, I just ordered some PC pellets and will make my own from here on out.

From your experiments, I would conclude that the wood had been stabilized well enough for the service requirement.
Given the nature of typical handsaw actions, the process seems durable.

Anybody else have experimental results to contribute?

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

From your experiments, I would conclude that the wood had been stabilized well enough for the service requirement.
Given the nature of typical handsaw actions, the process seems durable.

Anybody else have experimental results to contribute?

We'll see. Tomorrow I test one of the three to destruction.