Vacuume stabilization with plexiglas and acetone help.
Had a play with this over the last week on some very soft spalted walnut.
Used the heat and cool method to create pressure, heated the soup with hot water till boiling point and sealed the jar. Chucked it in the fridge overnight, released the pressure and let sit till the blanks sank.
Average uptake was around 2.8g after a few days drying and it now turns great with no tear out.
I have a vac pump coming and want to build a chamber for ease and maybe safety. Am I going to get better penetration using a vac system? If so how much more should these take up? I assume I can re treat the ones I have already done.
It was surprising the amount of moisture and tannin they released, they were dark ugly looking pieces which now have a nice dark honey colour which lets the spalting show off better. There was a surprising amount of water released.
Has anyone tried pressure curing wood like you would freeze dry food? I am wondering if this would give a completely dry blank to work with before stabilization or is this common practice?
The pump will go to 75 Hg, I am hoping it is enough to make them workable and waterproof.
I have a pressure pot laying around the shed or there is the old masons jar trick.
What sort of Hg should I be aiming for? 20-25? Or alot more.
Im new here so plenty of questions.
Cheers.