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I have some nice Mallee and Coolibah burl that I was thinking of using for knife scales. I read somewhere that neither are not good choices as they can crack and warp even after being stabilized.
Is this correct?
Maybe the problem is the density of the timber and being able to get full penetration into the blanks?
Any and all advice appreciated.
Cheers
Phil
As long as they are dried properly and then sealed well they should be fine. You could also soak surface in thin CA, all over, so before glue up and then again on final shaping.
Having said that, proper stabilising is considered best.
Thanks Neil, I agree, if fully stabilised I cant see their being a problem. Question is, how do you get the resin to soak all the way into a 25mm block? Soak being the key word. I had a block under vacuum for several hours in Juice then left to soak for 12 hours. The uptake was around a 5% weight gain which isn’t much (my thought is it should be closer to 29%). Maybe a thinner “juice” is needed?
Cheers
Phil
Aussie hardwoods take ages. Dry in oven at 110C till it stops losing weight, 25mm x 45mm x 120mm will take ~24-48 hours once seasoned and dry to ~8-10%MC. Then vacuum in the Cactus Juice will take at least 24 hours sometimes 48 till all bubbles gone, then soak for 4x vacuum time (extra for our hardwoods), then drain and bake for 3 hours.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phily
Holeey dooley, thats a fair bit of effort for a knife handle!!! However, given my results to date I don’t doubt that this is what it will take to get the desired result. Hope my old vaccuum pump is up to the challenge ��Quote:
Originally Posted by dai sensei
Neil,
Have you come across/tried the idea of microwaving timbers while they are still green, for the purpose of breaking down structures, so that the dried timber better absorbs resins?
ref Misal Technologies - Innovative Microwave Technology
While they are not talking about stabalizing as such, it got me thinking on the potential!
Cheers
Phil