Thanks to John Noon and this forum I've been introduced to the process of stabilizing wood. Having lots of fun and am learning as I go. This stuff, which is methyl methacrylate, is really nice to work with, no smell, not volatile and easy water clean up. Turns out a couple of friends of mine use it all the time but for a completely different application - cement for knee and hip replacements. Maple scales all cut up. I dried them in the oven for a few hours, weighing them as I went until they no longer lost anymore weight. This is maple and amboyna. Using UHMWPE to displace liquid, this way I can stabilize long pieces without needing a ton of cactus juice. Normally they woud be submerged. Got a 12 inch dia chamber for flexibility. There are 6 of these pieces in the chamber as well as some long square ones, was only doing 2 pieces of wood for this batch. Amboyna Maple Curly maple, this stuff is so cool, it really changes before your eyes as you look at it from different angles. I have another unstabilized block of it. More amboyna Amboyna again, smaller pieces will probably use on a 2 piece handle.
Very cool. I have never stabilized wood. I have always just used very old and very dry wood. It's only bitten me in the butt once (maybe twice) before. I definitely like how it augments the grain. I think I may need to look into this more. (though, i really don't need another hobby at the stage : )
The green I got by combining a few colours of what I had. I'd like to see that new bright red. The curly or flame maple is my favourite, it has such a 3d effect to it, got some more in the chamber. Now I have more knife scales than I could ever use, and am still making more.
Id like to get into this but more for antler and bone stabalizing applications. Trying to find info for that specifically is abit tough and ive been told it pretty much the same technique as wood stabalizing. Any tips to getting started? Need info on best pump and pot setup for your dollar.
