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Glue soak per Wally D.

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Glue soak per Wally D.

#1

Glue soak per Wally D.

Gary Evans

>Hey Wally,

I have been searching for the thread where you talked about your glue-soaking process for spalted wood. No luck so far.

I wonder if you could go back over the basics for me and others. I have a roughed out spalted elm bowl that I would like to try the glue on. Right now it is roughed out to 1" thickness for an 11" bowl. Should I thin it down some more before I soak it? This one is going to need to dry some more before I finish it. It's still fairly wet.

Any info would be appreciated. I remember reading the original thread, but I didn't retain a whole lot. I guess my short term memory is getting shorter. Must be early Anheuser's. 8^]

Thanks,

GE

Re: Glue soak per Wally D.

#2

Re: Glue soak per Wally D.

Wally Dickerman at Green Valley, Az.

>Hi Gary..... I've sucessfully used the glue soak method of firming up punky, spalted wood a few times. The first time, I had rough turned a soft piece of spalted birch with difficulty. I decided to try a different method of firming it up. Using a mix of 50/50 water and white glue (Elmers), I soaked it in a plastic bucket for about 24 hours. I removed it and let it dry for a couple of days, then zapped it a couple of times in the microwave. It had soaked up quite a bit of the solution and had gone quite oval. There were several cracks, and they had disappeared. A real plus. I think that the spalting halped to conceal them. The opening of the vessel had been a little less than 2 inches and it had become oval. After truing it up it was about 2 1/2 inches. I installed a collar of rosewood and finished the piece. I don't think that I could have sucessfully finished it without the soak. I'll enclose a photo of it. I put the glue mix into a plastic jug for later use.

Wally


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Re: Glue soak per Wally D.

#3

Re: Glue soak per Wally D.

Gary Evans

>Hi Wally,

Beautiful work, as usual.

I am wondering if I would be better off to soak my piece now and let it dry, or let it dry and then soak it with the glue solution. I want to firm up the soft spots, but how much penetration could I expect in wood that is not dry yet? Maybe it would be better to dry the rough bowl, turn it somewhat thinner, and then soak with the glue? What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

GE

Re: Glue soak per Wally D.

#4

Re: Glue soak per Wally D.

Wally Dickerman at Green Valley, Az.

>Gary, the few pieces that I've glue soaked have been somewhat wet. Fortunatly, I'd left them thick enough to take care of the extra warping that I encountered. Depends on the kind of wood, how it's cut, and how much you expect it to warp.

Wally

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