Stablizing Soft Wood ?

Re: Stablizing Soft Wood ?

.

>polyall 2000 works very well for very punky wood -- also

nitrocellulose sanding sealer

Re: Stablizing Soft Wood ?

Andrew Hilton

>There are TONS of wood stabilizers. From the high priced woodworking market ones like Polycryl and Polyall to the home improvement ones from Minwax and others. There's also ones for industrial painting types such as Permanizer Plus and the epoxies like AquaPor (spelling?). Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Some don't penetrate as well as others. For thick pieces of wood, the thinner ones will generall soak in better. If you find a thicker one, you might be able to thin it yourself. Ask the mfg.

PVA glues (White and most Yellow glues) thinned with water do help and penetrate pretty well. But they're not going to do wonders like an epoxy or high-resins version would do. Of course, there's tradeoffs and those epoxies, etc. don't penetrate as well. Never a free lunch.

Sanding sealers (especially if you can make it yourself) work well but, again, the thinner you get it, the less solids are there to hold the structure together later.

Just take your time,do several soaks and let them fully dry between so you don't get a hard outter "crust" and a soft, wetter inside.

If you can do the thinning yourself, start with a quite thin mixture (penetrates deeper) and then make it progressively thicker. You'll be filling from the inside out of the wood.

I've used many of the brands of wood stabilizers out there (due to my spalting operations) and they all work well. Not well enough to travel up 10' into a log though. It's just a matter of how much expense and how thick your wood is.

Re: Stablizing Soft Wood ?

Ron in Drums PA

>Thanks Andrew