Vacuum Stabilizing

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing

JL

>Work safe. Normal glass bottles are meant to hold pressure in. In the lab we use vacuum dessicators to "hold" vacuum.

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Stuart,

While the process seems to be proprietary to several companies who've developed it, it's my impression that they do it wood stabilizing under high pressure with very dry wood rather than in a vacuum. You sure of your process?

Just a thought

M

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing

Ted Calver

>Stuart,

I vaguely recollect an article with pictures from one of the penturning forums where a guy built a setup like you describe, but with a smaller bottle. As I recall, he floated his pen blank in a container of finish within the vacuum chamber and as the air was sucked out of the blank it was replaced by finish and the blank became saturated and sank to the bottom. He then removed the blank and set it aside for a few days to dry. I wondered about the process at the time and thought I'd experiment but never got the round tuit.

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing

Stuart Johnson

>Mark,

I'm not sure at all. I remember seeing something about it one time but don't know where.

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing

Stuart Johnson

>Do you mean they will resist exploding but no imploding? I think when I give this a try I'll make certain my bottle is inside a trash can.

Re: Might Check With These Guys *LINK*

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Not that they'll tell you how they do it, but they might tell how NOT to try it |;-}}


Stabilized

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing

Stuart Johnson

>That's the article I saw. I'll do a search over on penturners.org. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Link on the front page!  *LINK*

Fred in NC

>


http://www.penturners.org

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing - containers *LINK*

JL work

>Glass bottles will hold up to a certain amount of pressure. Champagne style bottles will of course hold a lot more:)). The typical glass bottle won't resist but so much vacuum. A good vacuum desiccator will resist a lot more and would be safer to use. My $0.02.


Fisher Scientific Vacuum Desiccator

Re: Vacuum Stabilizing

James L. Seigal

>I have used the vacuum method for my maple 'cool blocks' also. Many years ago, I used to work for a lumber co. that also pressure treated lumber. The process starts with the stock being put under vacuum for a while, then under high pressure and heat to drive the chemical into the wood. For small pieces, like pen blanks and cool blocks, the heat is not necessary. The vacuum does a very good job by itself. Even 10-12in. of vac. will do a very good job. If a gal. jar makes you nervous, try a small pressure cooker, go to your local thrift store or second hand store,the 'Boss'might get upset if you use hers! I think any liquid finish that will harden will work fine.