WOOD HARDINING ?

Minwax  *LINK*

Bob Elliott

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Minwax

Re: WOOD HARDENING ?

Barry Irby

>I've used both the Bondo Wood hardener and the Minwax. Seemed expensive, but they worked pretty well. I found some of the Bondo at a Salvage Sales Center for about 1/6 of what Lowes sells it for and went back to get more, but it was gone. Snooze/lose.

I have also used gloss Deft. It seems to work fairly well also. Just put on about ten coats and let them soak and dry. On some really punky wood a ten inch bowl soaked up most of a quart. It really clogged the sand paper. Maybe I should have let it dry longer.

Re: WOOD HARDENING ?

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>If you're going to finish with oil, Watco also works well - takes some time to dry, but just thoroughly drench to bowl, and it will harden the wood, as well as act as something of a lubricant to help with turning.

David

Re: WOOD HARDENING ?

ken chase

>Is this technique for green bowls and if so is it

to hasten drying or restrict warpage?

Thanks

Ken Chase

Re: WOOD HARDINING ?

Barbara Gill, Remlik VA

>TD used a wood hardner when he made those first two hugh Yellow-poplar bowls. I imagine he will post before long.

Several

tdaniel

>I use several things to harden depending on how bad the soft spots are, how big a hurry I am in, and how strong the piece needs to be in the end. A thinned down water-based lacquer will work and is non-flammable but takes several days to cure; a mix of half lacquer and half lac thinner will work and is fast but is explosive so use outside only and in small amounts (too much at one shot will crack the wood), CA will work for small areas, and Wally has suggested a thinned down white glue but I have not used this. Or, as Ray Key suggests, give the wood to another turner.

That Stuff is Perfectly Awful !

Brad Vietje

>Sorry Guys, I beg to differ...

I've used the afore-mentioned Minwax Wood Hardener, and I won't do it again, at least not in a turning situation. First, it is extremely toxic; contains carcinogens and other really bad, bad stuff. It is also highly explosive, so you don't want to soak it into a bowl and then sharpen a few gouges, unless you want a better view of spring on the other side of the shop wall. It also is about the most God-awful smelling crap ever put into a metal can. It makes the wood hard, but brittle, and I got a serious headache turning the stuff even with dust extractor going, a fan blowing the air away from me out an open window, and a mask on...

By now you can probably tell I don't like this stuff very much for turning uses. My advice: check out Terry's comments, and either soak the bowl with a home brew mix, or a hardening oil like Watco or Urethane Oil, or let the wood continue to feed the little fungal beasties by throwing it out in the woods. If the wood is that punky, you probably should have gotten to it a bit sooner.

Safe Spinning,

Brad Vietje

Thetford, VT

Re: WOOD HARDINING ?

Bruce Forrest

>I've had good luck with the 50% white glue method. Others my recommend a product called PolyAll 2000 which I believe is available either online (google it)or from Lee Valley.

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Re: WOOD HARDENING ?

David Hammond, in Powder Springs GA

>Both really - green or dry wood. If the wood is old spalted beech or something similair, a good bath of a hardening oil like Watco, will harden the wood and get rid of most tearout problems; a bath of oil in a soft, punky wood will also considerable darken the wood, which on beech and other earth toned woods gives the bowl a great patina.

On green wood I've only done some experimenting, but it seems that submering, or at least wiping a peice down with a hardening oil several times a day for a few weeks, has some great advatanges - one, it does seem to arrest cracking; oil won't fix everything on a green peice, but I've turned two crotch vases from Elm and Live Oak, two woods that are nasty to turn and dry, and neither cracked inside a bath of oil. The oil also effects the color on green wood, darkening it - use this to your advantage, when you want darker.

And submerging doesn't do much for Ambrosia Maple by the way - turns it a rather ugly, drab brown.

David

Re: WOOD HARDINING ?

Herman de Vries

>By far, the best product I've used is Polyall 2000. I've used it on wood so punky it was falling apart. Use well ventilated and turn your project down to close to finished. The Polyall is very thin and will penetrate into the punky parts. You have to use it very, very quickly. Get everything set up, mix the two parts and dab it on the surface with a piece on sponge taped to the end of a stick. You've got maybe, three minutes, and once it starts to get a bit cloudy, stop using it and mix a new batch. If it pools on the surface of the piece it will stay whitish. But soaked it, you will not know it's there after you've turned. In 10 minutes you can start turning again. It stinks - and wear mask, gloves and eye protection. But it works.

Get it from www.polyall.com

Herm