Wood Stabilization for the first time !

[SKIVIE]

Purchased 3 blocks of wood a few days ago.

Cocobolo
Pink myrtle
Eucalyptus Burl

Cut it to scale size .

Stabalized it tonight.....what an amazing process. Not as hard as I thought it was, but beware, it will burn brain cells.

Cant wait for the week to pass so that I can get working on my knife, this is my first so im pretty pumped. Guard attatched, just waiting for shipment from supplier for spacers etc.

Shane

[bgmills]

Shane,

How about some info on your stabilizing process? What did you use, how did you use it, etc.? Thanks in advance!!

Bill

[SKIVIE]

Hey Bill,

Heres the link I used- I couldnt explain it better than

him.http://northcoastknives.com/northcoa...ints_tips3.htm

I use a large Jar and put aprox 10-12 scales in it, then placed it in the larger coffee can. There probably was only 1.5 inches from bottle to can all the way around.

I drilled a hole at the bottom of the coffee can and put a screw in it for draining purposes.

Poured my Boiling water in the coffee can and watched it go to work. Minwax immediatelly starts to bubble. About every 5 or so min I would pull screw, drain half way, put screw back and refill can with boiling water. Did that for about a half hour then pulled the bottle and tightened the lid tight. within 30 min it had sucked the lid down and was sucking up the minwax.

Pretty neat little process. Im going to let it sit for about a week and then let it cure for a couple days.

Ive got a lot of bone laying around, mostly antler. Im going to try and find out what I need to do to antler to prepare it for a Handle. If anyone knows or has a link let me know.

On my way to the search button now.....
....shane

[bandido]

SKIVIE

Glad to see someone else giving the home stabilization process a try. That process is easy and works well. Pat from Northcoast Kniives pointed met towards that method and I can say that I am pleased with the results I have played with this process using locally grown from my burn pile mequite, olive and cheap ole pine. I also did some old bone that had been hanging on the fence since I moved in several years ago as well as some sterilized cow shin bones from wal mart pet section. I used these on my aluminum proto knives that I make and save for patterns. Also cheap when I make mistakes....

There was a thread in Ed Caffreys forum about this process and the choice is yours to do it yourself and learn something new or let the pros do it for you.

Congrats on your efforts.. Can't wait to see a some pics of the finished product. Always a good feeling to learn somethiing new and do it yourself!

Greg
"Bandido"

[mwinans]

What about putting the jar in an old crockpot and heating the water that way? Seems like it would simplify the process a bit. I know there are flash fire issues but wouldn't the crockpot be safe?


Mark

[bandido]

Mark..

Amazing observation... I guess I need to dust off the old crockpot, make a pot of beans and check the temp on the high setting. It's been a while since I used tha thing. Seem to remember the stuff cooking bubbling and 'bean' steamy, so lets check it out.

Good idea! Will give it a try.. HMMMM stabilize wood and cook dinner at the same time.

Stay tuned
Bandido

Rival Crockpot site info on temperature

What temperatures will foods reach in my slow cooker?
With gradual heat build up food generally reaches a temperature of 170? to 180? F and liquid will reach around 200? F.

[SKIVIE]

Im sure a crockpot would work, good thinking. Bandido just dont sip the water while cooking

Shane.

[Bernez]

For the non english speaking folks: what's a crockpot :confused: :confused:

Bernez

[bandido]

Bernez

It's a stoneware slow cooker that every new married couple in the USA gets as a wedding gift Fill it up, turn it on and it'll be ready when you get home. Hopefully dinner will be ready after the honeymoon is over otherwise it's takeout pizza or burgers... LOL.

www.rivco.com

Crock-Pot? slow cooker has been one of the most important cooking tools for busy families since its introduction in 1971. Slow cooking is a great way to provide delicious home cooked meals for people and families on the go and produces flavorful meals time after time. Dinner is ready when you are!?

My Crockpot collects dust.. think my wife is suffering from Alzhiemers when it comes to cooking.......

Adios
Bandido

Greg

Shane.. how did your scales turn out?

[SKIVIE]

Greg,

They turned out awesome ! It definatelly works. Great brilliant shine/color and much heavier/stronger.

Ya know, the only negative about the crockpot is you would have to heat it up much earlier in order for the water to be hot enuf to do its thing, other than that it would work great.

Make sure you let it dry/cure for a couple days before working it.

Shane

[mwinans]

Shane,

Turn on your crockpot with a bit of water in it then boil the water. By the time your water is boiled your crockpot will be on its way to heating up. Then just jumpstart it with the boiling water. I think the crockpot will soon heat up and maintain the water at a high enough temp pretty quickly.

Mark

[bandido]

Shane,

Glad you got good results. I have been pleased with results I got as well. Next test I'm gong to try just plain polyurethane finish not the sealer to see how it works with the vacuum the process pulls down..

Greg

[Drac]

Shane,

You might not want to start off with the cocoblo wood first as it doesn't take to the stabilization process very well because of it's oily nature. I've heard it can weep for a long time afterwards.

Jim

[Bernez]

Thanks Greg for the explanation

Bernez

[SKIVIE]

Hey Jim,

Ya my first batch was cocobolo and have made a knife since then. It turned out nice but I noticed later that cocobolo doesnt need stabilizing. Oh well you learn something new every day. Thanks for the input though.

shane