Stabilization

Stabilizing wood can be a very tedious process. It can improve any piece of punky/soft wood and make it usable.  We get questions about the process and time it takes all the time.

1. What is stabilizing though?
2. What does it do? 
3. Is it always necessary? 

Well lets start with the first question.

• What is stabilizing?  

Stabilizing in laymen terms is the process of extracting air and filling the voids with resin.  This resin then hardens when heated to create a denser and usable piece of wood/material.  There are a few choices for stabilizing resin available.  The resin we recommend is called Cactus Juice. 

Cactus Juice is made by a company called Turntex, LLC and they are basically the pioneers in this field, offering excellent customer service and consistent quality products. Link: https://www.turntex.com/

So now you know what stabilizing vaguely is. 

• What does it do?  

When properly heated to the correct temperature(190-200 F) you can achieve a much greater density in a once soft and punky wood.  This wood then in turn can be used for any sort of craft project or turning project. 

• Is it always necessary? 

I get asked this question all the time.  Customers will message us and ask does this wood need to be stabilized?  My general answer is always well maybe.  It depends on the oil content of the wood and how dense it is before stabilizing. A general rule of thumb is if you can break it easily then the answer is yes.  Though this is by no means a factual trustworthy answer.  Some woods to stay away from while stabilizing are Myrtle wood, Cocobolo, Kingwood, almost any rosewood.  This is not exhaustive list.  Though it provides some slight clarity. 

All in all, stabilizing can be considered an art.  A process made possible by the vendors listed above to the average person.  As always need any questions answered feel free to leave comments or hit us up on our email down in the footer. Thank you and keep on turning!