Stabilized wood, how can you tell

S

Steve Beckwith

Joined
May 29, 2004
Messages
387
I sent a box of wood to be stabilized to one of the popular wood stabilization companies on this forum. I received a call to to inform me that all was good except for one piece which still had a moisture content that was a little too high. They said that they would keep it until it reached an acceptable moisture level then treat it and send it to me separately. So they have sent me the piece, 2 lbs, 10" x 3" x 3", I paid for the stabilization and about $14 shipping. Now every other piece of wood that I have had stabilized has resin all over the outside. This piece had just one small drop of resin on one corner. No odor of resin that I can tell, and when I dropped it into a bucket of water it floated like a cork. I weighed it before I put it into the bucket, soaked it for about an hour, let the surface dry out and weighed it again, it had gained 6 grams. I have not contacted the company yet, I am afraid that they will only say to return it so I will have shipping costs both ways again, almost $50 shipping for this one piece. That is not going to happen. It is a really curly piece of Myrtle and I would love to slice it up for handles but without stabilization it is useless to me. Based on my description does this sound as if it is stabilized or not? Thanks, Steve B
 
I would slice it into blocks. When you're cutting it, you should definitely be able to smell the resin. That won't tell you HOW well stabilized it is however. Was it dyed ?
 
If it floats like a cork, it's NOT stabilized.... or at least not properly. Properly stabilized wood should sink in water - if it does float, it will float about level with water. I don't think I've checked a block of wood stabilized by K&G that didn't sink, and all the wood I've stabilized with Cactus Juice will sink, or at max float level with water.

I'd at least call and talk to them - perhaps they'd agree to at no charge and pay shipping to return to you?
 
I just dropped a couple pieces of my stabilized wood from K&G in the sink and they sink like a rock. Smell when you cut or sand is another one. Same with the resin all over the outside when you get them. Never had one come back clean to me.

I'd do what Ken H suggests and call.
 
I cut it length wise, no resin odor at all. I have left them a message, I am sure they will get back with me, I believe they are a straight up company. Thanks for the responses.
 
i thought there was only one popular stabilizer, K&G ? how i tell if its stabilized- make a knife, be really careful so it all comes out really nice, then when you are buffing the handle on the home stretch to being finished and admiring your hard careful work you realize its not shiny because the stabilizing juice never made it to the middle of the handle because the guy i bought it from on ebay used a brake bleeder vacuum pump and the job was incomplete. that is why i only use stuff done by K&G now :cool:
 
I just about bet it was curly myrtle before you said it.

Myrtle doesn't stabilize well at all, in my experience and won't take hardly any resin or gain weight. I've used it as is with out stabilizing and had good results.

I had identical experiences with trying to stabilize it with the same source....I'm guessing.
 
john april said:
i thought there was only one popular stabilizer, K&G ? how i tell if its stabilized- make a knife, be really careful so it all comes out really nice, then when you are buffing the handle on the home stretch to being finished and admiring your hard careful work you realize its not shiny because the stabilizing juice never made it to the middle of the handle because the guy i bought it from on ebay used a brake bleeder vacuum pump and the job was incomplete. that is why i only use stuff done by K&G now :cool:
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KMG, WSSI Are the only two I will use. There were just three to start with 20 years ago.. Now anyone with a Pressure Cooker, Brake hand pump, and a can of Minwax wood Hardener .. Says they are a professional wood stabilizer.. Buyer beware!
 
If you sent it to K&G< i can just about promise it was stabilized. I think I know what happened.

K&G Uses a thick resin and a thin resin. Thick resin is for woods like buckeye, maple burl, redwood and the like. When blocks of that come back, they are often caked in resin, with droplets and splotches of resin all over.

Denser woods and woods that doesnt stabilize very well like koa, walnut, ambonya and the like go in the thin resin. This often leaves very little identification, the blocks dont really look any different. It is because of the solvent used to keep the the monomer liquid, it does not leave the large globs of resin all over.
 
A little time at the buffer should show you if it is stabilized
 
J. Doyle said:
I just about bet it was curly myrtle before you said it.

Myrtle doesn't stabilize well at all, in my experience and won't take hardly any resin or gain weight. I've used it as is with out stabilizing and had good results.

I had identical experiences with trying to stabilize it with the same source....I'm guessing.
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I haven't worked with Myrtle, but if it is so dense to begin with, wouldn't it be pretty close to sinking to start with?

Funny what Ben said about the thick and thin resin. I had some Koa and Maple Burl stabilized at K&G. I remember noticing that they had wiped most of the excess resin off the Koa and not the burl and wished they had done it for both so my belt wouldnt gum up so bad. Now I know it is just the two resins.
 
J. Doyle said:
I just about bet it was curly myrtle before you said it.

Myrtle doesn't stabilize well at all, in my experience and won't take hardly any resin or gain weight. I've used it as is with out stabilizing and had good results.

I had identical experiences with trying to stabilize it with the same source....I'm guessing.
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My first batch of wood I sent to K&G had curly Myrtle in the batch. It wouldn’t take any resin and was just as light as when I sent it in. It was a mystery wood that I didn’t identify until after it didn’t take to stabilizing.
 
I had a batch of Koa I sent to k & g.
It had globs all over all of it. There was no doubt it was stabilized.
OP, let us know how this turns out, it’s interesting. I hope you get it resolved.
 
I'll echo the thought that some wood just doesn't take up stabilizing resin well, probably because of the natural oils and resins already present. I have stabilized camphor burl, chittum burl, and golden teak burl that seem like they gained almost no weight. But I'm not 100% sure of the wood identification except for the camphor, just going by the ID given by the person I originally bought the wood from.
 
When I was doing a lot of wood turning I used a good amount of 2”x2” stock. Due to the thickness of the wood it was very difficult to get stabilized pieces that were stabilized all the way through.
If you are looking at making scales from your wood I would suggest cutting it into over sized scales prior to sending it in for stabilizing, rather than sending in 3” square lengths. I’m not sure as to whether its possible to get full stabilizer penetration with 3” thick wood.
 
First, this is not some fly by night stabilizing company. I called ans spoke with the owner on Friday, he assured me that he remembered the piece, it had been done in "the thin stuff" and that Myrtle is an unusual wood that doesn't take to stabilizing well. I believe he is being truthful. He also mentioned that I need to sand and buff a surface to see if it will take a polish. I dunno, Ive got $20 in stabilizing, $14 in shipping plus the cost of the wood in the first place. I am not going to return it for another try at stabilizing, shipping both ways just doesn't make sense. I'll save it for a time when I send another batch of wood to be stabilized, if ever. And you are right that I should have sectioned it up into scale sized pieces but he assured me that 3" was doable and I just wasn't sure how I was going to use it. Some days you bite the bear, some days the bear bites you. I'll sand and buff as suggested, I hope it works, this is a really tight curly wood, I really want to use it. Thanks for the replies.
 
Myrtle still will not take much if any resin.....even the thin stuff that k&g uses. It will still be very light....even after stabilizing attempts.

There are some woods that just don't respond well to stabilizing and that's just the way it is. Myrtle is one of them. Just make sure its dry and use it as is.

People should get out of the mindset that EVERYTHING *MUST* be stabilized and also EVERYTHING *CAN* be stabilized. It just simply isn't true.

There are so many myths about stabilizing out there that should be debunked but its probably best to leave it at that.
 
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