First try at stabilizing

[Wane]

 I have never turned stabilized wood before or done any  stabilizing. I have a lot of wood that needs to be stabilized in order to use so I got the setup from Curtis. I tried it out yesterday after I got a pump. The pump is not quite enough but I tried it anyway. It seemed to work OK. I turned 2 pens tonight out of the 4 blanks I did, It seems that it did OK, at least I could buff them and get a shine but I put CA on them anyway just to get them more the way I wanted them. They are spalted maple and did not turn well before now they turn nice and sand out real nice. I will post pics In pen and bowls.

[Brad Robinson]

Hey Wane, I checked out your pens and they are very nice. Good job with the turnings and the stabilizing. I have a few questions.
 What size chamber did you get?
 How much did your pump cost?
 Why do you think you need a diferent pump?
and how long did it take for the stabilizing process

[Wane]

I got the large chamber 8"x8". I bought a pump off eBay and on the test run I smoked the switch and it only pulls down to 26". I vacuumed for an hour or so until it quit bubbleling. I put the blanks in a Tupperware container inside the chamber just to test it out to see if it would do it. It seemed to but I want to be able to pull it down at least to 27 or 27.5". I am 1500' above sea level so I don't think I can get better  than 27.5" if I read Curtis's info right. this pump that I got I wanted to return. They offered to replace or refund, I told them I would return it for refund. They refunded the money and said to do what ever with the pump, so I rewired it and put heavier switch in it. It runs but still over heats some so I ordered a different pump from Amazon. 133.00 shipped.
 It took about 2 and 1/2 hours start to finish but that was only 4 pen blanks.

[Braz]

Just wondering, will the number of blanks change the time? I can see the size of the blank changing the time, but not he number of blanks. Just musing.

[Zumbrocalls]

I can do about  12   6" call blanks at a time and the vacuum cycle takes about 2 hrs . Then the pressure and another vacuum cycle . I pull about 28.5 - 29 in of vacuum on my chamber . cfms to move the air out thats what saves time . Troy

[Brian at DDT Game Calls]

Which pump off ebay? Was it new? I was looking at two each around 149.00 shipped new, or was it a usedvone?

[Wane]

It was new in box for $95.00 shipped. It was cheap and it may do the job but I think this one was defective because after fixing it it still gets real hot when I run it very long. Just had to try it and see what stabilized wood is like. Some of the reveiws were good on it but a few had problems to. Thats allways a risk when you go cheap.

[Brian at DDT Game Calls]

Keep us posted(or PM) on what ya get and how it works

[Wane]

I got my new pump today, FJC 6912 5 CFM. I try-ed it with a glove and it does better but the gage still only goes to 25.5 or 25.75. It does expand the glove more than the other one and it runs a lot cooler, at least I can keep my hand on it after running for half hour. I don't have any blanks quite ready yet. I need to get some more in the dehydrator and get the moisture down more. Curtis says on one of his pages to bake it in the oven on low heat for awhile. I don't want to put the wife through that she already puts up with allot. I will have to wait till Friday to find some of the drier wood for another test run. I have some that reads 8-9 on the moister meeter. Most of it was 30% 2 months ago, seems like some of that spalted stuff dries out faster than green fresh cut does.

[Zumbrocalls]

Wane, Better check that chamber for leaks. Fill it up with water and pull a vacuum on it . That way you can see if there are any leaks in it . You should be able to pull way more inches than that . I am only a 180 miles south of you  and I can almost bury that gauge. Troy

[bear]

im pulling about 28 1/2 on mine my book for the pump said if you pull 25 thats still a good vacum.

[Zumbrocalls]

Jeremy  25 might be a good vacuum in the book , but not good enough to stabilize wood. Troy

[Wane]

I will do that later tonight. Thank you for that suggestion I did not think of it.

[bear]

that's good to know troy as I'm new to stabilizing to.

[Wane]

O.K. with water in 1/2" down from the top I get 26.5 and no visible leaks. Still only get 25.75 empty tank, but it will expand a glove to full, but not stretched at all. How do I check for line leaks? I let it run about 35 min. had to quit to go to bed, 3:30 comes to fast for me any more. I will let it run longer tomorrow after work. Thank you.