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Punky Wood Tip

Lamar Wright

Lamar Wright

Joined
Jun 29, 2017
Messages
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Location
Jasper, Alabama
I know that many of you like myself are always on the lookout for old spalted wood logs. Many times we all have experienced when cutting into the log we find some nice spalting along with some soft punky wood. I found a product (which many may already know) for soft punky wood called Minwax Wood Hardener Professional Strength. I have tried it on some real pundy soft wood and this stuff works. What I do is take a acid brush and brush the product over the punky wood and I let it stay overnight. I can then sand it, turn it with no problems and when finished it does not leave a stain. A word of caution, be sure to read the warning labels and wear your PPE ie, Paint respirator for the flumes, eye protection and rubber gloves. I'm in no way affiliated Minwax, it's just a good product for soft wood. Happy Turning!
 
I've also been using a Minwax hardener product occasionally for 25-30 years and it always worked well. Just checked my cans (old) and it's called "High Performance Minwax Wood Hardener". It is a water-thin clear liquid and seems to have no affect on the color of wood. Maybe Minwax upgraded their packaging and changed the name? I used to make many small items for sale (2"-3"), and I'd submerge any spalted woods and burls in a cat food cans with the liquid (weighted down) until all the escaping air bubbles stopped. When dry I would then turn them...probably similar to stabilized wood. Of course, for bowls & such just brush it on like Lamar mentioned.
 
Randy Anderson said:
I use walnut oil for my finish. Any experience with this being in the wood, dried, and then putting walnut oil over it?
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I have a bottle of walnut oil purchased a few years ago...but never opened it! So, I can't speak to that specifically - but I would assume that if the entire piece wasn't coated with hardener it would leave a blotchy surface. Similar to repairs made with CA glue and the oil finish doesn't penetrate.
 
Tom Gall said:
I have a bottle of walnut oil purchased a few years ago...but never opened it! So, I can't speak to that specifically - but I would assume that if the entire piece wasn't coated with hardener it would leave a blotchy surface. Similar to repairs made with CA glue and the oil finish doesn't penetrate.
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I don't know about Walnut oil but I've used the product with Danish oil with no problems.
 
Just turned my first piece with a lot of spalting and punky wood. Beautiful character in the coloration and grain but I couldn't get a good surface. I will try the Minwax Wood Hardener Professional Strength next time. What I did try was c.a. glue but it did not yield the results I wanted. I played around with sanding sealer and going through the various grits followed by more shellac then Howards' Feed and Wax.
Such a shame because it really was a pretty piece of wood.
Any other suggestions?
Al
 
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I get a fair amount of spalted and punky wood to turn and much of it turns out great. Sometimes not. I first try lots of light cuts, neg rake scrapers, turning from different directions, 80 grit paper, etc. If I can't get a reasonable surface then I'll put some JB Weld wood restorer on it and let it dry then scrape off with very light cuts. That often helps a lot. That said, if it's spalted with character I don't really shoot for a smooth glass like surface. A few pits, especially near the edge of a natural edge bowl, are part of the package for what it is I think. If it's a utility bowl then you would need to make sure the inside is sealed well or tell the buyer what to expect. I've found on spalted wood that the wood restorer doesn't really intefere with the walnut oil finish and if I have concerns then danish oil can be a better option. It does seem to blend better but haven't really had walnut oil be an issue either.
 
Each punky piece is different.
I first test with a flat screwdriver if the tip presses in easily to a 1/4” I don’t bother turning it.

I work through a progression of remedies.
sharp tools, light cuts
wetting with water will often stiffen fibers in slightly punky wood to give a clean cut.
thin shellac (with twice the alcohol ) will stiffen fibers more

sharp tools, light cuts
scraping rarely works on punky wood.
pull cut usually work better than push cuts.
 
Well, this brings to mind the 'pull/push' cut discussion, maybe a topic for another thread. I can't see any advantage to either other than style. I think most of it comes from the dropped handle on the pull cut leaves the cutting edge at a higher shear/slicing angle than most push cuts. I have seen the Mahoney/Batty 2 ways to turn a bowl, in video and in person, and still don't see any real difference. Am I missing some thing?

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
Well, this brings to mind the 'pull/push' cut discussion, maybe a topic for another thread. I can't see any advantage to either other than style. I think most of it comes from the dropped handle on the pull cut leaves the cutting edge at a higher shear/slicing angle than most push cuts. I have seen the Mahoney/Batty 2 ways to turn a bowl, in video and in person, and still don't see any real difference. Am I missing some thing?

robo hippy
Click to expand...
The advantage I get is a cleaner cut.

with the Ellsworth grind the
bevel angle on the wing used for the pull cut is 25-30 degrees ( skew sharp) the dropped handle also give a shear angle above 45 - 80 degrees depending on the drop.
bevel angle off the nose used in the slicing push cut has a bevel angle of about 45 degrees and a shear angle aroud 45 degrees.

one biggie is cutting toward the rim on a NE bowl with the pull cut almost always cuts the bark cleanly.
a push cut toward the rim leaves tearout of the bark and often tears the bark free.
 
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