Wood hardener recommendations

[Robert Lindstadt]

Got this beech blanks
Wondering what you all use to stabilize the punkyness? Food safe?
I sprayed with some lacquer for a Quick Look at it

 

[Michael Brown]

I use cactus juice in a vacuum chamber. If it's a tiny bit of punky I just use CA

 

[Robert Lindstadt]

I use cactus juice in a vacuum chamber. If it's a tiny bit of punky I just use CA

Cactus juice?

 

[Brian Gustin]

Cactus juice?

Its a brand name of a type of resin. Myself, I often will just apply a coat of shellac or some hardening oil finish, or in some cases, rattle can lacquer, and see if it lets me get a clean cut, but if it is too punky or spongy , I'll often just as soon toss it - Resin, Cactus Juice and other fillers like them are just too expensive for most of the woods I come across... Wood grows on Trees, after all.

 

[Michael Brown]

Yes. It sounds strange. YouTube "cactus juice wood stabilizer" it's a rabbit hole I went down and I don't regret it. Apparently there is another chemical by Preservation Solutions called Polycryl. It's supposed to be good stuff too.

 

[Robert Lindstadt]

Its a brand name of a type of resin. Myself, I often will just apply a coat of shellac or some hardening oil finish, or in some cases, rattle can lacquer, and see if it lets me get a clean cut, but if it is too punky or spongy , I'll often just as soon toss it - Resin, Cactus Juice and other fillers like them are just too expensive for most of the woods I come across... Wood grows on Trees, after all.

I like the look, I have minwax wood hardener from repair work I done.

 

[Jeff Jackson]

If it's small enough to fit in my vacuum chamber I'll use cactus juice. For larger pieces I'll use epoxy thinned out 40 to 50% with dna or acetone. If that doesn't help, it gets tossed out.

 

[Vincent Vogel]

I've had good success with minwax wood hardner on soft stuff like that. Rough turn, apply hardner, let dry for a month so the wood dries and firms up, second turn. I would think shellac would work too.

 

[Frank English]

Have used PC-Petrifier Wood Hardener successfully on punky or soft spalted woods.

 

[Dan Blankenberg]

How about re-hydrating with a finishing oil like danish? The wood will soak it up them harden. I use Watco natural and it reinforces the material well.

 

[hockenbery]

Wondering what you all use to stabilize the punkyness?

Depends on how punky
spritzing with water will stiffen fibers enough to be cut instead of tear in mild punkiness
Next step is to try thin shellac 2x the alcohol let soak in
It will harden the punky wood that water won’t

If it is a special historic wood I wil use pollyall. It’s expensive and a pain to use but it will solidify punk you can peel out with you fingers

Before putting punky wood on the lathe I probe it with a dull flat screwdriver
If the screwdriver goes deeper than a light indent, I dont
Turn it

 

[Doug Freeman]

I’ve stayed away from cactus juice and most resins due to cost of the liquid and then the vac or pressure chambers. Minwax wood hardener does pretty well to firm up punky stuff.

A bit cheaper alternative is some 5 min epoxy diluted 1:1 with acetone. Both have nasty voc’s for a short time, so ventilate well. The epoxy mix seems to cure faster due to the chemical reaction. Seems to work about equal to the mw stuff. Shellac or lacquer work well for just surface type issues, but take too long to cure vs epoxy or mw when penetration is needed.

 

[Robert Lindstadt]

I’ve stayed away from cactus juice and most resins due to cost of the liquid and then the vac or pressure chambers. Minwax wood hardener does pretty well to firm up punky stuff.

A bit cheaper alternative is some 5 min epoxy diluted 1:1 with acetone. Both have nasty voc’s for a short time, so ventilate well. The epoxy mix seems to cure faster due to the chemical reaction. Seems to work about equal to the mw stuff. Shellac or lacquer work well for just surface type issues, but take too long to cure vs epoxy or mw when penetration is needed.

I sprayed it with lacquer and it seemed a lot better
I think there will one area that might need something else.
I hate the smell of some expoxy

 

[Richard Coers]

Minwax wood hardener is around 75% solvent. Won't come close to the same result as Cactus Juice unless you use a vacuum chamber and get the wood hardener deep into the cells.

 

[Mike Pindzola]

If it's small enough to fit in my vacuum chamber I'll use cactus juice. For larger pieces I'll use epoxy thinned out 40 to 50% with dna or acetone. If that doesn't help, it gets tossed out.

Thinned epoxy is what I've done. Not often enough to remember how much time it takes to set up and to cure. A little goes a long way 50ml (2oz) was plenty for a 6" x 4" spalted maple bowl. Milliput for deeper and wider spots if it's not going to blow apart later.

 

[Mike Brazeau]

Have used PC-Petrifier Wood Hardener successfully on punky or soft spalted woods.

I also have used this product as well and it is excellent. A water based urethane product that has no odour or organic fumes like the Minwax product. Does not stain light woods. Am surprised it is not mentioned more often in these threads.

 

[John Chalikian]

I have used the Minwax wood hardener from repair work I done.

I have used the Minwax product on bark enclusions and it has proved successfu.

 

[Charles Cadenhead]

Doesn't cactus juice require heat as well as a vacuum chamber? I use minwax wood hardener on small spots.

 

[Barry Larson]

I also have used this product as well and it is excellent. A water based urethane product that has no odour or organic fumes like the Minwax product. Does not stain light woods. Am surprised it is not mentioned more often in these threads.

Hi Mike:
The product specs mention that it is white. Does it dry clear on dark wood or does it lighten it? It sounds like an interesting product.
Thanks.
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

 

[John Ames]

Doesn't cactus juice require heat as well as a vacuum chamber? I use minwax wood hardener on small spots.

Yes and yes

The wood has to be submerged in cactus juice (enough that there is no punky wood out of the juice) and then put under vacuum pressure.

The amount of time under vacuum varies… basically until no more bubbles are visible or are very minimal.

Then the piece has to be drained of excess juice (drip dry) and then the piece needs to be put in an oven at something around 230* for at least as long as it was under vacuum.

It’s an hours (even possibly days) long process.

If I haven’t scared anyone away, I’ll tell you the stuff is incredibly tough, super reliable, and about the best product imaginable for making unturnable wood turnable. It will darken most woods. But you can tint the juice before vacuuming and you’ll get some interesting colors deep in the wood.

The juice that is drained and leftover from the vacuuming can be reused… that’s important to know. Don’t dump the excess… as long as it hasn’t been heated in an oven, it lasts virtually forever.

It’s a learning curve, it’s kind of pricy for bowl blanks, and requires effort and extra equipment but it WORKS like nothing else.

 

[Jeff Jackson]

Yes and yes

The wood has to be submerged in cactus juice (enough that there is no punky wood out of the juice) and then put under vacuum pressure.

The amount of time under vacuum varies… basically until no more bubbles are visible or are very minimal.

Then the piece has to be drained of excess juice (drip dry) and then the piece needs to be put in an oven at something around 230* for at least as long as it was under vacuum.

It’s an hours (even possibly days) long process.

If I haven’t scared anyone away, I’ll tell you the stuff is incredibly tough, super reliable, and about the best product imaginable for making unturnable wood turnable. It will darken most woods. But you can tint the juice before vacuuming and you’ll get some interesting colors deep in the wood.

The juice that is drained and leftover from the vacuuming can be reused… that’s important to know. Don’t dump the excess… as long as it hasn’t been heated in an oven, it lasts virtually forever.

It’s a learning curve, it’s kind of pricy for bowl blanks, and requires effort and extra equipment but it WORKS like nothing else.

One more thing is the wood has to be totally dry, like 0% moisture dry. You'll never get that with air dried wood which means you have to bake it in an oven prior to stabilizing. Also, once activated, the shelf life is approximately 18 months. After that you run the risk of it not curing properly. There is lots of info and tutorials Cactus Juice on the Turntex woodworks website.