I've watched a good few videos where they've 'stabilised' the wood before turning and until now I have never completely understood why. Thanks for taking the time to explain in a no nonsense way the why and the how. I love your work man 5⭐'s
One of the great things about UA-cam is you find things you may have no interest in or have ever thought of but this was fascinating maybe one day. Thanks
Hi, great video well detailed. Do you leave the vacuum pump ON for the full duration when sacking all the air out of the wood? Or just like the pressure pot once it gets to the desired level switch off and leave as it is?
Thanks for watching David. You have to leave on the pump the entire time you are pulling air out. It says that specifically in the cactus juice instructions. 👍
just for some information water will boil in in good vacuum at around 80 deg. f. so i guess you could use your vacuum pot to draw off moisture without adding heat to your shop and maybe cheaper as well, especially when its 90 or 95 deg.in your shop.
One of the most right up to being an exciting serious video I have ever watch. I was amazed, I watch the whole video. It was really hard to tell which intented direction it was head.....very well executed.
This was very helpful. A quick overview and walkthrough of the process. I got my chamber this week and used this video to check my steps. Showing when to stop the vacuum was most helpful.
Hey jake Bob Wilson here. Wish I could send you a photo because after watching this video I purchased the exact items you have in your demonstration here for the set up needed to have everything you need to stabilize sweet sweet punky funky wood. Chamber , pump, resin,thermometers(2) and so on. I love your personality and your videos. Love how you are always ready for the ridiculous comments you guys get right after you post a new video. So any out there just can’t wait to tell you what you did wrong and point out anything that you do different then they do. I’m getting ready to start posting my videos very soon and that’s what I see will be the most challenging and that it to tune them out without feeling the need to respond. Any tip you can shoot my way would be much appreciated. Keep turning and burning!!!!!!Peace!!!!
Bob Wilson First things first.. I think I’m your first subscriber.. I’m super happy you like my videos.. I guess my best advise is to pay attention to the good comments... not the bad ones.. human nature makes us put more weight on 1 bad comment when there are 100 good comments... as long as people aren’t just out of line.. let it go.. if they are out of line, delete the comment and block them. Easy peasy.. 👍👍👊
Thanks for being my first subscriber Jake. It’s gonna be a few months before I go live I’m working with a creative design company which are currently working on my website atC account and all my social media‘s to have them have as much of the same look and feel to each other as possible that same company will be providing all the editing for my videos. I love that you throw out other peoples names that you get good information from and I subscribe to all the people that you mention like Casey and Zach. About the negative comments, you can just hear it in the tone of your voice that when you say something which you know or realize right afterwards that somebody is going to be all over that picking it apart you make some kind of comment or statement about how it’s done this way by a lot of other REALLY SMART PEOPLE. LOL I love that comment. And other times you just make a comment that basically lets them know ahead of time it’s not even worth it making negative comments or trying to contradict what your saying. You don’t know how much I appreciate The response and the advice you have given me. Thanks again. I just want to make some really cool stuff on my lathe and incorporate resins into it as much as possible and do it the most effective and efficient ways possible. You provide a lot of that for your subscribers. Thanks bob
Nice to meet you. I ordered my equipment, use, vacuum chamber Cactus Juice., and Vacuum generator. I am learning the stabilizing first then the Resin. Thank you for sharing your knowledge sp freely
Hi Jake I make pens and I have looked at stabilised wood blanks. Some of them are really lovely to look at, but the cost is way out of my reach. I could not sell a pen and cover all the material costs. So I buy acrylic blanks and turn wood offcuts into pens. I only charge for materials and some expendables. Craft markets charge way too much. I did enjoy watching the whole process. Thank you.
My husband and I are getting into woodwork and this was a fabulous instruction video thank you very much and yes I’ll probably be buying stuff from you thank you
Thanks for the vid man. I been needing this exact video. Im not familiar with this kind of stuff but i am familiar with negative pressure, that valve with the air diffuser is whats called an air bleed. When that valve is closed and the pot is under vacuum (Negative pressure) you know your sucking air from the pot and not the room with the pump. When the other valve (inlet valve) is closed (the pump can be off but doesnt have to be yet), and the air bleed is opened, the pot (under vacuum) essentially sucks air back in from the room to come back up to atmosphere (14.7 psi, 1013 mbar, or 760 mmHg its all the same at sea level) thanks for video man i definitely want to start doin this. Thank you for the links and all the help.
Thank you! I've been doing resin for a bit as jewelry and I have been looking to up my game. I'm good at it and have an abundance of nice wood and your videos are understandable and let me know the basics that I need for what I'd like to do. Taking this to the next level will be fun 😉
Izzy Queenbee I’m glad you enjoyed the video and got something out of it.. I try to explain things the best I can. Do you have an Instagram or something showing your work??
I know this video has been out for a while but thank you so much for making it. I have a couple of questions though. You leave the vacuum chamber and pump on over night. could you turn off the pump and the vacuum will still work? is it dangerous leaving the pump on? what I mean is would the pump burn out or the vacuum chamber go over its recommended pressure? I want to start stabilising some wood and have the equipment but the lack of knowledge. thanks in advance Jake. I hope you can help me. Wendy
Thanks Wendy, since this video, the longest I’ve had to leave the pump on is for about 5 hours.. I don’t think it’s dangerous leaving it on and it can’t over vacuum. It’s only going to go as high as the atmosphere will let it go. The cactus juice clearly states to leave the pump on during this process. The only safety concern is to make sure the vacuum chamber you use for this has a glass lid and not a plastic lid.. The plastic lids being under vacuum for this long and with the cactus juice in it.. they will crack, leak, and break. I hope this helps you out Jake
@@JakeThompson Thank you so much Jake. This has helped a great deal. I do have a glass lid vacuum chamber and a great pump so I now need to buy a mini oven lol Thanks again Wendy
I really like your videos. I'm just starting out. I have a question about the top to your vacuum chamber. I need a new top to mine the first time I used it the top cracked. Do you know where I could get a new one? Thanks
That’s an awesome tutorial! I have just started stabilizing wood for epoxy projects. I have seen some ppl put the pressure in the vessel and isolate it and turn off the pump. I tried it and it worked, but idk if it worked as good as leaving the pump running. Have you done a comparison in the two methods? This was a great video!
Thank you Heath.. I haven’t tried a comparison between pump off and pump on.. with the new formula, the bubbles are gone in an hour or so anyway.. the directions say to leave the pump on, so I do… The old formula took forever but now it’s better 👍
Jake you're on FIRE my friend, This video answered so many questions for me. Also, I have bookmarked your store on my computer for future purchased. Stay well my friend and thank you
Thanks for this video iv just subscribed to you from England. My husband uses a lathe but used wood that almost exploded when turning the other day, he is a fairly new turner and is just learning about wood moister fully dry. I now believe we should have gone down this road. Do you have to put the wood in a pot to use stabilising resin? More video’s of yours to watch
Great video. Very easy to follow and understand. If the wood is to be used for knife scales, is it best to cut down to size before stabilizing. Wasn't sure if the resin would dull a blade quicker.
Thank you Jason.. I’m not sure if will it dull the saw blades quicker or not. But I’m sure when you dry the wood before the vacuum chamber is used.. there will be some warping, so I would cut them to size after drying at least.. I like stabilizing big pieces and then cutting what I want out of them.. I love using the scrap pieces 👍👍
Depending on the thickness of the wood.. just set a timer for 5 hours on everything now… it’s ok to go longer but it’s not good to go not long enough. 👍
Great video and I have a couple of questions ! if your doing "knife Scales" or " 1911 grips" something that doesn't take any abuse like you mallet handles, why do people say it's better if you stabilize your knife scale or 1911 grip over using just plain wood that you seal with mineral oil, boiled lensed, checkering oil etc ? How do you gat a nice stain on the wood or control the color of stain if your stabilize it ?
Fantastic video. I learned a lot. I’m wondering if pressurizing it after vacuum and oven would help drive that resin deeper. Would this work for a redwood deck? Need larger equipment for sure, but you probably wouldn’t need to ever refinish it. I always worried about the wood warping in the vacuum. Any thoughts on this? Plane and tongue and groove the wood planks. Then place in vacuum with Cactus Juice. Then pressurize and heat. Would the boards be straight?
The drying before the vacuum chamber warps the wood.. also this works very well on punky wood.. the harder the wood, the less it accepts the cactus juice. Thank you for watching. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
So many great tips from the video AND the comments. I never thought about stabilizing wood before. I recently acquired a nice piece of wood from a tree that was hit by lightening. Its light and dark and all shades of beautiful browns in between. I planned to make knife handle blanks from it, but now I can do them correctly. I'm new at this but I know what I like and I like hanging out here with you Jake and your subscribers. Liked and Subbed.
Just a quick question about the baking .. I followed all the instructions I have seen online and provided with the Cactus Juice ..all worked well .. I got my oven to 200°F (or 1° or 2° ±) and put my work in ...I found it produced a lot of smoke, (as it drips into the drip tray).. none of the videos I have seen mention this .. am i doing something wrong? ... it disapated after a while but initially it was quite a lot.
@@JakeThompson Thanks .. I figured but I had not seen it in any of the videos that i have watched .. there was quite a bit seeping out .. time to get some good ventilation going .. thanks for the reply! Second question .. what do you use to "polish" once you have sanded etc?
@@JakeThompson The grain of the wood looks awesome due to the topography of the species. I seal the wood with a light coat of epoxy and I do get bubbles on the first coat. I have to reapply 3-4 more coats to reach a reasonable smooth finish. I think I need a thinner resin for this application.
Can you add some dye, mica powder, or other pigment to the cactus juice?? I think it would make for an interesting piece to put on a lathe, if it can be done.
True North The one that has the valve on the top will give you more capacity.. but when you are using cactus juice.. you need one with a glass top.. it will say not compatible with cactus juice.. but if you get the plastic top it will crack and leak with cactus juice.
I am planning on doing my first acrylic lamp “4X 4 “ X 8” with a piece of maple burl, my question do I need to do all of this for a small piece of burl. Thank you
Thanks a lot ! I’ve asked the very same question weeks ago on an other channel never received a reply, this was very fast. I already purchased a California 5gal Pressure pot but still going to purchase the vacuum chamber and compressor . I live down here in the tropics the temperature during the summer is very high I was thinking of placing these pieces of Burl in vacuum bags and leave them out under the sun for a few days. Save on electricity. Thanks again an Happy Holidays.
Outstanding video, well narrated. Question; Have you ever tried using just the vacuum pump to remove moisture from your project piece? A/C mechanics use a vacuum pump to remove all moisture from A/C line prior to filing with freon. The moisture literally boils off. The beauty of it is that once you achieve the proper level of vacuum, you don't have to have the pump running continuously. As long as the system is under vacuum, any water boils off. What do you think? Keep up the great work and stay safe.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video.. I have heard of using the vacuum chamber to remove moisture… just haven’t tried it.. I suppose it would be worth a try.
@@JakeThompson ;I have a cam pump and I did build a chamber. Unfortunately, After hurricane Michael destroyed my shop, I have had other matters to take care of.
There are better ovens to use like gravity ovens but they are very expensive.. drying wood at 200f isn’t hott enough to catch the wood on fire.. but I do watch it when I’m cooking it on the last step when the wood is full of cactus juice.. Thanks for watching and I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Hey Brother thanks for your videos they great. ? Do you need to stabilize something like oak from a box store or just wood was cut and dried? Hope you can help no one is clear about that. Keep up the good work Brother!!!
Hey Noel.. Stabilizing hardwoods doesn’t do much in my opinion.. the wood that needs stabilized is the kind of wood I used in this video. Mostly burls or punky wood that will break apart easily..
Hi Jake thanks for the video mate. Quick question. You mentioned that your pump was overpowered. Im looking at a unit that has a 3cfm pump with it. Is that strong enough? What one did you use and which one did you mean when you said you should have got the cheaper one? Thanks for your time mate appreciate it :)
Hello, I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I put links in the description to the pump I used and a cheaper pump that will also work.. all of the pumps will work.. the more powerful pumps will get up to full vacuum faster is all. 👍👍
Not my hobby but wow, great info. I just scored a10 gallon HVLP pressure tank today for free. It's pressure gauge goes up to 12 bars..... 185ish lbs. I'm looking for ways to use it. Great info and demonstration of the process. 👍
Gene Callahan I’m sure you could create a vacuum like that but I’m not sure if it would create enough vacuum to perform this task.. but I have never tried it so I really don’t know.
You can seal the wood with epoxy, I’ve done a burl slab and it soaked in several coats of epoxy before it settled on the surface.. I’m not sure if that’s stabilizing the wood but if you are doing a River table or something like that.. you can just coat the wood to seal in the moisture and air so the epoxy doesn’t react with it.
@@JakeThompson thanks so much for the response! I make river tables but I usually finish with Rubio so you can still feel the wood grain. I’m not the biggest fan of the plastic-y feel of an epoxy top coat. If I mix epoxy with a splash of acetone do you think that would work to thin it out so it absorbs more, and just keep laying on coats until it stops soaking in as much?
@@JakeThompson I’m starting of with just making small resin cubes at the moment until I get a handle on that... then going to start mixing resin and burls :)
Jake, you say you leave to pump running the whole time, but I tried shutting it and I still get bubbles, sometimes I turn it back on if I lose any vacuum. Do you find you need to add oil to the pump? I get some misting and find I have to add oil occasionally. Great info, thx for the videos. Tony
I change the oil after every long use.. I leave it on the entire time.. until bubbles are barely coming out.. the instructions for cactus juice specifically say to leave it on the entire time.. Thanks for watching.. I appreciate it.
Very good video. Lots of good info. I’ve never tried this. How do you know when it’s done in the oven? If you mentioned it, I must have missed it. I know you said it was in for four hours, but I didn’t hear how you knew it was done. Thanks for sharing.
ARDC Guru I keep the pump running the entire time.. about 12 hours is the most I have ran it after this video.. The instructions state to keep the pump running.
Possible video content idea: What are good sources for wood burl pieces? Especially focus on covering the full array starting with sources for those starting out, up through the mid- and then finally up to the high end sources. Many thanks!
Good precise video. I've been thinking of stabilizing some pen blanks and small burl pieces for pendants for my granddaughters. I just wonder what the return on investment is comparing what all you spent on equipment, Cactus Juice AND time with the cost of just buying a pre-stablized burl? I'm guessing if this is a good portion of your income and you do a lot of stabilizing for projects you're selling it might be cost effective. For a hobbyist like me it might not make sense. You video answered all my questions about the process.
Awesome!! I’m glad I could help you out.. You are probably right.. it might be more cost effective to buy stabilized wood if you only need it every now and then.
Jake, you have opened up a brand new window for me. I really enjoyed your video/presentation. It was clear and organized. Good shots and microphone with the video. I do have a question for you or anybody else you may recommend to to answer. I came across ( very lucky) of 3 slabs of 5in thick x 28 in wide x 36-40inches of side cut of spalded maple from a city cut tree. The tree was approximately 80 years old. Two of the slaves have on the tall ends about 5 to 6 “ of punky wood, not falling apart, still holding but could break off if attempting to sand vigorously. Is there a possibility to stabilize that punky side in the present size ? I’d hate to cut,it it’s so beautiful. Can you help me with your wisdom?
I’m not sure what to do on huge pieces.. I know there are wood stabilizers or some kind resins that will soak in... you might want to search on here a bit more for something like that.. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.. it is a pretty fun process. 👍👊
Frequently asked questions about wood stabilizing ua-cam.com/video/M3BJyyf0BMY/v-deo.html
I've watched a good few videos where they've 'stabilised' the wood before turning and until now I have never completely understood why. Thanks for taking the time to explain in a no nonsense way the why and the how. I love your work man 5⭐'s
Gordon Chapman Thank you very much Gordon. Glad you got something out of it., this is a pretty fun process.. jump right in.. 👍👍👊
👊
One of the great things about UA-cam is you find things you may have no interest in or have ever thought of but this was fascinating maybe one day. Thanks
Awesome!! 👍👍
Hi, great video well detailed. Do you leave the vacuum pump ON for the full duration when sacking all the air out of the wood? Or just like the pressure pot once it gets to the desired level switch off and leave as it is?
Thanks for watching David. You have to leave on the pump the entire time you are pulling air out. It says that specifically in the cactus juice instructions. 👍
@@JakeThompson Thanks Jake really appreciate your reply 😀
just for some information water will boil in in good vacuum at around 80 deg. f. so i guess you could use your vacuum pot to draw off moisture without adding heat to your shop and maybe cheaper as well, especially when its 90 or 95 deg.in your shop.
Ive watched this ten times now. Thanks for being so detailed with your explanations. Very helpful.
Very welcome Zac
One of the most right up to being an exciting serious video I have ever watch. I was amazed, I watch the whole video. It was really hard to tell which intented direction it was head.....very well executed.
Thank you very much.. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. 👍👍
This was very helpful. A quick overview and walkthrough of the process. I got my chamber this week and used this video to check my steps. Showing when to stop the vacuum was most helpful.
Awesome.. I’m glad I could help you out.. 👍👍
Hey jake Bob Wilson here. Wish I could send you a photo because after watching this video I purchased the exact items you have in your demonstration here for the set up needed to have everything you need to stabilize sweet sweet punky funky wood. Chamber
, pump, resin,thermometers(2) and so on. I love your personality and your videos. Love how you are always ready for the ridiculous comments you guys get right after you post a new video. So any out there just can’t wait to tell you what you did wrong and point out anything that you do different then they do. I’m getting ready to start posting my videos very soon and that’s what I see will be the most challenging and that it to tune them out without feeling the need to respond. Any tip you can shoot my way would be much appreciated. Keep turning and burning!!!!!!Peace!!!!
Bob Wilson First things first.. I think I’m your first subscriber.. I’m super happy you like my videos.. I guess my best advise is to pay attention to the good comments... not the bad ones.. human nature makes us put more weight on 1 bad comment when there are 100 good comments... as long as people aren’t just out of line.. let it go.. if they are out of line, delete the comment and block them. Easy peasy.. 👍👍👊
Thanks for being my first subscriber Jake. It’s gonna be a few months before I go live I’m working with a creative design company which are currently working on my website atC account and all my social media‘s to have them have as much of the same look and feel to each other as possible that same company will be providing all the editing for my videos. I love that you throw out other peoples names that you get good information from and I subscribe to all the people that you mention like Casey and Zach. About the negative comments, you can just hear it in the tone of your voice that when you say something which you know or realize right afterwards that somebody is going to be all over that picking it apart you make some kind of comment or statement about how it’s done this way by a lot of other REALLY SMART PEOPLE. LOL I love that comment. And other times you just make a comment that basically lets them know ahead of time it’s not even worth it making negative comments or trying to contradict what your saying. You don’t know how much I appreciate The response and the advice you have given me. Thanks again. I just want to make some really cool stuff on my lathe and incorporate resins into it as much as possible and do it the most effective and efficient ways possible. You provide a lot of that for your subscribers. Thanks bob
Nice to meet you. I ordered my equipment, use, vacuum chamber Cactus Juice., and Vacuum generator. I am learning the stabilizing first then the Resin. Thank you for sharing your knowledge sp freely
Absolutely.. my pleasure!! 👍👍
Hi Jake I make pens and I have looked at stabilised wood blanks. Some of them are really lovely to look at, but the cost is way out of my reach. I could not sell a pen and cover all the material costs. So I buy acrylic blanks and turn wood offcuts into pens. I only charge for materials and some expendables. Craft markets charge way too much. I did enjoy watching the whole process. Thank you.
@@alanhill769 awesome.. Thanks 👍👍😁
Future knifemaker here, this video helped me so much setting up everything ! Thank you, i have a lot of scale to mess with now !
Spc Madoule Super cool, glad I could help!!
My husband and I are getting into woodwork and this was a fabulous instruction video thank you very much and yes I’ll probably be buying stuff from you thank you
Thank you for watching Brenda.. and welcome aboard.. I put out information like this all the time.. plenty more to come.
I'm looking to start stabilizing my own wood for knife scales. Good, information in the video.
Thank you.. glad I could help out. 👍👍
You should have 1 million subscribers by now. Great work and thanks for the videos.
Thanks Steve.. That would be cool 😎 Very welcome. 👍👍
Thanks for sharing. I need to do that to some copilot.
👍👍
A great explanation of why some woods need to be stabilised. Well done.
Dave Clarke Thank you Dave!! Appreciate it!! 👍
Thanks for the vid man. I been needing this exact video. Im not familiar with this kind of stuff but i am familiar with negative pressure, that valve with the air diffuser is whats called an air bleed. When that valve is closed and the pot is under vacuum (Negative pressure) you know your sucking air from the pot and not the room with the pump. When the other valve (inlet valve) is closed (the pump can be off but doesnt have to be yet), and the air bleed is opened, the pot (under vacuum) essentially sucks air back in from the room to come back up to atmosphere (14.7 psi, 1013 mbar, or 760 mmHg its all the same at sea level) thanks for video man i definitely want to start doin this. Thank you for the links and all the help.
Mull Miller Awesome!!! This is a fun process.. and the end result is pretty cool!!
Hey man, also the link for the vacuum pot says that the chambers are not compatible with cactus juice? But i guess they are??
Mull Miller You are correct... the ones with a glass top will work.. plastic tops will crack.
Surprising results. Excellent. Thank-you.
Thank you!! 👍👍
Good video...now I can stabilize the spalted wood for my knife handles
Awesome.. have fun 🦾🦾
Great video. So helpful, especially since I prefer to use wood for my knife handles. Stabilizing the wood first will really add value to my work.
Awesome!! I’m glad I could help you out.. I appreciate you watching my videos. 😄👊👍
Thank you! I've been doing resin for a bit as jewelry and I have been looking to up my game. I'm good at it and have an abundance of nice wood and your videos are understandable and let me know the basics that I need for what I'd like to do. Taking this to the next level will be fun 😉
Izzy Queenbee I’m glad you enjoyed the video and got something out of it.. I try to explain things the best I can. Do you have an Instagram or something showing your work??
I like that there is so little waste with the Cactus Juice. Guess I'll have to try it out!
Awesome Bryan.. Thank you for watching 👍
Thank you for sharing! I had no idea what stabilizing wood meant. This was a big help!
Thank you.. I’m glad I could help out. 👍👍
Amazing! Cant wait to stabilize mine too
👍👍👍
I know this video has been out for a while but thank you so much for making it. I have a couple of questions though. You leave the vacuum chamber and pump on over night. could you turn off the pump and the vacuum will still work? is it dangerous leaving the pump on? what I mean is would the pump burn out or the vacuum chamber go over its recommended pressure? I want to start stabilising some wood and have the equipment but the lack of knowledge. thanks in advance Jake. I hope you can help me. Wendy
Thanks Wendy, since this video, the longest I’ve had to leave the pump on is for about 5 hours.. I don’t think it’s dangerous leaving it on and it can’t over vacuum. It’s only going to go as high as the atmosphere will let it go. The cactus juice clearly states to leave the pump on during this process. The only safety concern is to make sure the vacuum chamber you use for this has a glass lid and not a plastic lid.. The plastic lids being under vacuum for this long and with the cactus juice in it.. they will crack, leak, and break. I hope this helps you out
Jake
@@JakeThompson Thank you so much Jake. This has helped a great deal. I do have a glass lid vacuum chamber and a great pump so I now need to buy a mini oven lol Thanks again Wendy
Jake,
Excellent video. Thanks for the reason for and explaining wood stabilizing.
Very welcome Steve.. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Getting close to actually doing some stabilizing... Had to come back and sharpen up a bit! Great explanation like always.
Thanks Greg.. I appreciate ya 👍👍
Very good information Jake, Thanks for all of the videos angles
Very welcome!
Subscribed. just bought the same 5 gallon chamber and a 5 gallon pressure pot so I can start doing hybrid hollow forms.
Richard Ollis Thank you for watching, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see what you do!
@@JakeThompson I am curious if you create the hollow form first prior to stabilizing.
Dean Yonkovich you can do that if the burl is strong enough to stay together on the lathe.
I really like your videos. I'm just starting out. I have a question about the top to your vacuum chamber. I need a new top to mine the first time I used it the top cracked. Do you know where I could get a new one? Thanks
Something new every day. I been learning with this channels a lot. Thanks
Enrique Ramírez Thank you very much.. glad you enjoy!! 👍👍👊
Really interesting. I didn't know I could do that.
Thank you.. it’s a pretty cool process 👍👍
That’s an awesome tutorial! I have just started stabilizing wood for epoxy projects. I have seen some ppl put the pressure in the vessel and isolate it and turn off the pump. I tried it and it worked, but idk if it worked as good as leaving the pump running. Have you done a comparison in the two methods? This was a great video!
Thank you Heath.. I haven’t tried a comparison between pump off and pump on.. with the new formula, the bubbles are gone in an hour or so anyway.. the directions say to leave the pump on, so I do… The old formula took forever but now it’s better 👍
Jake you're on FIRE my friend, This video answered so many questions for me. Also, I have bookmarked your store on my computer for future purchased. Stay well my friend and thank you
Protect your DIGITS Creations Awesome!!! I’m glad I can help out!!! And thank you for helping me out!!!👍👍👊👊
I will be using your Amazon store as much as possible my friend.
Protect your DIGITS Creations Thank you. Thank you!!!
Thanks for this video iv just subscribed to you from England. My husband uses a lathe but used wood that almost exploded when turning the other day, he is a fairly new turner and is just learning about wood moister fully dry. I now believe we should have gone down this road. Do you have to put the wood in a pot to use stabilising resin? More video’s of yours to watch
Thank you for the sub.. without using a vacuum chamber the stabilizing resin will only soak in so far.. I’ve only ever done it the complete way..
Great video. Very easy to follow and understand. If the wood is to be used for knife scales, is it best to cut down to size before stabilizing. Wasn't sure if the resin would dull a blade quicker.
Thank you Jason.. I’m not sure if will it dull the saw blades quicker or not. But I’m sure when you dry the wood before the vacuum chamber is used.. there will be some warping, so I would cut them to size after drying at least.. I like stabilizing big pieces and then cutting what I want out of them.. I love using the scrap pieces 👍👍
So was it 4hrs total time to bake the treated wood or did you have to do it longer?
Depending on the thickness of the wood.. just set a timer for 5 hours on everything now… it’s ok to go longer but it’s not good to go not long enough. 👍
Great video and I have a couple of questions ! if your doing "knife Scales" or " 1911 grips" something that doesn't take any abuse like you mallet handles, why do people say it's better if you stabilize your knife scale or 1911 grip over using just plain wood that you seal with mineral oil, boiled lensed, checkering oil etc ? How do you gat a nice stain on the wood or control the color of stain if your stabilize it ?
It’s mostly to eliminate wood movement in that case, not for abuse. I’m glad you enjoyed the video
great video jake thank you im into knife making where can i buy un stabilized burls for a good price can you post a link maybe thanks again Mark😀👍
I’m glad you enjoyed the video .. I get my burls at worldwide burl on Instagram
Thanks for making this video! I will definitely use this video as a reference for a future project.
Awesome.. glad I could help out.
Another great informative video for Us newbs.... do you have a video of that piece that you have worked
Peter V I’m glad you enjoy the videos.. here’s what I did with the piece I stabilized! ua-cam.com/video/QCQnWCowSWM/v-deo.html
Fantastic video. I learned a lot. I’m wondering if pressurizing it after vacuum and oven would help drive that resin deeper.
Would this work for a redwood deck? Need larger equipment for sure, but you probably wouldn’t need to ever refinish it.
I always worried about the wood warping in the vacuum. Any thoughts on this?
Plane and tongue and groove the wood planks. Then place in vacuum with Cactus Juice. Then pressurize and heat. Would the boards be straight?
The drying before the vacuum chamber warps the wood.. also this works very well on punky wood.. the harder the wood, the less it accepts the cactus juice. Thank you for watching. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
Great information, thank you!!!
Very welcome Craig 👍
So many great tips from the video AND the comments. I never thought about stabilizing wood before. I recently acquired a nice piece of wood from a tree that was hit by lightening. Its light and dark and all shades of beautiful browns in between. I planned to make knife handle blanks from it, but now I can do them correctly. I'm new at this but I know what I like and I like hanging out here with you Jake and your subscribers. Liked and Subbed.
MustangWriter Awesome!!! Welcome aboard.. there’s tons to be learned just in the comments.. I’m glad you enjoy... plenty more to come.. 👍👍
Just a quick question about the baking .. I followed all the instructions I have seen online and provided with the Cactus Juice ..all worked well .. I got my oven to 200°F (or 1° or 2° ±) and put my work in ...I found it produced a lot of smoke, (as it drips into the drip tray).. none of the videos I have seen mention this .. am i doing something wrong? ... it disapated after a while but initially it was quite a lot.
The smoke is just the steam coming off the wood while some cactus juice seeps out into the drip tray. It’s normal
@@JakeThompson Thanks .. I figured but I had not seen it in any of the videos that i have watched .. there was quite a bit seeping out .. time to get some good ventilation going .. thanks for the reply! Second question .. what do you use to "polish" once you have sanded etc?
@@roybruce7997 here ya go ua-cam.com/video/Y9MBEA0Pgyo/v-deo.html
Im coating cedar mugs. Suppose stabilizing will help with the finish?
It will help not get air bubbles.. do the cedar cups not finish well??
@@JakeThompson The grain of the wood looks awesome due to the topography of the species. I seal the wood with a light coat of epoxy and I do get bubbles on the first coat. I have to reapply 3-4 more coats to reach a reasonable smooth finish. I think I need a thinner resin for this application.
Great Video! Thanks for taking us step by step!
Any time! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Can you add some dye, mica powder, or other pigment to the cactus juice?? I think it would make for an interesting piece to put on a lathe, if it can be done.
It can be done. Cactus juice makes dyes to put in the cactus juice to dye stabilize
@@JakeThompson Thank you!!!!!
Excellent video. Some vacuum chambers have the valve on the side, and some on top. Is there any advantage to one over the other?
True North The one that has the valve on the top will give you more capacity.. but when you are using cactus juice.. you need one with a glass top.. it will say not compatible with cactus juice.. but if you get the plastic top it will crack and leak with cactus juice.
I am planning on doing my first acrylic lamp “4X 4 “ X 8” with a piece of maple burl, my question do I need to do all of this for a small piece of burl. Thank you
You can coat the burl with resin to seal it instead
Thanks a lot ! I’ve asked the very same question weeks ago on an other channel never received a reply, this was very fast. I already purchased a California 5gal Pressure pot but still going to purchase the vacuum chamber and compressor . I live down here in the tropics the temperature during the summer is very high I was thinking of placing these pieces of Burl in vacuum bags and leave them out under the sun for a few days. Save on electricity. Thanks again an Happy Holidays.
Hello Jake, is it possible to change color of the cactus juice? Let say..blue adding pigment maybe?
Thank you Robert… you can dye stabilize wood.. I haven’t done it but a quick search on here will get you headed in the right direction 👍
Outstanding video, well narrated. Question; Have you ever tried using just the vacuum pump to remove moisture from your project piece? A/C mechanics use a vacuum pump to remove all moisture from A/C line prior to filing with freon. The moisture literally boils off. The beauty of it is that once you achieve the proper level of vacuum, you don't have to have the pump running continuously. As long as the system is under vacuum, any water boils off. What do you think? Keep up the great work and stay safe.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video.. I have heard of using the vacuum chamber to remove moisture… just haven’t tried it.. I suppose it would be worth a try.
@@JakeThompson ;I have a cam pump and I did build a chamber. Unfortunately, After hurricane Michael destroyed my shop, I have had other matters to take care of.
@@wrongfullyaccused7139 👀👀
Man that was great!! Learned a lot!!
Thank you
Dan
Thanks for watching Dan
I’m just getting to it but you really helped me in my decisions!
Just trying to learn here. Is it really safe to leave a toaster oven on like this for 24 hours. Thanks for the great videos and the teaching.
There are better ovens to use like gravity ovens but they are very expensive.. drying wood at 200f isn’t hott enough to catch the wood on fire.. but I do watch it when I’m cooking it on the last step when the wood is full of cactus juice.. Thanks for watching and I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Hey Brother thanks for your videos they great. ? Do you need to stabilize something like oak from a box store or just wood was cut and dried? Hope you can help no one is clear about that. Keep up the good work Brother!!!
Hey Noel.. Stabilizing hardwoods doesn’t do much in my opinion.. the wood that needs stabilized is the kind of wood I used in this video. Mostly burls or punky wood that will break apart easily..
Hello, very good explanation. Is there an alternative to Cactus juice? what type of resin is it? acrylic? Thanks a lot
Raúl Montes Thank you.. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I think total boat has a penetrating resin also.. I’ve never used it. Only cactus juice
@@JakeThompson thanks. I try. Cj is not available in my country.
would you need epoxy resin for burls with big voids?
Hello Phillip, yes, for big voids you need epoxy to fill it.. Cactus juice will impregnate the wood that is there but not fill big voids.
@@JakeThompson follow-up question, would it be a good idea to stabilize the burls first with cactus juice then fill with epoxy?
@@phillip9451 yes it would be ideal to stabilize first.
Super information. Where did you get the 5 gallon bucket with measurements on it?
Cheryl Conoly Thank you.. I think I bought the bucket at Lowe’s. 👍👍
Great info for sure. Good video.
Thank you Chris.. 👍👍👊
Excellent video instruction. Thank you.
Don Ghidoni Very welcome! 👍
Hi Jake thanks for the video mate. Quick question. You mentioned that your pump was overpowered. Im looking at a unit that has a 3cfm pump with it. Is that strong enough? What one did you use and which one did you mean when you said you should have got the cheaper one? Thanks for your time mate appreciate it :)
Hello, I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I put links in the description to the pump I used and a cheaper pump that will also work.. all of the pumps will work.. the more powerful pumps will get up to full vacuum faster is all. 👍👍
@@JakeThompson awesome thanks for replying! And ... maybe replace that Melbourne Storm flag with a Parramatta Eels flag ;)
Great video Jake. I’m sure I’ll be looking at this again when I start turning wood that needs to be stabilized. Thanks.
WB Fine Woodworking Very Welcome.. I’m glad you enjoyed it!!👍👍👊👊
Thanks for the video! I'm curious would it hurt to leave it under vacuum overnight? Thanks
It won’t hurt to leave it overnight. Just more electricity
@@JakeThompson if you just dont vent it off it should hold vacuum. Not sure if it needs to be vented though
Not my hobby but wow, great info. I just scored a10 gallon HVLP pressure tank today for free. It's pressure gauge goes up to 12 bars..... 185ish lbs.
I'm looking for ways to use it.
Great info and demonstration of the process. 👍
Thank you Randy 👍👍
What size vacuum pot would you recommend?
I like the 5 gallon one I have.. I do bigger sessions at one time so the smaller ones don’t work for me.
I hear air is the release valve open w cactus juice curing ( open a tiny bit?) Thank you
This video will explain it pretty well.. ua-cam.com/video/M3BJyyf0BMY/v-deo.htmlsi=4tPxdpsod1qGBNDB
Cool that you can re-use that leftover stabilizer. Great video.
Mark Pinther Thanks a lot Mark!! Glad you enjoyed it!!
can stabilize driftwood.(fresh and saltwater) this way to use for pen turning blanks?
After it’s dried.. yes it can be. 👍
Can the same method be used with vacume bags for larger pieces?
I haven’t done it and I haven’t seen it done, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done..
Very good tutorial.......doesn’t seem near as scary now 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
Al Schulze - WoodworX Awww Al!! Thanks Brother!! 👍👍👍😄
How do you do wood that is say 6 x3 feet then because I and looking at doing a epoxy river table ?
I would just coat that wood with resin to seal it
Thanks for your info all taken in I'm in Australia
Telstra Orana Mall Thanks Mate! Glad I could help out!!
Awesome that you made this video! Great work Jake!!
ROCK N WOODWORKS Thanks Brother!! It’s pretty fun to do!
Wow I learned quite a bit. Thank you for sharing with us.
Ron Miller Very welcome!! Glad you liked it!
Vacuum chamber or pressure pot, which is better?
They both have different functions for different processes.
Could you use your compressor and a venturi to create a vacuum
Gene Callahan I’m sure you could create a vacuum like that but I’m not sure if it would create enough vacuum to perform this task.. but I have never tried it so I really don’t know.
Jake! I know I'm late to this video, but is there any way to do this with a large slab of wood?
You can seal the wood with epoxy, I’ve done a burl slab and it soaked in several coats of epoxy before it settled on the surface.. I’m not sure if that’s stabilizing the wood but if you are doing a River table or something like that.. you can just coat the wood to seal in the moisture and air so the epoxy doesn’t react with it.
@@JakeThompson thanks so much for the response! I make river tables but I usually finish with Rubio so you can still feel the wood grain. I’m not the biggest fan of the plastic-y feel of an epoxy top coat. If I mix epoxy with a splash of acetone do you think that would work to thin it out so it absorbs more, and just keep laying on coats until it stops soaking in as much?
I am making knife scales is it always best to stabilise the wood? :)
If you are using super hard wood.. stabilizing won’t do very much.. but if you are using burls or less dense wood.. stabilizing is needed
@@JakeThompson I’m starting of with just making small resin cubes at the moment until I get a handle on that... then going to start mixing resin and burls :)
Jake, you say you leave to pump running the whole time, but I tried shutting it and I still get bubbles, sometimes I turn it back on if I lose any vacuum. Do you find you need to add oil to the pump? I get some misting and find I have to add oil occasionally. Great info, thx for the videos. Tony
I change the oil after every long use.. I leave it on the entire time.. until bubbles are barely coming out.. the instructions for cactus juice specifically say to leave it on the entire time.. Thanks for watching.. I appreciate it.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank You...
I have wondered about this for a very long time..
Thank you for posting this video...
VMK The Forest Hermit Very welcome.. it’s pretty easy when you have the steps down.. 👍👍👍👊
Good video Jake.
Daniel Parker Thank you Daniel.. I’m glad you enjoyed it!! 👍👍👊
It seems that you can’t buy denatured alcohol here any more, what can you use instead?
Thank you so much for information
wood edem Very welcome!! 👍👍
Can you reuse the used cactus juice
You already answered it thank you so much
😀😀👍👍
Man, what a fantastic and informative video. I learned s much.
Thank you.
Subscribed!!!
Ben Hayat Awesome.. I’m glad you enjoyed it.. welcome to the channel. 👍👍👊
great tutorial jake well done.
EML Media Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
I would have liked to see what you did with the piece of wood to decide if the trouble was worth it.
Ta-Da ua-cam.com/video/QCQnWCowSWM/v-deo.htmlsi=U6PFs4_hlyexmGgN
@@JakeThompson wow! Very nice.
Very good video. Lots of good info. I’ve never tried this. How do you know when it’s done in the oven? If you mentioned it, I must have missed it. I know you said it was in for four hours, but I didn’t hear how you knew it was done. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for watching.. the wood will look dry when it’s done.. just know that you can’t overcook it.. so if you are unsure, just go a bit longer
Do you turn the vacuum pump off and close the valve when you reach maximum vacuum or do you keep the pump running for the full 24 hours?
ARDC Guru I keep the pump running the entire time.. about 12 hours is the most I have ran it after this video.. The instructions state to keep the pump running.
Jake Thompson thank you
Won’t holding wood in a vacuum remove the moisture as well?
I have heard of people drying the wood in a vacuum chamber, but I’ve only heard of it. Not seen it or tried it.
Possible video content idea: What are good sources for wood burl pieces? Especially focus on covering the full array starting with sources for those starting out, up through the mid- and then finally up to the high end sources. Many thanks!
I have 1 source right now.. Worldwide burl on Instagram
@@JakeThompson Thank you, good sir.
Can veneer be made from the stabilized wood?
That’s a great question and I can’t think of a reason why it can’t be done..
Do you ALWAYS put wood in the toaster oven to dry before you put it in the cactus juice?
Yes I always make sure it’s dry
How is the smell when you hardening the cactus juice
smorris227 There is a smell.. it’s not horrible, but I won’t do it in the house.
@@JakeThompson that sucks only place I have is my bedroom 😭
smorris227 Cook it outside.. lol
@@JakeThompson how is the smell when you vacuum the wood same as hardening
smorris227 not bad at all.. nothing like cooking it.
Good precise video. I've been thinking of stabilizing some pen blanks and small burl pieces for pendants for my granddaughters. I just wonder what the return on investment is comparing what all you spent on equipment, Cactus Juice AND time with the cost of just buying a pre-stablized burl? I'm guessing if this is a good portion of your income and you do a lot of stabilizing for projects you're selling it might be cost effective. For a hobbyist like me it might not make sense. You video answered all my questions about the process.
Awesome!! I’m glad I could help you out.. You are probably right.. it might be more cost effective to buy stabilized wood if you only need it every now and then.
Jake, you have opened up a brand new window for me. I really enjoyed your video/presentation. It was clear and organized. Good shots and microphone with the video. I do have a question for you or anybody else you may recommend to to answer. I came across ( very lucky) of 3 slabs of 5in thick x 28 in wide x 36-40inches of side cut of spalded maple from a city cut tree. The tree was approximately 80 years old. Two of the slaves have on the tall ends about 5 to 6 “ of punky wood, not falling apart, still holding but could break off if attempting to sand vigorously. Is there a possibility to stabilize that punky side in the present size ? I’d hate to cut,it it’s so beautiful. Can you help me with your wisdom?
I’m not sure what to do on huge pieces.. I know there are wood stabilizers or some kind resins that will soak in... you might want to search on here a bit more for something like that.. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.. it is a pretty fun process. 👍👊
Great video, Jake! Something to think about before chucking up burl wood in the lathe. Thanks!
Downeast Thunder Creations Very Welcome!! Thank you for checking it out!👍👊
Just starting, great vidio
Thank you Carl 💪💪
Very informative!! Thank you. 😁👊
Very Welcome!👍👍