Anyone home stabilize their scales?

[Fireman]

I found some good maple to try to stabilize for mule scales. Should I just do donate money to charity and whack my thumb with a hammer then buy stabilized wood and be ahead of the game or try it at home?

What I know…
Very little
you need a vacuum or a means of hand pumping the vacuum, a pickle jar or a fancy vacuum chamber, vacuum lines and fittings, wood stabilizer, a means of heating the soaked wood to cure the resin and too much time on your hands. Does this sound right?

I could also send the wood to someone to get it done.

Who does their own that can talk sense into me?

[standy99]

Just go by the Janka hardness and pick something over 2000

[TomAiello]

Are you going to stabilize more than one set?

If you want to continue stabilizing (and be able to do specific colors of dye) then it's worth buying the equipment. If not, then just go with a service (or better, just buy stabilized scales to begin with).

My initial learning curve was about a month and maybe $250 worth of equipment. I think it can be done cheaper (or more expensive) but I'd guess that was about average.

So, basically, how interested are you in the stabilizing itself? If it doesn't catch your interest, just skip it and buy stabilized scales. If it does, then go for it.

I bought a couple of cheaper chambers, but eventually traded up to the TurnTex stuff (which has been easier to use). If I had it to do over again, I'd just suck it up and buy the (slightly more expensive) Turntex equipment to begin with.

There is a good set of instructions and resources on the TurnTex web site: https://www.turntex.com/help-center/cac ... -resources

[RustyIron]

Who does their own that can talk sense into me?

Luckily you came to the right place. I'm the Prince of Pointless Projects, and have vast experience talking sense into people.

You can BUY stabilized wood, or you can PAY someone to stabilize your samples. But those paths will never make you happy. There will always be that little voice urging you to find out for yourself. And the next time you come across some interesting wood, you'll think to yourself, "Gee, if I had only acquired the tools back then, I could stabilize this wood myself today."

Be sure to post pictures of your project as it progresses.

[TomAiello]

I know lots of people have used pickle jars successfully, but I had a glass plate (it was over the top of a metal chamber) implode during vacuum, so I stopped using glass chambers.

What are you looking to do? Do you want clear? Or are you adding dye? For me, the most 'fun' part has been mixing various colors (I do it with my kids, who are way more artistic than I am) to get cool patterns. I really love the psychedelic looking dyed burls.

Is your maple a burl?


Be careful. There's a big rabbit hole here. I have multiple spreadsheets tracking vacuum and drying times, interaction of dyes, and various wood species. And now I want to try a pressure pot in combination with vacuum...

[Bolster]

Should I just do donate money to charity and whack my thumb with a hammer then buy stabilized wood and be ahead of the game?

LOL, well put. I've been wondering the same. On this one, I think I'll go the charity-thumb-whack route for as long as I can hold out. I already have several rabbit holes I'm into...but it's comforting to know that Tom and Rusty are into it.

[TomAiello]

If you're just going to buy stabilized scales, there are some amazing artistic ones on Etsy. K&G does a really good job with the stabilization (I think they are the only scales I've bought that I'm unable to match the resin uptake on--I think it might have to do with pressure after vacuum). If you're looking for heirloom quality scales, I'd look at K&G for their durability. Otherwise, I've gotten some really beautiful pieces from Etsy sellers. But be sure to check the reviews--I once bought some that were basically dyed on the outside, with nothing penetrating the surface (that seller has since disappeared).

As Standy said, if you don't want to go stabilized, there are some really good options in woods that don't require stabilization (my favorite is desert Ironwood, but I've also had good experiences with African Blackwood, and mixed experiences with Ebony).

[Fireman]

I lucked out finding about 6 feet worth of material or 6 handles worth with figure resembling quilted maple for the cost of regular maple only paying $20 so no huge investment at this point. I also have a sentimental timber of about 70 lbs of Mexican royal ebony aka catalox that has a good story to it that I was thinking on making into a matched pair of rifle stocks with some extra for things like knife scales but that needs no stabilizing but my true love is desert ironwood. I think I should buy some knife kits to practice on since mules are pricey and can be difficult to source before I reach beyond my skills and have a sub par handle. If I make the scale material ready, then I can have more talented people do the hard part :D I think I will enjoy making handles but the time to get good is not there yet. I like deep reds and blues for knife handles and maybe green for my Irish heritage. I find natural maple just too light for my tastes. I should probably just send it to someone to stabilize before I ruin it lol :eek:

[TomAiello]

If it was cheap, there is no reason not to practice with it.

I don't think the Katalox needs to be stabilized.

[WilliamMunny]

I found some good maple to try to stabilize for mule scales. Should I just do donate money to charity and whack my thumb with a hammer then buy stabilized wood and be ahead of the game or try it at home?

What I know…
Very little
you need a vacuum or a means of hand pumping the vacuum, a pickle jar or a fancy vacuum chamber, vacuum lines and fittings, wood stabilizer, a means of heating the soaked wood to cure the resin and too much time on your hands. Does this sound right?

I could also send the wood to someone to get it done.

Who does their own that can talk sense into me?

I am doing the same thing but I am sending my scales off to be stabilized. I like to use my own wood because it can have meaning where and how you got it. Picture is some cherry wood from the in-laws house. Started with rough wood, air dried for a year, then cut into scale blanks. Just waiting for them to dry out a bit more before I get them stabilized.

[Bolster]

...my favorite is desert Ironwood...

Ironwood: "...its heartwood is rich in toxic chemicals..." I guess it's not for eating!

[BearShark44]

New to knife handles, but caught the bug with the first mule handle thread on the forum.
I've read about stabilized wood online, but not used it in any home projects.
One of the posts above said "IF you're going to use it..."
So is using stabilized wood mandatory vs. just using a high hard wood (janka 2k+) if you take care of the knife?
Thanks for your advice.

[standy99]

New to knife handles, but caught the bug with the first mule handle thread on the forum.
I've read about stabilized wood online, but not used it in any home projects.
One of the posts above said "IF you're going to use it..."
So is using stabilized wood mandatory vs. just using a high hard wood (janka 2k+) if you take care of the knife?
Thanks for your advice.

Most Australian hardwoods do good without stabilising.

Here is a Ringed Gidgee that is not stabilised

[WilliamMunny]

New to knife handles, but caught the bug with the first mule handle thread on the forum.
I've read about stabilized wood online, but not used it in any home projects.
One of the posts above said "IF you're going to use it..."
So is using stabilized wood mandatory vs. just using a high hard wood (janka 2k+) if you take care of the knife?
Thanks for your advice.

There is no mandatory for stabilization. But if you do stabilize then you can get many years of trouble free use. If you don’t stabilize you risk cracking, splitting, chipping, rotting, etc. how long will non stabilized would last is an unknown. It would depend on how hard the wood is as very hard woods might not need it, if there was a natural weak spot, weather exposure and how hard you use it.

With the cost of a mule/Handel material and time it takes I just get mine stabilized by K&G to know it will last.

[BearShark44]

Thanks @WilliamMunny and @standy99.
Good to know / account for this.

[IndianaTony]

I got some zebrawood and stabilized it myself about a year ago. It wasn't the cheapest endeavor, but I like projects so I picked up a vacuum chamber (stainless steel pot with a thick glass lid), vacuum pump from Harbor Freight, Cactus Juice, and a toaster oven to cure them. I also grabbed some of the cheap foil cooking tins so it didn't make a big mess in the chamber or require a huge amount of resin, and some of those decorative glass beads (clear only) to take up the extra space.

Make sure your wood is nice and dry. You can use the toaster oven to dry it out but it absolutely must come back down to ambient temperature before you put it in resin, or the resin will activate and harden around it and encase it without doing anything.

Some guides tell you to leave the vacuum pump on the whole time but I realized after a while that's pretty unnecessary. Pull a good vacuum and just let it sit. Monitor frequently at the beginning, when the most air is drawn out, and eventually maybe turn it on for five minutes a day unless your gauge is showing a loss of vacuum. It also took a lot longer than the guides said for it to stop bubbling, but each wood will be a bit different. Just be patient.

Once all the air had bubbled out I released the vacuum and left it to soak up the juice for another few days or so. Then it got wrapped in foil and straight into the toaster oven to cure. Overall not too difficult and I like the strength, resilience, and the richer colors. If you're okay with the costs and like projects it's neat to do. I picked up some more blanks to do another round sometime.

[tcarltonw]

I got some zebrawood and stabilized it myself about a year ago.

Tony do you have any pictures of the finished project or happen to take any along the way?

[z1r]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I'm awaiting my latest MT and was just thinking that I'd really like to stabilize the wood. I could use the technique on revolver grips as well.

[IndianaTony]

Here’s an album with some of the progress shots.
https://imgur.com/a/dwiyGwI

[tcarltonw]

Awesome, appreciate you sharing

What are we seeing in the first video? Is the piece of metal helping to submerge the scales?