Does anyone have a favorite resin for impregnating different types of wood? I read somewhere on the board that acteone could be used to thin 2-part formulas with minimal strength reduction. I'm tinkering with vaccume-bagging balsa plywood for arbors.Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

when you can buy arbors for less than the plywood why would you even want to try it besides wood and water bad combo unless u vaccume the epoxy i think your are just begging for a problem ... just my 2 cents .... John T Burford aka Tightline Rod's

It's an interesting idea but the brick foam arbors would weigh less and offer the same amount of rigidity for just pennies really.

Soaking a wood insert in a bath of solvent alcohol for a few hours and then allowing to dry, removes most of the resin/sap in the wood. Then, any sort of oil or urethane finish can be applied to a much greater depth into the wood. This can be helpful on the very oily wood species although is not likely to be necessary on most other woods.

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Blaine,
After reading the responses above, I don't know if you still want to use wood but I'll tell you how I do it. I have never done it in regards to rod building. I have saturated wood for installation in boat ransoms and other areas in the boat. What you do is heat the wood, sense the pieces are small you can probably use a heat gun or a hair dryer (on hot). Heat both the wood and the epoxy but especially the wood. Then apply very thin coats of epoxy. After the first coat soaks in (about 5-10 minutes) apply a second coat (if the viscosity of the epoxy allows). Let it dry over night, keep doing this until you see the epoxy begin to build up on the wood.
Don't know if this will help you but that's how I do it when building something to be installed in the boat. Once I know the wood is saturated in epoxy.....I know it will last in the harsh environment that my boats live in.
nick

It's certainly not a question of money, I could tape mount em for almost free. In the Marine industry, balsawood cores have been used extensively in the construction of boat hulls,hatches and bulkheads. My thinkin is that with a proper and thorough technique like the ones Nick and Tom point out, I could avoid water saturation problems. And have lightweight, torsionaly rigid arbors that I crafted myself. I would rather "craft" than "assemble" if given the choice.

Although it works well, I never have really warmed up to the idea of "building up" tape for arbors. besides, legend has it that Struble seats, sensing the tape is present, will automatically release solvents to destroy the tape purlely out of disdain.

I could have made a hundred of these balsa arbors as I wait for my components to "mosey" in.

Tom, which sponsor carries the brick foam arbors? I don't know how I missed em.

Thanks Guys

I was kidding about the struble seats ....Don/Chuck

Blaine,
I've impregnated reel seat blanks with acrylic, using vacuum and pressure. Dissolve clear acrylic in acetone until it's thicker than cream, not as thick as honey (takes some time, maybe a week to dissolve all the way) I put it under vacuum for 2-3 days and it seems to go all the way thru easily in that time. Balsa would probably go quicker. It seems to me my wood blanks are not as heavy/dense as those from WSSI, but haven't done an apples-apples weight comparison to confirm. My vacuum chamber at present is simply some 1-1/2" pipe fittings, adequate for 2 seats at a time.

Rick,
The information sounds real good, I'll pick up the acrylic tomorrow. I was thinkin someone out there probably had some success with this type of process on a bench top scale. Your technique sounds like all I'll need.

What vaccume pump/aparatus are you using?

Has anybody tried Pentacryl? It's available from Lee Valley. It describes itself as "The Wood Stabilizer". It's supposed to replace water with siliconized polymers, but doesn't require any baking or placing in vacuum. Just wonder if it's any good.

It is good, but is exactly what it claims to be - a stabilizing agent for wood. It is normally used during the drying process to prevent splits and checks.

It's not going to do the same thing as acrylic impregnating however. With the acrylic, you are gaining the ability to buff and polish the wood to a high luster with no need for any type of finish. Pentacryl is not quite the same thing and you will still need to finish your wood if you intend to use it for outdoor purposes.


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Have different "drying time" to choose from, also coloured.