Hi all

Is there any place where I can reed and learn how to impregnate wooden inserts ?
Thanks

I would contact Andy Dear at Lamar Manf. and ask him about it. Doing it yourself with any sort of cost effectiveness isn't easy. I know some guys are creating a slurry from acrylic and acetone and getting that into the wood, but I haven't actually seen the end result in person.

.............

All of the methods that I've heard/read about are fairly dangerous. That is, they're fairly dangerous, unless you have lots of high-tech (meaning $$$) equipment. Almost all the stuff used to stabilize the wood is at least slightly explosive or flammable. And, the vapors from the chemicals are awfully bad on brain cells.

Who knows--maybe there's another method that isn't terribly risky. Andy Dear would definitely be the one to ask, though. I know stabilized wood is THE thing, as it's completely impervious to water and changes in temperature. But, I don't use it much because of the expense, and because I can get an awfully good finish on inserts/grips with multiple coats of Tru-Oil. I know it takes longer than using stabilized wood, but a number of coats of Tru-Oil is also extremely water resistant too.

Here is the only "home" method I know if that is relatively safe and effective.

[www.northcoastknives.com]


Andy Dear

Sending out an insert to be stabilized has a ninimum charge of $36, +postage. The above wood hardener cost me ~$8. I put a valve on a jar lid, used a venturi (soaping atachment) on a friends air compressor to create my vacuum. Looks good to me. The Ketones/solvent did eat my seal on the jar. IMHO, it's still better than a non-stabilized insert., only time will tell.

The thrill is not in the kill

Has any one used the pentacryl products for the stabilization?

Thank you all for the advises.