Hope you folks don't think I'm bat crazy, but years ago I read that Appalachian folks used to boil willow wood in unine to make it more bendable. As I recall, the process seemed to make the wood take on more stable internal properties.

The reason I ask is I'm trying to turn sections of zebrawood cut crossgrained and have had 3 out of 4 blow up when getting turned down to fit a skeleton reel seat.

Think I try boiling some up & see the effect.

Stan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2005 10:09PM by Tom Kirkman.

One of the by-products in urine is ammonia. I would suspect this is what those folks were after and it's probably what gave the desired effect.

You might talk to some knowledgeable woodworkers about this. It may be that you can use water with some ammonia added and get the same effect without, well.... you know.

...........

Just think...you could go drink a 6 pack...boil the by-product and stabilize your wood, then cut your finger off on the lathe for operating it under the influence.

ANdy Dear
Lamar Manf.

... Yeah, the UREA [(NH3)2--C=O] in the urine is probably what they were after. But that still may not be the correct way to prepare the wood for what YOU are doing. I think boiling wood was done for making bent-wood rocking chairs. Not a preparation for a stock of wood being large-bored for a relatively thin-walled reel seat. Boiling the wood will make it swell, and open the grain - wouldn't that amke it MORE prone to spilting after it dried??

But I suspect that it is a good deal simpler and safer to buy stabilized or treated wood especially prepared for reel seats, than it is to boil wood for hours in ammonia-laced water. PLUS, ammonia boils out of the water pretty quickly and hot vapor is quite irritating to your lungs, especially combined with the high humidity of boiling water. ... If you boiled it out of doors, inside something like an old smoker's water pan, that might work. But the caustic fumes would rust your smoker pretty quickly. And I doubt you will save that much money, anyway. Especially, if a batch of wood turns out to split or lose its color or get a gnarly texture after installation on the rod. Then your warranty labor will cost you at least as much as the money (~$20?) that you saved.

Treated wood for reel seats all seem to be impregnated with a binding resin, to keep the grain from splitting - which you have discovered happens very readily, even in a well-dried wood, simply because of the forces involved in turning or boring.

... If you really want to pursue this, Google around and see what you can find out . I suspect impregnating wood with some resin is the way to go, and that boiling may not be a part of that process. A pressure vat and a hot-air oven-drier may be.

... Maybe I am wrong, but in a worst-case scenario, that is one catastrophic outcome that I would like to avoid. ... (Penny wise, ... pound foolish?) - IMO, Cliff Hall+++

(Sorry this Composition is a bit sloppy, but I think you get the idea.)

Very stinky!!!

Cross cut wood offers very little strength in the needed lengthwise direction of a reel seat. If you must use it take the corners off of the blank on a table saw or band saw making them octagonal. Then turn it gently at high speed with very sharp tools being especially careful at the ends. When you get it close to the diameter that you need, you can try stabilizing the surface with thin CA glue. Then finish turning it to the required size. Another application when your there, sand, then a few coats of thick CA glue for the finish. I followed these instructions for soft burl blanks with good results.

See:

Hardening The Wood With CA Glue
and
CA Glue As A Finish
[www.woodcentral.com]

I did not have good results with cocobolo. Zebrawood may have similar problems. Have heard a soaking in DNA helps remove the resinous oils that cause the uneven absorbsion of the CA. If that dosen't work, then try @#$%& on it.

Tony

Wading in,
Some time back a college in New York was working with ammonia to bend wood for Banjo heads. I believe they were infusing the wood under pressure. The results were good .

Speaking of "fuming" I need to color a piece of bamboo fly rod to match an existing section, I have forgotten how to "fume" wood. I recall it was with ammonia, but forget all the other details.. I just need to darken a small section.... any ideas????

Thanks in advance,

Andy. . . You have an awesome sense of humor. I've been laughing for the past 10 minutes.

Bob Turpen
Tiger Rods

Some things to consider about CA as a finish. First of all, it is any amazingly expensive finish and second, the CA-BLO finish has a fairly steep learning curve. It has a beautiful gloss if done correctly but has some drawbacks down the road. Since it's a plastic, it can easily break on impact and it feels like plastic, not wood.

Thin CA is a very good wood stabilizer. I just finished working a peice of spalted maple last week that had not been stabilzed. I first saturated it with thin CA, especially the ends which are most susceptable to blowing out. When it was about half way turned I saturated it again. I did it one more time when it was turned almost to it's finish dimensions and then sanded to the final dimensions which removed all of the CA. I then finished it with 3 coats of Tru Oil. It worked great with no problems at all.

Turning cross cut wood can be problematic, but is probably best done with a skew rather than a gouge. I turned a piece of cross cut Juniper with a skew and didn't have any significant problems, but I was also using thin CA to stabilize it. Not only will a skew give a better finish, it's much easier keep a really sharp edge on than a gouge is. Except for rough cutting, I do most of my turning with a skew now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2005 11:19AM by Gerry Rhoades.

I haven't gotten the hang of the skew yet. It'll be coming out beautiful but then inevitably catches and tears. Don't know what my problem is. The CA-BLO is quite simple and easy for me right from the start. I don't know if its the brand of CA that makes the difference. I've been using "Special T" which is a thick, slow cure type. It definately works better with the synthetic batting. As far as the cost, a little goes a long way. True oil is cheaper per ounce but the shelf life is so poor that it winds up more expensive to me.

Tony

Tony,
You're lucky that you got the CA-BLO finish correct right off. I've read dozens of posts from people who've worked at it for hours and haven't been able to get it right. And even people who how to do it will sometimes have it go "bad" and then they spend a lot of time trying to fix it.

On wood, I use friction polish, spray lacquer or Tru Oil, depending on the wood and how I want it to look. I've ordered some Enduro poly and sealer to try also, for when I want the plastic feel. I'll put a coat of Tru Oil on every peice of wood, just to see how it looks. If the wood has a lot of chatoyance, then I'll finish it with Tru Oil, otherwise I'll most likely use spray lacquer since it requires the least amount of time, 4 coats in two hours and leave it alone for 24 hours.

Learning to use a skew takes practice and more practice, but the wood needs to be very close to round before using it. Also, a lathe speed between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm makes it much easier than a slower speed.

As far as finishes, I've heard that Flex Coat actually works well on wood even though it is meant for thread. I'm curious myself and am going to experiment with it.

As far as finishes, I've heard that Flex Coat actually works well on wood even though it is meant for thread. I'm curious myself and am going to experiment with it.

The only problem you may have with using FC as a wood finish is that it really doesn't adhere to anything very well. I used One Coat on an inlay I did on a wood turning, but the surface of the inlay was fairly rough so it had something to bite into. I was able to peel the excess off with a skew with no problems, after which the whole thing got three coats of spray lacquer and a coat of Renaissance Wax. I personally wouldn't use thread finish as a wood finish. The time it take for the stuff to become tack-free, is just way too long to hope there is absolutely no dust in the air.