I was doing some research on wood stabilizing and found a site that gives a solution for stabilizing wood. I would like to stabilize some for a reel seat. My question is the mixture would be thinned with Xenyl by about 50-75% would the rod building epoxies work for this.

Is XENYL a brand name of a solvent, or do you mean XYLENE?
Chemicals are a bit like women: if you call her Margie and her name is Martha, you might get a bad reaction. -Cliff Hall+++

You were right Cliff I had it spelled wrong. Will this work for thinning the epoxy or will the epoxy separate.

I've never used (thinned) epoxy to penetrate / impregnate wood inserts for reel seats, so I'll bow out here. I just wanted to make sure your solvent was xylene or not.

Acetone is usually the thinning solvent of choice for epoxy thread finish, but the wood may tolerate the xylene better, or help it take a stain better. I really do NOT know what the right answer is. But those are a couple of things to think about. -Cliff Hall+++

Epoxy would make a poor product for wood impregnation. You need something more along the lines of an acrylic product.

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

I'm not much of a rodbuilder yet but have thinned epoxies for many years making longbows, recurves and furniture, I can say that a progressive application of devcon epoxy thinned 5 to 1 with acetone works wonderful. (that's 5 parts acetone to one part mixed epoxy) Apply with a lint free rag or disposable brush (and please wear gloves). I always use it as a finish also. Begin with 5 to 1, cure, 5 to 1, cure, 4 to 1, cure... and continue until you get the depth you like. you can go to 3 to 1 but it becomes difficult to keep it even. It will make an incredibly strong, stable and the most weatherproof finish I have ever seen. The first coat of 5 to 1 will penetrate and stablize, just be sure to keep wiping it on, the longer you keep it wet with the mixture the deeper it will penetrate. Once you stop wiping on the first coat, the acetone will quickly evaporate and the epoxy is left in the wood to cure. The 4 to 1 and 3 to 1 is just to build the finish and fill. With very little effort you can get a glass like finish. (you just have to be patient enough to let it cure between coats.

The acetone will thin out the epoxy to the point that it penetrates very well in the wood. It is a pretty common finish for oily exotic woods that won't take normal finishes well, but works great on all woods I have ever tried.

One note of caution... devcon epoxy isn't clear so take that into consideration if you are using light colored wood.

Try it on a scrap of wood, I have yet to meet anyone that didn't like the results.

-keith

Thank you very much for the info Keith, the epoxy mixture will be used in a vacuum pot to ensure that the mixture will penetrate the wood properly.

If you have a vacuum pot, I would take a test piece and try it first to determine the best ratio. cut it open after full cure time to see how well it does. You may not need to thin it as much as I do.

Hi Terry,

Could you give me the web info on stabilizing wood that you have. I'm wondering if it's a different than the one I have -

[www.northcoastknives.com]

Thanks


Hank
On The Rocks Fishing
Wells, ME.

Well Milton I dont actually have a website I've been collecting info from alot of different sources. The main source is from the penturners.org website. There is alot of people that are using plexiglass dissolved in acetone then soak the wood in the mixture and put in a vacuum. Then I ran across a website that was advertising Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer that is used in boat repair for hardening rotten wood. After more research I found another website that broke down the composition of the CPES. Here is a couple of the links.

[www.penturners.org]

[www.epoxyproducts.com]