May I ask how much the weight is being affected bei soaking a shaft? Weight of a shaft before and after soaking (+ drying of course). Many thanks in advance
Far too many years ago to remember! Not as much after drying as you would think watching the bubbles come up. At a guess two-thirds of the soaked wood is going to be cut away in later turnings. Bearing in mind this is a guess but I doubt a finished soaked shaft weighs a half ounce more than it would have if it would have been turned without soaking. The stabilizing dip is before normal sealing and finishing so one additive replaces another. You can expect 100% wood saturation with the stabilizer.
Weight was an early concern but I believe it was a nonissue. The chemicals were considerably lighter than water best I recall and they mostly evaporated away anyhow. I think weight and balance were nonissues when stabilizing wood.
This is definitely a question to pass by our cue builders here. It has been ages since I have been there but they were a very knowledgeable and helpful bunch back when I was working on cues. Unfortunately the particular people I would consult are dead or gone for other reasons but as a group we still have a fine bunch of cue builders on the forums they frequent. Approach them on their specialty forums and stay away from the political threads on NPR if you want to talk business or technical advice!(grin)
Hu
