Question about wood stabilizers

nord117

nord117

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What exactly do they do? i know that you have to turn a piece of wood down slow and over time because it will move but do these stabilizers help so they dont move? Does it stop them from moving all together? I have zero experience in them so if you could please help me out and give me a little more info it is greatly appreciated. Also what is the best brand to use?
 
nord117 said:
What exactly do they do? i know that you have to turn a piece of wood down slow and over time because it will move but do these stabilizers help so they dont move? Does it stop them from moving all together? I have zero experience in them so if you could please help me out and give me a little more info it is greatly appreciated. Also what is the best brand to use?
Click to expand...

It fills in the cells and cuts down on moisture exchange. It may also stiffen the wood fibers due to the resins.
 
It doesn't stop the wood from moving all together. It does help cut down on movement from moisture exchange. I use Nelsonite and have never tried Resolute, so I don't know how they compare.
 
Some use it and some don't. Some say it deadens the cues hit. I haven't delved into this to much. I use Nelsonite myself and have never had any problems that I have been aware of. I know that either my shaft dowel supply has really improved over the last 15 years or so or the Nelsonite helps in keeping the shafts straight as my rejects from movement greatly curtailed when I started using it.

Dick
 
My understanding is that it displaces moisture, ensuring that the moisture content throughout all parts of the wood is equal. If you cut into something and expose wood that's wetter in one place than another, it will warp very quickly.
 
Nelsonite penetrates deep into the wood and as it dries it leaves a powder substance throughout the pores of the wood. This slows down any moisture exchange the wood has and therefore lessons the likelyhood of warping. Wood still has a memory to it and a treated cue can still warp especially if leaned against a wall or exposed to too much heat or cold. So Nelsonite or Resolute do not completely seal out moisture or guarantee a shaft won't warp, but they do seem to help some.
 
Stabilizer

Nelsonite can give you a terrible headache, but not near as bad as the one you will get trying to buy the other product!!
 
they both stink , YUK!
i have a 4" pvc tube x 36" long, that i can fit 6 shafts into at the same time
for each batch of 6 i dunked, left in for about an hour, the level went down approx 1"
 
BHQ said:
they both stink , YUK!
i have a 4" pvc tube x 36" long, that i can fit 6 shafts into at the same time
for each batch of 6 i dunked, left in for about an hour, the level went down approx 1"
Click to expand...

I leave mine in for 1 to 2 minutes. I dip after every other pass on the shafts.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
I leave mine in for 1 to 2 minutes. I dip after every other pass on the shafts.

Dick
Click to expand...
dennis d leaves everything in overnite
i asked joe barringer about it one time,
he said, just leave it in till the bubbles go away
i dont have the patience to watch it, so i just leave it :rolleyes:
 
Nord117;

We have discussed this earlier and here is my post on the topic :

"We have over here some guys which is working with wood (carving,milling,lathe'ing) which uses a solvent
which I'm not sure is usable in our context and possibly not directly related to Eddies question .

They call it PEG in short but is "Polyethylenglycol" treatment.
It might be that I'm not even on the same playing field
in this respect to Nels/Res and in case I apology, but here is the words from the boy's:

"This is used to prevent wood from cracking. It could be used on raw wood.
PEG is non-toxic, has no smell or taste. When wood is dipped in this solvent the wood would
by "OSMOSES" (a process which I don't know) change the humidity/water in the woods cell with PEG.
With PEG in the woods cell the wood cells would not change (shrink) and hence cracks would not occur."

A book is recommended "Working greenwood with PEG" : http://www.amazon.com/Working-Green-.../dp/0806989246

As mentioned, I have not used it but it's recommended by some wood workers and may not be the solution.
Does any one up here use it ?"

Chris,Joey and others contributed in the discussion and here is the link :
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=104189&highlight=osmoses

I'm going to experiment with PEG and possibly buy some books but if there
is others which has already done so, please PM or post :-)

Hope it helped

Kent
 
Shaft Care During Construction

Hi,
I have over 500 shaft dowels that have been tapered since May of 04. I hand pick my planks that are from northern Michigan. These are all vacuum Kilned boards that have been rehydrated. When I buy them they are stored indoors and are always at 6% or slightly higher.

The lumber mill cuts them to square for me and I have a doweling machine. The carbide cutting knives also seem to treat the wood better that tool steel knives.

What I have learned is that if I tapper them 5 times I get a product ready for final turning and sanding. I use Van Aqua 545 waterborn wood sealer after the 5th cut and after the final sanding. Jerry Powers gave me that little tip and I love him for that.

If the shaft bumps between centers after the 3rd cut I throw it away.

What I have learned was to buy 5/4 planks instead of 4/4 planks. When I hand select the quarter sawed boards I can find 5/4 planks that are like t-squares. I have never seen any 4/4 planks that are as straight.

I have made over 70 finished shafts and have only ditched about 5 from movement. I live in the midwest and I think this helps me.

So far so good. I don't think I will try wood stablizers unless I start having problems. If I lived in Arizona or Florida I might consider it as too dry or too humid which might be a problem if you ship to a different area of the country.

I costs me about $ 3.00 per shaft not counting my labor and transportation.

The difference between 5/4 and 4/4 is less that .50 per shaft and I think it makes all the difference.

Rick Geschrey
 
Peg

scdiveteam said:
Hi,
I have over 500 shaft dowels that have been tapered since May of 04. I hand pick my planks that are from northern Michigan. These are all vacuum Kilned boards that have been rehydrated. When I buy them they are stored indoors and are always at 6% or slightly higher.

The lumber mill cuts them to square for me and I have a doweling machine. The carbide cutting knives also seem to treat the wood better that tool steel knives.

What I have learned is that if I tapper them 5 times I get a product ready for final turning and sanding. I use Van Aqua 545 waterborn wood sealer after the 5th cut and after the final sanding. Jerry Powers gave me that little tip and I love him for that.

If the shaft bumps between centers after the 3rd cut I throw it away.

What I have learned was to buy 5/4 planks instead of 4/4 planks. When I hand select the quarter sawed boards I can find 5/4 planks that are like t-squares. I have never seen any 4/4 planks that are as straight.

I have made over 70 finished shafts and have only ditched about 5 from movement. I live in the midwest and I think this helps me.

So far so good. I don't think I will try wood stablizers unless I start having problems. If I lived in Arizona or Florida I might consider it as too dry or too humid which might be a problem if you ship to a different area of the country.

I costs me about $ 3.00 per shaft not counting my labor and transportation.

The difference between 5/4 and 4/4 is less that .50 per shaft and I think it makes all the difference.

Rick Geschrey
Click to expand...

From what I've read, PEG is for green (wet), never dried wood.
 
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