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Old 12-29-2009, 06:18 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I'd like to do it myself too. I've tried it but never was happy with the results. True, plastic impregnated wood may not be everyone's ideal but it is, in fact, the most successful method of stabilizing wood, bone, ivory, and horn. If someone can come up with a home brew alternative that achieves comparable results without the plasticky characteristics then I'm all for it even if it's a bit pricier. But, I say again that the criteria should be that some advantage is offered to both the maker and the customer. In my view, such an advantage would have to be a better price for equivalent results or else superior results no matter what the price. Just doing it so you can say you did it isn't worth the effort if the result is inferior. The original question here concerned Acraloid and that is a path that, up to this point, has led to the same dead end all the other home brew processes have. Perhaps Mike's recipe might be just what we're looking for but experience seems to indicate otherwise. I would rather see Mike try something new that has a prayer of success than see him waste time rehashing other people's already known failed attempts.

If - and I say IF because maybe others don't see it this way - we define 'stabilized' as meaning that the material in question will not absorb liquids (stabilized wood cannot be stained), and will not shrink or expand with normal environmental temperature and humidity changes then the professionally done acrylic impregnated materials are the only ones that can meet this definition. I still can't see why anyone would choose to use a 'stabilized' product that falls short of this definition when a better product is available. It certainly isn't necessary to use stabilized products and there is nothing more beautiful than a piece of wood finished by someone who really knows what he's doing. But, if you want stabilized wood there is no advantage to using something inferior especially if you plan to take take the blame for making it inferior.......


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Last edited by Ray Rogers; 12-29-2009 at 06:21 PM.
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