Hey fellas,

Just curious, I know people heat there plugs at 250 degrees before they seal with thinned e-tex, but does anyone heat their plugs before sealing in Spar / turps? Maybe not @ 250 degrees but any thoughts on its usefulness/
I'm wondering even if the plugs sat in the drying rack @ 120 degrees for awhile and then into the sealer would it help or prolong the drying?

Thanks in advance for any comments,

MS

Depending on the room temp, imo if your ambient temp is with in the specs of the sealer, i dont see a benefit, however, i maybe wrong but its be mentioned on other threads that it opens the pores of the wood, but you would be taking a hot piece of wood into a ambient solution, and i dont see the benefits of that.

However you are in the arctic, and may benefit from it
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ive done it.. for experimentation purposes.. it does provide a slighly deeper seal ( discoverd by pulling a "Band Saw Eddie" on the plug after the soak) IMHO..not worth the extra work to preserve a hunk of wood that I can spin and sand in 3 minutes.

Thanks for the tips fellas

MS

I agree with Joe. Not worth it. I find the wood to seal very good at room temp.
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I heat the hard wood plugs Maple & birch. Heating really draws the sealer into thew wood. I feel especially with rock maple you need ample penetration to prevent cracking along the hook holes. Heat oven to 200 degrees and place plugs in an aluminum foil pan for 15-20 minutes then place in sealer. I get the sealer poured while the plugs are heating up. I use Val-oil and pure turps. 60% val & 40% turps. I also used Helmsman spar varnish 60/40. My last batch of big maple needles gained 3-4 grams of sealer soaking for 3 hrs. Dried in 2 days. Gray pad sand down, wash with denatured alcohol and prime.

Read the turp can real good. That stuff has a pretty low flash point if I remember from school. Not self heating like linseed oil but very flamable when warmed.Gettin the soak inisn't worth gettin hurt.

I realize the hazards of turps but when I dip them the're warm to touch. Thanks for your concern.