Vaccuum sealing
 

Hi , I'm new to this plug turning process , in fact I just finished my first plugs this weekend and owe most everything I know about making plugs to this site , thank you all. Special thanks to 'justplugit' .
I do one thing to my plugs that I haven't heard anyone else doing .
After turning and drilling the blanks , I place the blanks in a 2 quart mason jar filled with Varathane and naptha and then draw a vaccuum on the jar using a seal-a-meal unit with a jar attatchment . The Varathane penetrates the wood all the way through and should eliminate any wood swelling .
I know this in inpractical for people turning large numbers of plugs .
Is anyone using this process ?
Can anyone think of a downside to this technique ?
Thanks for any help .
Kady.

only downside may be too much weight, and danger of fire if using flammable sealer and that machine.
I have an older one, maybe if I have an attachment somewhere I will try that. Thanks.

re: flammable
 

The weight didn't seem to change much , in fact I wish it would have added more weight since I turned the blanks out of redwood which is very light to begin with . As to the flammable question , the vaccumm pump is seperated from the jar by a long tube and there is just as much danger from the light bulb in the room as from the vaccuum pump .

I was thinking fumes sucked out, that's all, not liquid.

ya, redwood is very lightweight. The grain is tough on turnings, you can't do much sanding at all or you get high and low spots.

Actually , the plugs turned out perfect , no problem with grain or sanding , and no high or low spots , I just wish the plugs were a little heavier .

ok
the one thing that could be a problem is ; when you draw a vacuum on something you lower the flash point .... might not be a problem , but i'd do it outside just in case.
was thinking about it myself .......
derf

:) then you are doing good.
Try alaskan yellow cedar, it's heavier, or basswood.

I will , right now I've got some maple plugs turned .

I also heard of people also using modified pressure cookers to impregnate the wood with various sealers but don't remember the rest of the details.

I hav'nt thought it all the way thru but is'nt a vacuum or lower atmospheric pressure the opposite of what you want, after all they don't vacuum treat lumber.
If you are trying to achieve maximum penetration, I would try and minimize the water content of the wood by drying it further than air dry. You could use a food dehydrator to accomplish that and then use a pressure vessel of some type to treat the wood with sealer.
I think i just thought it thru.

just soak the wood longer in your sealer...24 hrs.. did you now that by kiln drying wood it kill's the cell's in the wood..collapes them to the point where they can't return to their normal oval shape..once collapsed the wood is well on the way to dieing[rotting]...

By drawing a vaccuum in the jar , all air is drawn out of the wood and is then replaced by sealant . A person can achieve the same penetration in one or two hours by drawing a vaccuum as it would take months to achieve just by submersion . The moment the vaccuum is drawn , you can see the air bubbles pour out of the wood .
When the bubbles stop , I remove the plugs , wipe them down and let them dry . The addition of naptha as a thinner also allows for fast drying .
I got the idea of sealing plugs this way from a shop teacher I had in highschool , ( about a hundred years ago) , who had us use this technique to waterproof wooden handles using mineral oil ,which we attatched to metal spatula blades , (required project to pass the class) .
p.s. I still have the spatula


:scream: :scream:

KW, how long are you drying them before painting?

[QUOTE=justplugit]KW, how long are you drying them before painting?[/
QUOTE]
I've been giving them a couple of days just because that's usually when I get the next chance to play in the shop but I think they could be painted the next day .