Heating plugs before sealing
 

I know this topic has been covered a lot before, but my question is regarding heating cedar plugs before sealing in spar/turps?
I typically hit my cedar with clear enamel before e-tex but I still get some that bubble up :wall:
Does anybody heat their plugs before sealing with spar/turps? Is it even safe? If so what temp and how long?
I'm wondering if that would seal the pesky voids that cause the bubbling at times with the clear coat?

Thanks in advance for any info.......Best
MS

Heating them afterwards has its down side.

If you have etex, why not try heat sealing with etex/DA instead of the spar/turps?

Thin 60/40 etex and DA. I heat AYC plugs to 250 for about 30 minutes. Using a large syringe to suck up the epoxy /Da and inject into the through wire hole till it fills up the whole inside of the plug and then coat the outside with an acid brush. Let em drip and when the dry spots show up, give it a quick recoat. Makes a very durable plug body.

Wasn't that flame birch ?

The 200-250 30 minutes works for me w/ val oil/pure turps(60/40%). I like to do hard woods mostly this way. soft woods suck the sealer like sponges. hard woods 1 hour minimum. soft woods no more than a hour.

Actually I think it is the opposite. Hardwoods like the maples, birches, and basswood ( which is soft but technically a hardwood) have open end grain that absorbs lots of sealer and weight. Softwoods typically have resin in them that limits their absorption.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Ed never thought of it that way,. Just assuming hard wood was harder to penetrate. So far I haven't had much of an increase initially. during the drying process the weight levels off. I'll keep the advice in mind for the next sealer dive.

What George says is true... hardwoods absorb sealer faster.. it doesn't take long to sink a maple or birch blank if left in sealer too long..

as far as heating the blank is concerned, I'm sure there is an upside...but in my warped way of thinkin.. by the time i heat the blank I could have turned 2 or three plugs bodies.. the extra work hardly seems worht the reward for me..... and if I was going to epoxy seal it... by the time I heated the epoxy, mixed it, heated the blank.. made a mess of my bench with dripping epoxy.. i could turn a dozen blanks.. for me.. the wasted time and expense is not worth preserving a piece of wood, which IMHO, looses some of it's natural "charm" when epoxy sealed... again, my warped way of thinking... If I want a "plastic" plug.. I'll buy one.. for me... wood is good.. my plugs are lucky I even paint 'em.

It is a strange process, Billy, at the outset they pick up some weight quickly, then slow down a bit, then all of a sudden start soaking it up like crazy. Furthermore different blanks soak it up at different rates. It is pretty easy to over do it with birch and maple and as Joe says you can sink them. One trick is to weigh one periodically and when it gets to the right weight watch how it floats in the sealer, then take the other plugs out when they get to the same level.

I'm with Joe when it comes to heating..I think your problem with bubbling is possibly with handling during the process from sealing to finish with epoxy. If the plug is not clean you will get bubbling especially with the epoxy. If using e-tex, I am assuming you are using a propane torch and passing the flame under the plugs after epoxying. I usually do this after the plugs are all on the spinner and the epoxy is setting up.

George is this that special plug you were making me?

I have been using 3 coats of Minwax lacquer out of a rattle can and you would swear they are epoxied. Takes no time either. I totally agree with Joe.

George I think my comment was difficult to understand. I don't heat the plug, but use the CO2 to level out the epoxy and eliminating bubbles. It also can be done by breathing on a single plug.

The only time I use heat is to set the createx and then I use a hairdryer.