# Cleaning wood for stabilizing or casting??



## rblakemore (May 1, 2014)

A few questions please:
1.  What is the best way to remove the rotten wood and grub tube remnants from wood? Can I boil this out??
2.  What is the determining factor for stabilizing??  If the wood is stable/strong enough for turning, does it need to be stabilized if there are voids?  Can I then fill with CA or inlay powders or crushed stones???


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## KenV (May 1, 2014)

Removing rotten wood --    Some use saws, other use other sharp instruments.   For larger chunks, I like a very sharp timber framing chisel with a very long handle (a slick with out the offset bend at the socket-blade junction).   If I do not find something that will look very attractive, it is waste and I keep removing material.  

Grub tube remains = "frass" -  the leaving that the larvae provide as it chews its way into/through the wood.   I find I generally have to pick it out with dental picks if I want to remove it.  It is a "design choice" as to how you want the outcome to look.   The thin polymer solutions that are used for injection into woods are not very good at filling holes.  That is a secondary process and again a matter of "design choice".   

I turn woods with voids and often leave the voids as a "design choice".  With pens, voids are less desirable and I have to chose how I want to proceed.   Some cast resins, some use epoxy, some use CA glue.   Each approach has advantages and disadvantages, especially if a longer time view is considered.  

I have been moving towards making the stuff I am putting into cactus juice round before putting in the "juice".  Two reasons --  1.  I want to see that I am getting something that I want to work with before investing the time and "juice".  2.  I can reduce the amount of "juice" waste by not using it in the corners that I will turn away. 

Design choices are yours   ----   as are the techniques you use to achieve the desired outcomes.   Every week I see new techniques popping up -- and older ones refined.


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## low_48 (May 1, 2014)

Pressure washer works for big pieces. I don't think boiling will do anything. Never cleaned a grub tube out, but smaller holes filled with bug "stuff" usually takes a dental pick. If by strong and stable, you mean no rot at all, not a real need to stabilize. Some folks prefer the cut and finish of a stabilized blank though. At what part of the process are you asking about filling the voids? I wouldn't fill anything until the rough turning is over. Unless of course you are going to cast it with resin, that's first for sure.


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