The advantages of impregnating with synthetic resin are that the wood becomes harder, more stable and the density is higher. This high density allows the wood to be perfectly polished. No wax or varnish is needed to make it shine or protect. After polishing, the structure of the wood is revealed in all its glory. You will be amazed by its beauty and how it feels!

The process

It starts with drying the wood. The wood should preferably have a moisture content of 0%. In normal condition, dried wood has a moisture content of 10-15% and this varies over time depending on the climate and the type of wood. Freshly sawn wood has a moisture content of up to 50%. We dry our freshly sawn wood under vacuum with an extra heat source. Dried wood of 10-15% is dried in the oven. Slowly and carefully, so that no cracks form. After weeks of drying, it is placed in a vacuum vessel where, depending on the volume of the wood, it spends up to days under a continuous vacuum of -999 mbar. The synthetic resin is then added under vacuum conditions. Then the vacuum is lifted and the wood sucks itself full of synthetic resin. The advantage of vacuum is that there is no all-sided load (air pressure) on the wood other than gravity. This gives the wood the opportunity to relax and give the cavities the opportunity to release any air that is present. It takes about 2x longer for the resin to fill all the cavities than the time it spent under vacuum. Pen blanks can be impregnated in a few hours and beater heads a few days depending on the type of wood. Maple, for example, goes faster than Walnut. Once the wood has been soaked with synthetic resin, it can cure in the oven at approximately 90 degrees Celsius. This is the temperature at which polymerization of the synthetic resin occurs.

Just a little bit about stabilizing

During the growth of a tree, all kinds of tensions arise in the wood. Say growth tensions. When the wood is sawn, these tensions are partly released, but partly also remain because there is still pressure on the wood in addition to the initial growth tension: air pressure and pressure due to the moisture that is still in the wood . Drying wood ensures that the water tension disappears. Vacuum makes the air pressure disappear. Impregnation ensures that the initial stress is immobilized because all voids are filled by a solid that is hardly compressible. There are three more exceptions. The polymerized synthetic resin only fills the voids that communicate with each other. After processing, hollow spaces may therefore appear that are not filled and that can absorb moisture. This varies by type of wood. Maple does not or hardly have it, but ring-pored woods such as Oak are more affected. The second exception is that the synthetic resin can also absorb moisture. Although very minor, it is possible and there may be small cracks (craquelure) in it. Moisture can be absorbed in those small cracks. Not a big deal, because it also evaporates again. The third exception is actually no exception, namely that everything expands and contracts under the influence of temperature.

Colors

It is possible to add a dye to the synthetic resin. We use red, blue and green dyes. The results are astonishingly beautiful. This also applies to the colorless synthetic resin. In both the colored and the colorless, the drawing of the wood is wonderfully expressed. Unparalleled depth and 3D effect.