Good looking knives Nicholas. Was the stabilizing process very difficult? Thank you for sharing.

Thank you

No it's surprisingly easy. Put it in a jar, put it in a vacuum for 8 hours, let it soak 8 hours, and put it in a cheap toaster oven at 200 degrees. That's it. Oh and make sure your wood is seasoned and/or dry it in a hot box, oven, or microwave. You'll be in about the $250-350 ballpark to get a 3 gallon tank, 3cfm pump that is rated to handle cactus juice, cactus juice, a few colors of dyes, and jars. There are a few nuances to learn when curing it or vacuuming it, but there's a lot of youtube tutorials that will get you there.

I had a really hard timed finding jars to maximize the liquid efficiency since I'm trying to get like 3-4 colors out of a half gallon of cactus juice. You can either build your own out of 2 inch PVC, or try to find tall glass jars. The PVC option is considerably more expensive, but if you have pipe and caps laying around, go for it. Otherwise check out http://www.specialtybottle.com/glass-jars/clear-straight-sided/tall-metal-lid/16oz-tal16. That's like a perfect size for a 4-5 inch block, and you'll want to keep it at about 12 oz or so. It's also a perfect size for etching solution on small to mid sized knives. Don't put the lid tight on the jar when you're done. Apparently they cactus juice can expand and explode.

This is the first time I've used used stabilized wood and I'm in love haha. It makes everything easier.

Thank you Nicholas I'm definitely gonna have to give it a try. Would you use it to stabilize a wood block like Ironwood? Being that ironwood is pretty stable naturaly would it still be a benifit? Thanks again Nicholas, happy forging.

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Thank you Nicholas I'm definitely gonna have to give it a try. Would you use it to stabilize a wood block like Ironwood? Being that ironwood is pretty stable naturaly would it still be a benifit? Thanks again Nicholas, happy forging.

I'm definitely not a wood or stabilization expert. But I use curly maple a lot, which is also a very stable hardwood naturally, and I still noticed a significant benefit from stabilizing it. You save time in fit and finish that outweighs the effort and cost to stabilize it.

So my opinion is, if you can stabilize it, go for it. You'll have to research online what you can and can't stabilize.

Thank you Nicholas, I'm gonna look up the links and info you posted and plan on doing one in very near future. Thanks again for sharing. Ron