“Pressurizing” the Ramrod

[Rifleman1776]

As stated already, kerosene will dry out. I consider it wuthluss for ramrods. I used to buy blank hickory rods that had been pressure treated with parafin. They were fine. Now, when I get new hickory blanks I soak them, one at a time in lemon oil for several weeks. I have a length of PVC capped at one end and a screw plug at the other. Seems to work well.
As to the comments about pressurizing. I agree, it is hard to push liquid into the spaces and mollykules of wood. I make stabilized wood for various projects. (duck calls, knife handles, etc.) My technique is to impregnate the wood with the solution under vacuum. I pull 23 inches for about one hour. It completely penetrates most woods. Some woods resist stabilizing. (cocobolo, ironwood, etc.) I do not know if the PVC tubing would hold up to the vacuum so I have never tried it. I don't like messes.

 

[jerrywh]

I never tried vacuum. I have a very good vacuum pump that I use when I precision cast. On Ram rods I just use a 1'2" water pipe capped on both ends. It has a shrader valve on one cap and I can apply as much as 100psi if I wanted to. I have never found it neccessary to use more than 40psi. I leave the ram rods in the pipe for four or five days some times and use achohol based dies.
When you use vacuum how do you prevent the evaporation of the liquid used for stabilization?? What solution do you use? Ethylene glycol??

 

[Zonie]

Unless you want to fill your vacuum pump up with evaporated kerosene, oil or liquid plastic you won't pull the chamber down to much of a vacuum. :hmm:

There is a special silicone oil made specifically for use in high vacuum conditions but the stuff costs over a couple of hundred dollars per gallon.

I know its off topic but if Tann will allow me: :grin:

Our Electron Beam Welders (E-Beam) required the part to be placed on a fixture mounted on a motorized turntable.
This was located in a large vacuum chamber which needed a vacuum of around -12 Torr. before the welding could be done. That's damn near a "outer space" kind of vacuum.

A mechanical pump could never reach that level of vacuum because the air molecules were too far apart for it to effectively gather them.

Between the mechanical vacuum pump and the chamber was a special pump that used this special silicon oil that I mentioned, by pumping it to the top of the collection chamber and allowing it to flow like a waterfall down over a number of circular shelves. This chamber was connected to the E-Beam's working chamber with a large pipe.

As the oil fell, it swept the air molecules down to the bottom where they would accumulate into a dense enough cloud so that the mechanical pump could gather them up and pump them out.

When the needed vacuum was reached a worker using what looked like a telescopic gun sight pointed thru one of the windows on the vacuum chamber wall aimed the Electron beam at the joint using control knobs and hit the button to start the welder.

You couldn't see the beam but the weld joint on the part would suddenly turn yellow/white hot while the motorized turn table rotated the part under the beam.

The beam was powerful enough to easily penetrate over 2 inches of solid stainless, exotic alloys or titanium.

Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested.
You never know when the subject of "E-Beam Welders" will come up at a party. :grin:

OK....I hear you Tan......Back to the soaked ramrod. :thumbsup:

 

[jerrywh]

Zoni. I was wondering about fouling the vacuum pump also. When vacumming my silicone molds I have to put a chamber between the pump and the mold to collect any silicone that gets vacuumed into the lines and such. I don't know how you could pull much vacuum on a thin liquid like alchohol or even polyurethane. I pull 32inches on my mold silicone and plaster investment.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

The idea behind adding pressure is not to compress the liquid, never was. It is to compress the air spaces in the wood, or other substance so the liquid is absorbed more readily and faster. ie pressure treated lumber, as opposed to just treated. Now liquids can indeed be compressed, although many by only negligible amounts.

At one time even Dixie Gun works had a thing in the back of the catelogue about soaking wooden ram rods to make them more flexible.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

a guy down the road got a vacuum pump and rigged up a large industrial pressure cooker to "evaporate" the water out of maple sap with minimal heat.

I wonder if that would work to pull the alcohol out of mash???

 

[Leatherbark]

Thompson Center used to sell Plastic Impregnated ramrods for their sidelock guns in the past.

Bob

 

I don't know about cooking it like syrup, but WSSI stabilizes wood for knifemakers and other wood workers. Don't think it'd work for ram rods though, the stabilizing makes the wood very hard and takes all the flexibility out. It's tuff, but in a long section I don't think it'd hold up long. Basically they pull a vacuum on the wood submerged in an acrylic resin, the plastic goes all the way through the wood.

I do wonder about Ballistol lube, I think on my rod I'll give it a good wipe down and keep wiping it down with it every day or so and see what happens.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I don't know about cooking it like syrup, but WSSI stabilizes wood for knifemakers and other wood workers. Don't think it'd work for ram rods though, the stabilizing makes the wood very hard and takes all the flexibility out. It's tuff, but in a long section I don't think it'd hold up long. Basically they pull a vacuum on the wood submerged in an acrylic resin, the plastic goes all the way through the wood.

I do wonder about Ballistol lube, I think on my rod I'll give it a good wipe down and keep wiping it down with it every day or so and see what happens.

I do the kind of stabilizing you are referring to. But I would never stabilize a ramrod. I would consider impregnating with lemon oil or mineral oil.
To respond to another post: I use a Gast pump with filters. I realize the solvent fluids will eventually get to the vanes in the pump. An occasional rebuild is a given I understand and eventually that cost will be factored into my prices.

 

[Rifleman1776]

That is a to die for beautiful rifle.
I never use dye in my stable solution as it is so expensive to replace with fresh.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I never tried vacuum. I have a very good vacuum pump that I use when I precision cast. On Ram rods I just use a 1'2" water pipe capped on both ends. It has a shrader valve on one cap and I can apply as much as 100psi if I wanted to. I have never found it neccessary to use more than 40psi. I leave the ram rods in the pipe for four or five days some times and use achohol based dies.
When you use vacuum how do you prevent the evaporation of the liquid used for stabilization?? What solution do you use? Ethylene glycol??

The pressure/vacuum thing is a constant source of debate on some specialized woodworking forums I belong to. I choose vacuum only because (harking back to high school physics) I know nature hates a vacuum and will replace the empty space with whatever is available. Since I suck the air and moisture out of the wood, nature replaces it with my solution.
And, my solution is something I choose to not publicly reveal. I will say the wood becomes 'acrylized'. It retains the wood beauty and appearance but is very stable and moisture proof.