: . . .The CPES is +/- 50%
: solvents, a proprietary blend of 18 of them, most of which have very fast
: evaporation rates. This stuff soaks in very well at ambient pressure, but
: all bets would be off in a vacuum. Since the solvents are the vehicle that
: carries the solids (epoxy) into the capillaries of the wood, and since the
: solvents would flash off under vacuum, my guess is that penetration would
: not be as good as under ambient.

The assumtion here is that you continue pulling a vacuum after you start to add the CPES. If the pump is turned off first, though, the vaccuum in the bag or jar will suck in all the fluid, rapidly filling the vacuum chamber with it, and bringing the area around the wood up to ambient pressure. the first solvents in may evaporate for a second, but if the system stays closed, as the pressure comes back to normal they will re condense and mix with the rest of the goop. You shouldn't have any evaporation of the solvents until the wood is removed and exposed to the air.

If you treat the pieces in a plastic bag, like the kind used for storing foods in a vacuum, You could draw out the air, seal off the pump, add the CPES, seal that inside the bag, then apply pressure to the bag. Sinking the bag in a deep lake is one way that has been recommended, but you need to get out on a deep lake to start with.

Perhaps you could make a pressure chamber from some 3 inch or 4 inch sched. 40 PVC plumbing pipe. I believe you can find a cleanout plug for the 4 inch size, and just solvent glue that to a short section of pipe, and put a cap on the other end. A brass filler stem from an old bike inner tube is glued into a fight fitting hole drilled in the cap. Drop the bag with your parts into this, fit on the cleanout plug, and use an air compressor to bring the internal pressure up to 20 - 40 PSI. (I think Sched 40 is rated to 120 or 140 PSI, so this is should be within the rated range.) The pressure on the outside of the plastic bag may help force some of this stuff deeper into the wood.

Hope this helps.

PGJ

: I agree though that pulling a vacuum on
: the piece to dry it out is a great idea, and that isolating the pump from
: the resin is essential to pump life. Their claim is that under ambient
: conditions they have observed CPES travelling 20 feet in the capillaries
: of balsa test blanks, so a knife handle should not be much of a challenge
: to the material.

: The CPES people can be reached at www.rotdoctor.com , and they ship direct.