Anyone Using "Cactus Juice" from Texturn?

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Diamond G Knives

Well-Known Member
I know Boss Dog has been experimenting with it with satisfactory results. Just wondering if anyone else has tried it, and if so what your results or opinion was of it. Was looking at his web site, and spoke with him (Curtis) today. Very knowledgable and helpful fellow. Sees to be a fairly inexpensive way to do your own wood. Just curious who has tried it.

Thanks and God Bless
Mike
 
I used it on a bear jaw knife handle rather than wood. Worked very well and it is VERY easy to use. The stabilization added a lot of weight to the bear jaw. ...Teddy
 
I could never get the woods to absorb much of the cactus juice. The level of juice never went down like shown on the instructional video, no matter what type of wood I used. I also used the recommended vacuum pump and the TurnTex vacuum chamber. I finally gave up.
 
Brad
What type of wood did you try? And was it well dried? What amount of vacume did you achive?
Just curious what variables there were. Ive seen the video and the amount of juice it takes is very noticable.

Sorry to hear your results were less than expected.

Do you still have the equipment? If so and you are intrested in selling shoot me a PM.

Thanks and God Bless
Mike
 
I have learned wood that has moisture over 10% is a real issue with stabilizing. Every guy "in the business" I have talked to mentions this and measures the moisture content and usually takes steps to further drying the woods they use.
 
Tracey
I spoke with Curtis at Texturn and he was saying the same thing.

He said 0 % moisture was best and could be achived by oven drying.
I keep my "soon to be worked" wood in a light box to keep it as dry as possible, Im thinking that going from the light box to an oven would be ok. Should I have any fears of going from ambient moisture? I live in Arkansasand even though my wood is stored in the shop, our humidity here is above avg. I wondering if cracking is a concern by baking my "dry" wood??

Ive read your posts on stabilizing with great intrest. What was your opinion of the Cactus juice since yo uhave been playing with it for a while?

Thanks and God Bless
Mike
 
The cactus juice is good stuff and works well. I would reccomend it with out hestitation. There are also others that work just as well but no one is marketing to the hobbiest wood stabilizer as effectively. It's not cheap but neither is stabilizing professionally. Still, I would use the more expensive stabilized wood every time personally.

The wood moisture is a challenge and I sold my moisture meter a few years back. Now I need to get another one.

I've been to Arkansas dozens of times. It's humid enough to feel like a shower just walking from the house to the car.

A guy in the business gave me this tip. Buy some slica gel beads, the blue stuff that absorbs moisture. Buy an electric cooler/heater. This thing keeps food cool or warm and runs on electricity from your car or wall outlet. Put the wood and gel inside the cooler and heat it overnight to dry it out. I haven't tried it but have purchased several pounds gel beads (amazon) and will be getting an electric cooler/heater next time I see one in a store somewhere. It sounds like a very good way for a home stabilizer to dry some small batches of wood.
 
Mike,
I tried Black Walnut, Red Cedar, Zebra Wood, Black Palm, spalted Maple, Macadamia nut., Osage Orange and Koa. The vacuum gauge read close to 27. I know some of those are historically diffucult even with the professionals so maybe it was a stretch. I used a toasting oven set on 120 F for 3-4 hours to remove the moisture, per instructions from Curtis but it didn't make any difference. However, I did not check the moisture with a meter so I really haven't given this a scientific chance. Good meters were pretty expensive and I got tired of fooling with it and I'd rather spend time making knives and buy the stabilized wood. But, I think I'll keep the equipment and try it again when I get in the mood.
 
I agree with you Brad, time spent making knives will outweigh the profits from stabilizing your own wood.
I just like the idea of having the option to do it myself If I get the urge.
I am wanting to try the Aluma Lite resin that Carl uses to make his cactus resin handle material with. I think this could be a lot of
fun and come out with some cool material combinations.

As I was once told, "knife making is a journey not a destination, so enjoy the ride"

God Bless
Mike
 
Diamond G Knives said:
I agree with you Brad, time spent making knives will outweigh the profits from stabilizing your own wood.
I just like the idea of having the option to do it myself If I get the urge.
I am wanting to try the Aluma Lite resin that Carl uses to make his cactus resin handle material with. I think this could be a lot of
fun and come out with some cool material combinations.

As I was once told, "knife making is a journey not a destination, so enjoy the ride"

God Bless
Mike
Click to expand...

Mike, when you do it right, Cactus Juice is right up there with the best of them. It takes on a very nice polish and it isn't distinguishable from the stuff used by the "big boys," other than cost. I've tested pieces stabilized by a friend of mine against Moore (piece from 2013), K&G (piece from 2010), and Woodlabs (piece from 2010) and there was no discernible difference between it and Moore or K&G.
 
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