Peg

[jim carter]

anybody have any thoughts on using PEG? i just got some and it seems to bleach the wood . is this just a surface thing or will it go all the way through. any help would be appriciated.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Okay, I'll be the first to ask the obviously ignorant question.

PEG? What's that?

[John Fricke]

I'm thinking it is a wood stabilization product......just a WAG (wild a#$ guess)

[alex carey]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ight=pentacryl

This might help a bit.

[robert hainstock]

Or polyeythlene glycol is poisonous, and pretty much not used by turners anymore. It was used to process green wood. I believe until someone discovered DNA. Sorry I cannot remember more about it, but I have two blocks of it in the shop I will not use. Good luck with yours.
Bob

[John Fricke]

GENERIC NAME: POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL (PEG) 3350 - ORAL (paw-lee-ETH-ih-leen GLY-coll)

BRAND NAME(S): Miralax

Medication Uses | How To Use | Side Effects | Precautions | Drug Interactions | Overdose | Notes | Missed Dose | Storage
USES: This medication is used to treat occasional constipation. It works by holding water in the stool to soften the stool and increases the number of bowel movements. It is known as an osmotic-type laxative.

[Mike Golka]

Soooo.... you should only use it on turned stools?

[Curt Fuller]

Soooo.... you should only use it on turned stools?

That made my day!


Sorry, I know nothing about PEG

[Kyle Iwamoto]

No, but after eating salad from the bowl you'll need to go to the bathroom.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Tony Kahn]

PEG is a suspended wax solution, it absorbs quickly into the wood replacing the water like DNA does but then as the suspension fluid evaporates it leaves the wax in the cell membranes. It is typically said that your wood will not move. the main problem is the wax will affect how a finish takes. It used to be used for telephone poles, they would turn a green tree, soak in the PEG 3000 solution to keep it from warping, then send them for creosote treatment. the poisonous one is ethylene glycol, anti-freeze.

The only reason i know all this is a club member got some from someone, got cutrious and called DOW about it.

[Bob Hamilton]

The PEG that used to be all the rage for woodturners was a waxy, white substance with a melting point well above ambient temperatures. I can't remember exactly but I would guess somewhere between 120 and 150 degrees F. As I recall it was melted in water and then the solution had to be maintained at a fairly warm temperature. The green wood roughout was immersed for a few days in the solution and then allowed to dry. The PEG solution was supposed to displace the cellular water in the wood and then when the piece was dried the PEG would solidify and the wood wouldn't warp or check.

One of the problems (besides having to maintain a hot bath) was that the wood had a waxy feel to it that was incompatible with a lot of finishes. I don't recall any mention of a bleaching effect, but I would not be surprised. We used to use a chemical where I work that was polyethylene glycol 1000 (IIRC) which was a clear, colorless liquid at room temperature. We were using it with the intent of it being an anti-static agent, but found that it also improved the color (white) of the resin it was used in. I seem to remember spilling a few drops on my leather work boot one time and found it bleached the color out of the leather.

I believe Patrick Spielman wrote a book called something like "Working Green Wood with PEG". You might be able to find a copy through Amazon.

Found it on Amazon:
Working Green Wood With Peg (Paperback)

by Patrick Spielman (Author)

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Pub Co Inc (November 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806989246
• ISBN-13: 978-0806989242

Good Luck!
Bob

[Tom Lewis]

I used PEG on some wood 20+ years ago and it also leached out the color. Back then a lot of turners seemed to like it, but I never did.

[jim carter]

thank you for all the input. whats the best stuff today?

[Andrew Derhammer]

thank you for all the input. whats the best stuff today?

As someone else mentioned most turners use the Denatured alcohol method. Do a search for it but basically you soak the green turning in DNA (denatured alcohol) over night pull it out let it become dry on the surface, wrap in newspaper and let dry.

[Don Orr]

Ethylene Glycol (antifreeze) is poisonous, Polyethylene Glycol is not as has been mentioned.