Rotten Wood to Brass Hammer Handle - Resin Stabilizing

Resin stabilizing is a technique that I've been wanting to try for a long time. It's mostly used for turning blanks but since I don't turn very often, I never would have had a good use for the blanks. Luckily my friend Dema makes these brass hammers with resin stabilized handles and he agreed to turn any blanks that I made into finished hammers.
Dema's Links
KZbin: / mrdemcka
Instagram: / demagamayunov
Purchase one of Dema's Hammers - Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/listing/46832202...
Gentleman's Valet Box: • Gentleman's Valet Box
Companion Article: www.mattcremona.com/woodworki...
Products
CPES: amzn.to/2ikdWVB
Stabilizing Resin: amzn.to/2t3saj8
Vacuum Chamber: amzn.to/2IM6MUM
West System Epoxy Resin (Gallon): amzn.to/25TYH7y
West System Epoxy Slow Hardener (Quart): amzn.to/25TYKAr
West System Metering Pumps: amzn.to/1qicuEr
High Density Filler: amzn.to/2tfPnxN
Buffing System: amzn.to/2yfrmg8
Thank you to Triton Tools for sponsoring my work: www.tritontools.com/en-US
Support What I Do: www.mattcremona.com/support
Check out Wood Talk, a podcast about woodworking that I co-host:
www.woodtalkshow.com/
/ woodtalk
Website: mattcremona.com
Instagram: / mattcremona
Twitter: / mattcremona
Facebook: / mattcremonaww
Email: [e-mail]

[@mitchellgreene5981]

I stabilized rotten wood all the time for knife handles. I love that spalted stuff you used!

[@MakeSomething]

The vacuum pump I ordered a few weeks ago is still on backorder so I just used the link in the description. Great explanation! Thanks Matt!

[@marcuskoko5577]

Looking forward to the Make somethibg video about it c:

[@GetHandsDirty]

OMG that came out so beautiful!!! WANT! Loved all the process, great explanation and experiment, Matt.

[@JimDockrellWatertone]

Neat process, good to see Dema again on screen.

[@whazee]

Absolutely gorgeous! And that turning speed was amazing!

[@Spitzkrieg]

Thanks for showing the turning in real time. It's cool to see a person from Minnesota doing these types of things. Thanks.

[@jonwills4670]

Love everything about these hammers!

[@edwardholmes91]

It's amazing to see how you can make something so beautiful out of a piece of rotten wood. Thank you for sharing this interesting technique with us Matt. I look forward to your future experiments with dyes and other woods.

[@mc4kvb]

Wow Matt....that turned out amazing!! What an interesting treatment to do to wood. This is one of the main examples of what you can learn on KZbin...who would have ever known you could take “punky” wood into a more solid piece of awesomeness!!!! I totally enjoyed this video and thank you very much!

[@mcremona]

Thanks Becky!

[@MakeBrooklyn]

Love those hammers and that super spalted wood looks soooo cool. It's fantastic that your able to stabilize it enough to make it useful!

[@ThoenWorks]

Wow. That is beautiful. Who would need a CNC lathe when you've got Dima. That man is a machine...😎

[@mcremona]

So true!

[@LarryjB53]

One of the best explanations of the whole resin stabilization process I've seen. Thanks.

[@mccantsc]

Mad scientist Matt - great video and beautiful final product. Well done to Dema, besides.

[@albertkelly7129]

awesome stuff Matt, loved the whole process it turned out incredible.

[@mcremona]

thank you!

[@jrwren]

Super video again as usual Matt. Fascinating process, thanks.

[@gregormiller4037]

Heather mentioned a rolling pin, awesome idea. I think box wood burl would make some very nice faucet handles, door knockers, all kinds of things. Great post Mr Matthew.

[@rhihodag9873]

That spalted maple is absolutely beautiful! What a great way to stabilize the decayed wood. Great job, Dema, in turning those little gems into a useful tool!

[@lyndamcardle4123]

I have a concert-sized ukulele, the body of which is made entirely from spalted maple which is not only nice to play but is something to look at from an aesthetic point of view ! By the way, maple is probably my favourite tonewood for guitars, ukuleles etc...

[@evilbrat5376]

Never heard of or knew of this process till I stumbled on to your site. Outstanding, Now I know what some of my friends are yakking about. Learn something everyday and I have - thank you

[@supergumby8999]

Nice to see how my beautiful mallet was made. Great job Matt and Dema!

[@RobinLewisMakes]

Geez they look awesome!

[@Bergalicious38]

Two hands in air! Dema lives! Gorgeous hammer. The process is cool. Who knew cooking could be fun? ♥♥♥

[@granferthegeek4273]

Just got one of the hammers on Friday, love it. But I'm going to have to order another one, mine was "borrowed" by my wife. It's awesome to see the whole process thanks😀

[@mcremona]

Hahaha "and this is mine now"

[@Thom4123]

Very cool process, to go from basically wood you would toss to a incredible piece is so awesome. Oh and Dema that was freakin awesome how fast you’re able to produce a handle. Take care my friend

[@billedis5482]

AWESOME job, love the mallet.

[@WayWoodworking]

Too nice to even use! No scratches on the brass!

[@Mikhandmaker]

Very beautiful!!

[@GroundFN1]

great lesson thanks Matt and Happy Father's Day

[@alanblasczyk1779]

Those are really beautiful.

[@BruceAUlrich]

Those are some awesome little hammers! Enjoyed seeing the process, Matt!

[@markarmstrong2592]

Fantastic job Matt they are awesome

[@mikecaffery8832]

Very cool, and it's great to see Dema in front of the camera.

[@dougpichler501]

Great video. Thanks Matt!

[@donnymcarter]

Nice work fellas! Stabilizing is pretty fun stuff!

[@yellowmuginc]

Always learning something new from you Matt, thanks!

[@DIYHGP]

Cool project I enjoyed it tremendously

[@mcremona]

Thank you!

[@reforzar]

I’ve never baked wood soup before. Looks like it turned out great.

[@mcremona]

deliciously

[@DRAGNET-pn5vf]

Looks like they would make nice knife handles. Good job!

[@jimzivny1554]

Great project.

[@scottmaschino1927]

You have to love getting someone who has put in the time and effort to make it look so smooth and effortless, proving that you actually don't know what your doing. Lol

[@mcremona]

hahahaha

[@miketabar2327]

Good video Matt. Interesting use of otherwise useless wood. Good to see Dema again. Dema is apparently a mallet making machine. Thanks for the video.

[@mcremona]

He really is. Thanks Mike!

[@Lee-qp6gf]

Dema had a good channel and I never missed a video. Too bad he dropped out. Nice video on this.

[@michaellmello3933]

Very nice, really enjoyed that video!!

[@pirateman1966]

I love the look. Its like funky marble.

[@derekwalkerrr]

Solid work right there mate.

[@jfischer507]

Hey, you could add those metal weights that you used to hold down the wood in the epoxy as heat sinks/heat shields in the toaster oven. Placing them between the heating element and the wood could help even out the temperature within that tiny toaster oven, and protect the wood closest to the element from big swings in temperature. Love the videos, Skol Vikings!

[@blackfender100]

Handles look great Matt !

[@mcremona]

Thanks Joe!

[@HGD70]

You could make an awesome rolling pin out of a longer piece.

[@diycentral]

Thanks for the heads up about that stuff. Totally new to me since I've never needed anything like it but know that I know about it, maybe I will look for stuff to use it on :p

[@MrHennrocks]

A skew chisel on a lathe can produce a cleaner finish than sandpaper. Also never turn off your vacuum pump during the initial stage. Favorite part is when your kid asked to go to the shop and you said we in the shop lol.

[@rso1411]

fascinating video, thank you for posting.

[@waltlars3687]

Looks like a great way to make knife scales

[@andrewgillis3073]

A BIG hint, when returning unused resin to the original container, filter it. I've found a cheap funnel can be made by cutting off the top portion of a two liter soft drink bottle and putting a fine screen toward the bottom. The funnel is disposable, and it will keep stray bits of foreign matter from contaminating your next project. ^_*

[@MRrwmac]

Matt, sometimes being subscribed to many channels makes me miss a video! Unfortunately I missed this one. So I’m late to comment. Sorry. The process and results were very interesting to watch, especially when I get to see you and Dema together again! If you have any of the river blue colored resin left from the river tables, it might be cool to see that flowing through the voids of one of these handles.

[@Zakamooza]

very nice result !

[@mcremona]

Thanks!

[@FredMcIntyre]

Really cool process Matt and great job on the blanks! 👍👊 Dema's brass hammers are amazing! 😍 ...... About the two mallets, I think it's an optical illusion that the one is larger than the other, I believe that they're the same size but one only appears larger because it has a Fro on it! 😉😁

[@ianhodge7139]

Those look awesome matt

[@mcremona]

Thanks!

[@rarityfind]

Great information

[@WilliamAlanPhoto]

Fantastic!

[@KSFWG]

That is soooo cool !!

[@whosaidthat5236]

For my mallet I just used some of the old oak chunk I use for my trailer block , once I cleaned it up it looked good . Made a smaller lighter dovetail mallet out of red oak , but it got stolen by my kid and now it’s a kid sized Thor’s hammer for him

[@willow514]

Wow, Neillsville is like an hour away from me. Nice work on the handle too lol.

[@andrijafrlan]

That handle look like an awesome gear knob.

[@doak4886]

Beautiful.

[@mcremona]

thanks!

[@normjacques6853]

Great video, Matt! Really nice hammers! Unless you already have, maybe you could also do an instructional-type video about working with resin. I've seen it in a lot of your projects, and you seem to have that process down cold....and it's something I would like to learn, without making any more costly mistakes than absolutely necessary! :-) BTW, I never would have thought of stabilizing punky wood with resin, nor did I know that there were products (and a process) made specifically for this! Very cool, and thanks for putting it out there!

[@blackemmons]

Nice product!!! Happy to see ya back Dema. Get your video equipment back out or have Matt come over more often. JImE

[@christiantroy3034]

Now i have ideas, thank you

[@ROCKINWHEELERS]

outstanding...

[@drewpickard554]

That was a pretty cool process, and a interesting resin cured by heat. Kinda makes me wonder how it would look to do colored resin then cure with a torch. Less structural and more artsy use pretty much

[@GrandpaBill]

Another step you could try is after the vac and soaking. Get a painter's pressure pot. (You will have to do a few mods to it). Put the whole container into the pot and pressurize it to 60 pounds for about 8 hours, then do your wrap and bake. I like the idea that Heather has about making a rolling pins.

[@Blue_4-2]

Wow! Those handles look great, especially considering how they started. Awesome to see Dema on the channel again. Wonder how well MDF would stabilize.

[@mcremona]

I think you're on to something...

[@flyingwoodshop1545]

Great video! Thanks for sharing. I'd like to hear more about the vacuum equipment that you choose. Any tips on what to look for? Those little hammers are so cool!

[@devonanderson5039]

Happy Father's Day Matt having kid's isn't it a great feeling.

[@mcremona]

It's amazing

[@yekaterinapanferova1410]

Very cool.

[@ronwhittaker6317]

shame is 90% of folks wouldn't know what they were looking at it would be lost on them. they would never have a clue of what went into it to make it nowadays. sad but true. nice worth the time.

[@mrolfe8341]

Great watch!

[@mcremona]

thanks!

[@ernabueing4250]

Love you videos and very interesting.

[@mcremona]

thanks!

[@justinromer6128]

You should totally build a set of coffee mug like this. It would be such a fun video

[@ElLocoMonkey2012]

I have one of those early ones too! Same handle

[@mcremona]

hammer buddies!

[@phillipjones3342]

Amazing

[@jamesstanlake4064]

I have used the wood hardener by Minwax, it seems to work fine for me. I am sure the vacuum chamber gives far better penetration.

[@8stringmonkey]

Very cool! Maybe you can use dyed resin to fill in other pieces that did not work and use as pen blanks or something.

[@cobberpete1]

You've got me interested, I have some beautiful olive root, which is full of voids, and would make beautiful 'Whatever', the problem is the voids. now I need to calculate the costs and see if I can justify the chamber and resin. (sweet talk the wife). ;D

[@emm_arr]

Another interesting video. Good result. Very nice! I'm sitting here thinking about pressure treated timber in the UK. My understanding is that it's placed under a vacuum to get the air out, so the chemicals seep into the wood. I've read that it's the removal of the vacuum that helps force the chemicals in too - at the end of the soak. Basically restoring atmospheric pressure pushes chemicals into the wood. Does this mean that you don't need to soak for quite that long?

[@leapinglemurcraftworks6426]

Matt - hopefully you'll read this. You need to run the vacuum pump continuously until all of the air is pulled out. If you just stop the pump and let it sit, you will not get all of the air out of the wood and therefore will not get maximum cactus juice penetration. Ask Curtis - the guy that makes the Cactus Juice. He's great at answering questions. Also look into getting one of his Oven Tamers fir your oven. You will get a more consistent temperature during the curing process which allows you to run the oven at a lower temp. That will result in less resin coming back out of the wood.

[@DemasShopforEverything]

Leaping Lemur Craftworks the wood was so gone that it was soaked through before he hit the vacuum, on a more solid wood it is true you need to hold a vacuum longer.

[@leapinglemurcraftworks6426]

Thanks for the reply Dema. I've not stabilized a piece that was that rotten. "How long do I need to run the pump" is a common question for those new to stabilizing - I know I asked it.....multiple times. The hammers have been looking great - been following you on IG.

[@DemasShopforEverything]

Leaping Lemur Craftworks yeah it's definitely a learning curve, I've had some blanks with the pump running for 24 hours before, understanding the wood you're using is key and that knowledge doesn't come over night. This is matts first stabilize, I think he did good :)

[@CPreacher40]

would be cool if you made more than just handles for hammers. could be handles/knobs for doors, cabinets, furniture, beer tap, etc. also would like to see some mini fat souvenir bats made from a similar wood.

[@summerswoodworking]

those are real nice

[@mcremona]

thanks Brian!

[@TxStang]

very cool , next up stabilized wood knobs and pulls for furniture ???

[@lebronjordan802]

U rock Matt 👊👍!!!

[@alaskanken2132]

I would love this on my ballpeen hammer 👍👍👍

[@kvevbc80]

This would be great for knife handle .

[@waldogtv5486]

Matt's cooking show! Right when I was typing it you said "wood baked potatoes"... LOL :D

[@mcremona]

hahahaha!

[@SteifWood]

My father worked in the 60-70's with wood, resin and vacuum to develop cores for x-country glass fiber skis. Apparently the resins he developed is something now produced commercially. If he had been a business man also ....

[@terracethornhill]

That resin might be good for something like a red cedar tabletop, to give the beautiful but soft wood the hardness and resistance to scarring it naturally lacks.

[@cajunfid]

Awesome video! I'd love to know the various buffing compounds Dema uses to bring that handle up to a high quality shine. And I know this is probably a stupid question, but what is the most common use for a hammer that small?

[@motzemog]

Dema's back. Back in town. Dema's back. Dema's back. Dema's back? (Please come back.)

[@DemasShopforEverything]

Michael Gomez lol

[@user-rp1lz8sq9s]

Good video

[@mcremona]

thanks!

[@jjt3146]

Great video... Out of curiosity, I wonder how this would work on a end grain cutting board? 🤔

[@wb_finewoodworking]

Super video. Your explanation on what you were doing and what was happening is by far the best I’ve seen on this topic. After viewing it I could easily try to do this myself. Once I’ve done more turning on my new lathe and have some cash for the equipment I just might give it a try. Thanks.

[@JackmanWorks]

Shop oven mitts! You always add new tools to my shopping list Cremona.

[@mcremona]

gobble gobble or bust

[@liamcarey1085]

Oooh, fluffy thing makes shiny things