Customer Comments

It is always a pleasure to do business with someone who has fast and knowledgeable service. I will always buy my supplies( I.e. cactus juice and aluminite) for now on from Curtis. Thank you for an enjoyable shopping experience!!

 

Dan Sims

I ordered a range of the Casters Choice mica powders and very pleased with the overall process from ordering, the time it took to ship, and the quality product provided.

I ordered some items for Stabilizing the wood for making pen blanks. The items were processes very quick under 24 hours and shipped out. It arrived very fast and in perfect shape. This is the go to company for all your stabilizing needs. I recommend this company to everyone of my casting friends. Once again thank your Sir for what you bring to the pen making world.  Very Respectfully Michael Mumford 

Curtis and his team process orders very quickly!  I was amazed at just how fast they were able to get my orders shipped out for being such a small business.  Excellent customer service and concern for satisfaction.  I will definitely do business again and you should too!

Thanks for the order Curtis.  The shipping was very fast, packaging was excellent, and the product arrived in perfect condition.  I was amazed at the amount of communication and tracking information that I received.  I knew where my package was at all times.  I do not order Alumilite often but when I need to re-order I will certainly go with Turntex.  Thanks again!

 

 

TurnTex and Cactus Juice are fantastic.  Have been using Cactus Juice to stabilize and dye burl for Guitar rosettes.  I put in an order for just a pint.  Curtis responded and had it shipped within an hour with a nice not thanking me for my business.  The package arrived within a few days.  Shopping on-line or off doesn't get better than than that!    

Always quick friendly service, and Curtis is happy to answer any questions I may have !! 

thanks for the order of cj arrived on time nicely packaged alls good but we need to address the freight content $260.00 new zealand dollars to ship 3 gallons of cj and a set of tints ,

 

My Comments:

I am sorry for the high shipping.  Unfortunately, international shipping is expensive.  I only charge my cost too!

I have been buying from TurnTex for about 3 years, they are great, the products are great and the support is the best!!!

I ordered Cactus Juice 1qt and the bottle didn't come with any activating agent like the gallon size did. Even the instructions and the website didn't say anything about having to add it. If the quart size bottle is "ready to use" that would have been nice to know. The majority of the information I was able to gather for the product was online via forums and YouTube.

 

The product seems okay, but during the vacuum process I pulled it to -30psi (yes I know more is always better but my pump wasn't able to handle that) at a 70deg ambient temperature in my shop and the bubbles only came out for about 5 minutes before they were gone.  I continued for an hour as recommended and then left to soak for another 3 hours.  This happened on both koa and maple woods I had (separate batches).  I don't know if the resin is too thick or not, but it didn't show like I had seen online.  After baking at 200deg for an hour it had the extra resin hardened on the outside.  I question whether or not I got full penetration. 

 

I will do a few more tests on various woods and continue to process with the Cactus Juice I do have. I'm hoping the final results are as hoped as I do not want to have to purchase pre-stabilized wood when I have the tools to make my own.

 

My Comments:

My website is full of all kinds of information on using Cactus Juice.  The Help Center has a number of articles including full directions for use.  Also, at the bottom of the page where you added the Cactus Juice to your cart, there is a tab titled directions that include the full directions.  I also provide a link to the Help Center in the order confirmation e-mail that I sent out the moment your order is placed.  Lastly, we include a sheet of Tips for Best Results in every order that is basically the directions in brief.  The description for the quart you purchased says "One Quart (946 mL) Cactus Juice Stabilizing Resin-Ready to use, no activating or mixing required"  We normally also put a sticker on the bottle cap stating ready to use.  If that was not there, I apologize

 

Couple of points just FYI.  Vacuum is measured in inches of mercury, not -psi.  Your gauge was showing InHg (abbreviation).  Perfect vacuum at sea level is 29.92" Hg.  You can not exceed that, no matter what pump you are running.  If you were pulling 30 InHg, you were at full vacuum and must be close to sea level.  That is all you can do and was perfect!  As for bubbles only lasting 5 minutes...not possible.  the foaming may have only lasted 5 minutes but I guarantee there were still bubbles coming way after that.  What are you using for a vacuum chamber?  How well can you see into it?  If you were using a cooking pot style chamber, they are difficult to see the bubbles just looking down from the surface.  In 12 years of stabilizing, I have never seen any wood that stops bubbling in 5 minutes.  Most take at least 5-6 hours, many taking 12 or more.  If you only went 1 hour, you did not get all the air out and as a result, did not get optimal results.  My directions state to pull vacuum until the bubbles stop.  It does not say for only 1 hour.   There is no amount of time that anyone can give for how long that will take as every wood is different.  The Cactus Juice is certainly not too thick.  It has nothing in it to evaporate and is quality control tested for every batch to rigorous standards.  All of the Cactus Juice I sell is between 6-8 CPS in viscosity. If you are not familiar with CPS, water is 1 and most epoxies are 400-500

 

In case you missed it, here is the link to the full Directions for Use:  https://www.turntex.com/help-center/cactus-juice-stabilizing-resources/60-using-cactus-juice
Here is a link to the Help Center regarding Cactus Juice.  This area includes info on selecting a vacuum pump, vacuum and how it relates to stabilizing max vacuum calculator, as well as other useful information on stabilizing.  https://www.turntex.com/help-center/cactus-juice-stabilizing-resources

 

First things first: the product I ordered is great.  I have now ordered the "Cactus Juice" wood stabilizer -which I use for making knife handles and bespoke jewelry and such- three times.  It is a great product, very easy to use as long as you're able to follow some simple instructions.  I would recommend (and have, on many an occasion) recommend this product to fellow woodworkers. 

On top of the quality of the product, I'd like to mention that the quick turnaround on orders is remarkable.  It is worthy of note that the shipping was swift and cheaper than other vendors of the same product.  At no point did I find myself wondering where my order was, or if it had by mistake been left to languish for a day or more until "the next guy" got around to it.  100%, I would buy the product from TurnTex again!!

Great product, unmatched personal service at tunntex

Received my order sooner than expected. Well packaged. Curtis was very quick in responding to a question. Not sure he actually sleeps because he is so good at customer service.

My items were packaged and a shipping notification was sent within an hour of me placing my order. I ordered Alumilite dyes and they work like a champ. 

Great product. Great service, even despite a snafu on my part. My hat is off to Curtis and Gaige!

I really don't know what to add that has not been left in previous feedback. If you want to learn to stabilize and need mentoring, you have reached the correct place. I tip my hat to Curtis and his team, always same day shipments, packed correctly and securely. That is except for the time I got two boxes of cats. That is a joke and guess you had to be there. Plethora of knowledge is available and called Customer Service. You are not buying a product, and you simply can't just buy knowledge. You are buying a guiding hand, mentor, or tutor. I can't say enough good things about TurnTex or Curtis personally!!

 Hello, the juicer is easy to use. Being new to this the website answered all of my questions.

Very good people.

Thanks

Gerald Wheeler

 

 

This is my second usage (gallon) of the cactus Juice.  In my previous usage I had some questions and called for clarification on some issues.  The response from Curtis was helpful and given without a problem (friendly and knowledgeable).  I expect to do another multiple batch again and expect to order another gallon.

i did receive cactus juice, on the smaller pieces of wood it seemed to work great, I think the cobbled together vacu system I used isn’t good for the larger burls I was trying it on. I will look into getting a better system, once activated  how long will the cactus juice last in the bottle?

 I ordered a vacuum chamber from TunTex and the customer service from Curtis Seebeck was most outstanding.

On December 16th I left a message online asking when my chamber would ship, I planned to stabilize some pen blanks for Christmas presents. Curtis got back to me via his cell phone, he was out of town deer hunting and promised as soon as he got back he would jump on and get it out to me.

Curtis got my chamber out on Monday sent it overnight express. He followed it up with phone calls and emails to ensure delivery. As luck would have it UPS didn't deliver it as scheduled and Curtis followed up with UPS and more phone calls to me with status. He was in contact with me all the way until it was delivered on December 20th.

I cannot say enough about the fantastic customer service he provides. I have never experienced service like this anywhere, he sincerely cares and this makes a huge difference. I will always patronize TurnTex for all my casting and stabilizing needs.

Thank you Curtis.

Pete Koths

Have made a few orders from TurnTex the past couple years,  and every single one was positive. Fast confirmation, fast well packaged shipping.   Quick and thorough response to pre and post sale questions.

I know exactly where to go for any questions stabilizing and alumilite, to get the "this is the way IT IS" answer,  regardless of what I may WANT to hear, but equally as important to me,  the follow up  "because..." explanations. 

Game well played,  Curtis. I wish you the best. 

Steve Milone

Great Service. Ordered online and had it in 4 days. I would highly recommend Turntex.

Very consistent product. I follow the directions and come out with great results every time! I've used other products found in big box hardware stores. Reading the warnings on the bottle , I am not sure I would want to be in the same room.  I still wear gloves and avoid contact but its nice to know its much safer than the big box brand I was using.   

I have been wanting to learn how to stabilize wood and ordered my cactus juice and dye. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first, but after I started , it was entertaining and fun. It worked well and I have bought some more spalted wood to play with. Thanks TurnTex, and I will be ordering more product soon...Do you by chance sell a "how to" video that shows the complete process from start to finish? It would be nice to see how to double dye....Jim

I have been very satisfied with the product I have purchased from you and will continue to purchase Cactus Juice as I need it,

Great service and great products.

I have waited to review the products I had purchased until after I completed my first batch of stabilized wood. I am very pleased with the results, and with the quality and ease of use of the Turntex products. 

I purchased the vacuum chamber, Cactus Juice resin, and temperature controller with timer. I also followed the recommendations regarding choice of vacuum pump and bought the American-made pump. Everything was easy to set up and appeared well made. I was particularly impressed with the digital temperature controller for the toaster oven. I was initially skeptical that the temperature could be controlled that precisely, but after tuning for my oven with the provided directions, and initial heating and stabilization, the oven maintained the temperature within a half degree for six hours of use. 

The vacuum chamber is very well built and fit and finish is excellent. It was definitely worth the wait, which was quite a long time. But I am very pleased with the finished product. The vacuum pump quickly drew the vacuum down, but it was very smoky with much oil mist. I must add, the vacuum pump was not sold by Turntex so this part has nothing to do with his product. The air was quickly drawn out of the wood, and within ten minutes, the stream of bubbles had dwindled to a trickle. I had stabilized a 6" x 6" x 1.5" piece of hard maple, a half dozen 2" x 6" x .5" pieces of wenge, a block of elm burl, and a strip of ebony in my initial test. I had ordered a very large chamber; 8" x 16", and was able to easily accomodate this amount of wood. After drawing a vacuum and when most of the bubbles had stopped, I released the vacuum and turned off the pump. It was several days before I had the time to remove the wood and put it in the toaster oven, so I am sure the resin had completely penetrated the wood during it's time in the vacuum tank. 

I was not interested in stabilizing wood for pen blanks and I had intended to use it for much thicker and bigger pieces of wood than what is generally used for pens. So I erred on the side of caution when it came to curing in the toaster oven. I left the wood in the oven for six hours to ensure that the resin had cured completely through the thicker pieces. Since I have not yet machined any of the wood that I have cured, it remains to be seen if I waited long enough. But there was no uncured resin when I unwrapped the wood blanks so I remain optimistic.

My recommendation of the Turntex products is very positive, and I feel that they are worth their cost. I am a firm believer in paying a premium for quality and buying only once. And in paying a premium to buy American. I have no problem recommending the Turntex products to others who have a need to stabilize wood. 

Turn Tex has amazing Service and a great company to order from. 

As always, order complete and on time. I'm from Canada and order from there instead of here as I get great info before I order. 

I find people at other companies don't know there products. Phoned up a huge epoxy company in Toronto, Canada, and the salesman could not tell me any info on there epoxy I wanted and when I asked for someone that could I was told they just sell the products I would have to email the manufacturer. So I ordered from a company in the states. Curtis has emailed me back promptly numerous times and knows what he sells.

Glenn.

Canada customer. 

Quality products 

It all started when I bought a blank of Spalted Red Palm from cookwoods.com., for a Puukko knife handle.

While researching what was needed to do to the blank to make it workable, Everything pointed to stabilization.

Googling that one term led me to a bunch of Youtube videos. that in turn pointed to TurnTex and all the information I would ever need to do the job right the first time.

I chose to assemble my own tank using some bits from TurnTex and HomeDepot since I had most of the 1/4 not fittings already.

Now I have all the parts (along with some Alumilite Dyes, ,Cactus Juice, Qt paint mixing cups w/lids, mixing sticks) waiting to be put together Christmas morning .

All for my little piece of Red Palm (and my growing collection of small burls and worthless wood I run across while camping) 

Everything I will ever need to feed this new part of my knife making hobby can be found at TurnTex! (and Amazon)

I will have to stop in to say Hi, the next I am near San Marcos!

 

PS. A Tip when trying to figure out what colors to mix to make what, give trycolors.com a try!

PSS. WalMart.com has Toaster Ovens for $17.06

 

 

Curtis always has good stuff. Good guys. Good family. Quick shipping. Lots of stuff in stock. Super smart dude

I have never had any issues with TurnTex and have always received my orders promptly. Everything I have ordered from Curtis has been packaged well and so far no damaged items. Curtis has always answered any questions I have asked. Thanks Mike McVay Garland, Texas

I ordered cactus juice on a Sunday and received on the next Thursday during the Holiday season.  I have only used it twice and it has worked great.  Now I look at every thing wondering if it can be stabilized and turned.  It will definitely be fun to try stabilizing different things.  Thanks for providing the great service along with a great product.  

Your top notch products and the freedom in which you share your knowledge will keep me as a customer until I’m no longer wood turning.  

I am pleased to order from Turn Tex. the service is excellent and the turn around time is quick.

Tried cactus juice on some Oak I had  on site. The wood was decayed and had worm holes. Have never been able to reliably machine the wood. Cactus juice firmed it up and made it easy to turn. I ordered another two gallons and the temperature controller. The temp controller saved a lot of trial and error on the oven control. Shipping was fast from Texas but my second shipment was delayed by UPS because of our wildfires. It took them a week after evacuations were lifted to find the trailer with my shipment. Again it was a UPS problem not TurnTex. I will order again without hesitation.

Great selection and products

Hi Curtis,

Got the really large chamber I ordered, looks great and I am looking forward to testing it out. Really liked the little touches (like the label on the gauge) and the attention to fine detail. Thanks for all your help as well, I know my application is really odd but the support you gave me really helped.

Cheers

Paul

Fastastic product, worked better then expected. Your products are going to be continued to be used by me now and in the futur.

Thank you so much

Ed

Fast shipping and great customer service. I like the small businesses with real people.

Shipping is always quick and the customer service is excellen. 

Box received was rough but product was not damaged. Thank you for your support and service. Jim

i bought a gallon of cactus juice and used it halh up in one day.  I have a back lot with some great hardwood that has been laying for too long, I'm going to revive it with the cactus juice and make psalter boxes with the stabilized wood.  

Love what this product can do.

thanks turn tex for this great stuff!

cathy

I am a repeat customer of TurnTex and once again received excellent service.  My order was shipped within two days of sending it right around Thanksgiving.  Curtis is a delight to work with and has helped me develop my skills with both stabilization and alumilite casting.  Great guy and great company to work with.

GREAT SERVICE  Real caring people

GREAT SERVICE  Real caring people

As usual turn tex customer service is right on point. They ship almost as soon as they get the order. Got it in 2 days

The only problem was delivery. It was ordered on November 26th and we did not receive it untill December 5th

 

My comment:  The order was placed in the evening of Sunday, 11/26th, a holiday weekend.  There was a notice on my site that orders may not go out on Monday due to taking the previous Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving and a long weekend.  We busted butt on Monday, 11/27 and got all orders out anyway, including this one.  It was ready for pickup by UPS by 3:25 pm and was picked up by UPS at 7:22 pm meaning we shipped it the same business day it was received.   UPS Ground was chosen as the shipping option which is seldom the quickest method and UPS, being the holiday season and the week after a long weekend, had some delays.  This was conveyed to the customer in an e-mail from UPS as an exception notification.  We did our job above and beyond what was stated on my site by working extra hard and late on Monday to get all orders out.  Once a package is handed off to the carrier, any delay is beyond our control.

All companies should take note of Turntex’s customer service .  You guys got the customer service down to a science. If other companies had as good customer service as Turntex there would not be a requirement for customer service departments. 

 

Keep up up the great work. 

 

Thanks,

 

Michael Kuklok