Coolibah burl on Beaufort Mistral

Coolibah burl on Mistral gold with custom band and jewel. Finished with Mercury Flex and Zona paper. This is the first time I've used the custom band bushings they offer, which is a shame because I bought 'em last year. I am pretty happy with how this one turned out because I would be crying if I blew the blank.

And I really love the Beaufort kits - they are just a notch above in quality.

Lesson learned on this one - I think I'm done with the Meguiar's products - both the two part and their separate plastic polish left micro scratches on the blanks after the Zona paper did it's job. Admittedly they both did kick the shine up a notch, but I'm not certain it is worth those scratches.

Beautiful pen.

Really nice job. I just turned my first Beaufort pen and will definitely be turning more.

Wonderful final pen. Blank, turning, kit, finish = great result. Thanks for sharing.

It came out great. What material did you use for the band and finial?

In my own experience, it seems that the shine from the Meguire's (or whatever paste polish) tends to make existing micro scratches stand out rather than cause them, but I'm sure it could scratch the finish. It would be nice to know what grit the different polishes are. I agree that the Zona does a nice job on it's own also.

sorcerertd said:

It came out great. What material did you use for the band and finial?

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An acrylester blank called Eclipse from Woodturningz, mostly because I wanted to see if I could work with it at this small a scale. I admit I was hoping for more of the gold to pop.

As for Mequires - thanks for the possibility you mention. I'll try it a few more times to see if it's getting the scratches to pop or if I'm putting them in.

Very Nice. It has also been my experience that any flaws, pinholes, scratches and such in the finish whether it be a plastic blank or a CA finished blank, are often augmented rather than being attenuated by any kind of polishing cream. I have had the best luck with wet sanding using MicroMesh followed by buffing. - Dave

PS I do still use polishes on occasion, but I am very careful when I do and I often prepare the blank by wet sanding to a fine grit before applying the polishes.