Thuya burl finished pen opening (cracking?) up. Reasons/Fixes?

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jschoolcraft

jschoolcraft

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I showed off this pen in Burls really steal the show. So as not to bury the lead: after a week or so of sitting in my office the tube felt a bit sticky and there were cracks on some of the swirls in the burl:

[EDIT: Must have used a private image]

IMG_9474.jpegIMG_9475.jpegIMG_9476.jpeg

This is a picture after I disassembled the pen and put it back on the lathe. I'm not sure what happened. More importantly I'm not sure if this is a one off thing or how I can prevent it in the future.

I'll include the original pen image at the end but it came off the lathe silky smooth and I've been finishing all my pens the same way for the last month or so:

  1. Sand through the grits (120 - 600)
  2. Wipe down with alcohol (isopropyl. I don't have denatured and haven't tried to find everclear or similar)
  3. Apply Mylands sanding sealer
  4. Use Yorkshire Grit abrasive paste
  5. Apply 3-4 coats of Doctor's Workshop Pens Plus (applied at 100s RPM, then friction at 2500-3000 RPM, let it cool down for a few minutes between applications)

I haven't applied Renaissance Wax since switching from Mylands Friction Polish to Pens Plus.

This is my only pen, that I know of, that has done this.

Original pen post:

img_9460-jpeg.381877
 
Last edited:
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I've had redwood burls that grew, shrunk, moved, or something that made my CA finish craze or crack. Sanding and refinishing has always fixed it for me. I don't know what the cause was though. I've speculated that it was because the burl absorbed more alcohol and I didn't let it dry out long enough before finishing. I've just made it a practice to let burls dry for an hour or two between cleaning and starting to apply a finish.

Mylands sealer and Pens Plus are both shellac based, and are soluble in alcohol, so maybe residual alcohol in the burl softened them back up???? - Dave
 
egnald said:
I've had redwood burls that grew, shrunk, moved, or something that made my CA finish craze or crack. Sanding and refinishing has always fixed it for me. I don't know what the cause was though. I've speculated that it was because the burl absorbed more alcohol and I didn't let it dry out long enough before finishing. I've just made it a practice to let burls dry for an hour or two between cleaning and starting to apply a finish.

Mylands sealer and Pens Plus are both shellac based, and are soluble in alcohol, so maybe residual alcohol in the burl softened them back up???? - Dave
Click to expand...
That's good to know. I don't soak down the blanks, I cover the top of the bottle with paper towel and turn it over then apply it. I think in this batch of 4 pens I sanded wiped down with alcohol and then started sanding the next pen before I started with sanding sealer and the rest of the process.

I'd guess at least 30 minutes between alcohol application and sanding sealer. Anything is possible but I would have expected the alcohol to have fully evaporated in just a few minutes.
 
jschoolcraft said:
That's good to know. I don't soak down the blanks, I cover the top of the bottle with paper towel and turn it over then apply it. I think in this batch of 4 pens I sanded wiped down with alcohol and then started sanding the next pen before I started with sanding sealer and the rest of the process.

I'd guess at least 30 minutes between alcohol application and sanding sealer. Anything is possible but I would have expected the alcohol to have fully evaporated in just a few minutes.
Click to expand...
I agree, 30 minutes should be plenty long enough for alcohol to fully evaporate. - Dave
 
This happens to me far too much. I have a beautiful Thuya pen that looks just like yours and has been placed in the pile that need disassembly and redone. I almost always trash the plastic threads when I disassemble.

I just bought a pile of stabilized woods because this is too heartbreaking. The dry winters and humid summers in PA are too much.
 
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