crosscut, midnight blue, sycamore cigar

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affyx

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
14
Location
Hampden Twp, PA
:eek: 105 views and not a single comment on my previous show off - message received loud and clear :wink:! time to step up my game! :cool:

challenged myself several ways on this one...
- first crosscut/endgrain turning (turning no issue, but splotchy finish at first, but correctable)
- first time using the skew (and used it exclusively)
- second attempt at BLO-CA and dyeing (i think the results are much better)

critiques welcomed/requested

thanks for looking!
 

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OK, ask and ye shall receive.

The photo quality of the first pens made it difficult to see details, but I can say that I like the shape of your latest pen better than the others. But that's my taste; I don't really care for the thicker, rounded off look. I like a shape that flows into the components.

I also like the fact that you appear to be willing to experiment with your pens - different finishes; different colours;and yes, even different shapes. You may end up coming around to using more of the... shall we say "tried and true" practices that people have developed over the years, but you may also come up with something new that we'll benefit from.

How's that?
 
I really like the color, and the finish looks great. The second close up photo seems to show pretty clearly that the wood is larger than the metal fittings that are pressed in next to them. This difference in the diameter of the wood and the metal parts is very obvious to the touch when a perspective customer picks up a pen. You will want to work on getting the wood down to as close to a perfect match to the metal as you can on future pens, as a mark of carefull craftsmanship. But you are well on your way!
 
JSkeen, thanks! I totally agree; the mismatch is something I need to work on. I also have quite a bit of CA buildup on my bushings now, any thoughts on cleaning those? Can I just soak in acetone?
 
Yes, you can just soak your bushings in a a bottle of acetone, that will get the CA off. But the real solution to matching the diameter of the tube to the parts is to measure the parts with a caliper, and then turn the wood to match measured with the same caliper. Don't matter what method of turning you use, bushings or between centers or whatever. I usually measure the part in question and lock my calipers on that measurement, then start turning the blank, and measure every so often once I get close. When I get right down to the point where the calipers will ALMOST slide down over the blank as close to the end as I can see to get it, I then switch to sandpaper and take it down till the calipers will just slip over the wood at the very end, and slide back up the curve just enough to see the wood behind them. That gives me just enough room to build up a good CA finish. But remember sanding is removing wood and making the blank smaller, even with fine grits, so don't get it just undersize, and THEN start working your way up through the grits, or you will have a lot of coats of ca to apply to get it back up to size. It's a "feel for it" kind of thing to guess just how much undersize to sand, and depends on how you like to apply your ca finish, and other things. But it's worth it the first time you can close your eyes and run your fingers down a pen, and not feel where the wood ends and the metal starts.

I recommend getting a dead center for your lathe to use with your live center for applying finish, even if you turn on a mandrel with bushings. You can just put the bare blank on between centers and apply the ca without getting it on your bushings, and without chipping it trying to get the bushings off. But beware, if your bushings are not perfect, or your mandrel is bent your blank will be out of round, and you will tend to sand through one side of the ca, and that's the beginning of the slippery slope to turning between centers all the time :)
 
I like the color a lot. I spend a lot of time with the calipers before I even think about pulling it off the lathe. It looks like your curvature on the lower barrel is slightly different from the curvature on the top barrel. I try hard to get those exactly the same. These things are easy for you to fix. I've even taken the blanks and skewed the CA off and started all over again. It can be the difference between a beautiful pen and one that doesn't get a lot of comments.

You just started so you're on your way to crafting many perfect pens.
 
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Thanks guys; appreciate the input!

JSkeen the dead center drive idea is brilliant!

Tanner good point on the curvature matching - i think they look too pregnant as well - the next one will be somewhere halfway between "ole blue" and straight.
 
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