Multiple material pens and finishing

[Sugar Creek Pen Co.]

I have a hypothetical pen, it has a hybrid body (wood and urethane), ebonite section and finials. The cap is ebonite and urethane/wood accent. There are also metal accent bands. Layout is like the sample photo just with wood/urethane hybrid instead of the boatite, assume metal where the thin yellow bands are.

How would you suggest finishing it with all the different materials??

 

[d_bondi]

Nice looking pen Frank. I interested in all the feedback you get.

I made a pen where the barrel and cap were wood, lined with black ebonite including small accent rings at the mating ends and an ebonite section. In my case, the wood was Goncalo Alves (Tigerwood) and is quite hard so I sanded everything to 800 and left the wood natural and the ebonite matte. I really like how it turned out and I have used it quite a bit. Over the past year, the wood has darkened a little. Below are a couple pictures from right after I completed it.

This worked for me, but I think the species of wood will dictate if it is advisable to leave it natural without finish.

I think this would work for wood and hybrids, if you like matte finish, which I do, even on alumilite/acrylics. I don't know about the metal accent bands, I think that brass would tarnish and aluminum would oxidize over time.

 

[Hippie3180]

I will be following this thread, it is a conundrum how to finish when using varied materials.

 

[Dustman]

My first thought is CA using as few coats at possible.

 

[leehljp]

Is it for you, or to sell? For you, do as you prefer.

To sell - make it as shiny as you can. GluBoost or other CA. There are other clear finishes you "could" use for a different shine, but lacquer, or polys or other - could cause reactions such as softening/disolving of some parts, or leaching and blurring colors. CA has generally been the best inert finish for a conglomerate of different materials and dark or red woods.

While you didn't ask for this, one of the best ways to prepare a multi color and multi material blank for finishing is not with sandpaper. Use a very sharp scraper or even a skew laying on it side and turn the lathe on 2500 - 3000 and barely scrape the outside edges clean. There are a few who do this with using the skew in the normal way. Sandpaper (SP) smooths the blank but it SMEARS it also. Wiping with DA or using an eraser does some good but not nearly as clean as a very controlled scraping action at high speeds. Soft woods won't do well unless it is stabilized. Hard wood and hard cast material and metallic bands work well and as smooth as using 600 or more SP. DO NOT be tempted to sand or it will only smear again. In some cases, if using a scraper on some cast materials, a negative rake scraper or carbide insert might be more effective.

IF you add CA, add a thick enough coat that you do NOT sand through the CA to the blank, or it will be noticeable, even if you go back and add more coats of CA after.

 

[jttheclockman]

I have no idea what the materials you are describing which is which. But you can put a coat or 2 of CA on it. Many people do this even when doing just an acrylic blank. Especially Alumilite blanks because they seem to not build up to a nice shiny finish. Now I will not swear to it that will work because ebonite is like a rubber I think and CA and rubber not sure play well together.

 

[MedWoodWorx]

masking the ebonite somehow and applying ca only on the wood is out of the question? can polished ebonite match the ca in terms of shine or the contrast would be too bold?

 

[NJturner]

I would use a few thin coats of fill and finish GluBoost to the whole pen, after first cleaning the pen body with some denatured alcohol to insure all possible contamination is removed. It should adhere to all components and help provide a smooth finish while protecting the blank.

 

[walshjp17]

Personally, after sanding, I would use micromesh sheets (dry) followed by an abrasive paste (e.g., Yorkshire Grit, Ackleys, shop made) then a polishing paste from the same source as the abrasive paste and then finish with a micro-crystalline wax (e.g., Renaissance Wax, Hampshire Sheen, etc.). You could also use Magic Juice in lieu of the pastes and waxes but MJ is better suited to resins/epoxies rather than wood.