My first posted pen

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
See more from wortmanb

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I didn't see the pictures at first, but they are there now. Good first picture post, keep posting.

Ed
 
Last edited:
Nice pen and very nice photos. The wood is interesting and goes with the kit. If this is your first post - WHOA! Please share more!

If I may suggest something - contact Rick Herrell from this forum and look into his sander. I mounted mine on an MT2 and do a final sanding and squaring after most of the turning is completed. After using the sander I do my final sanding and finishing of the tubes. The pen components are REALLY tight when the kits goes together with this technique.
 
mikespenturningz said:
Very nice indeed. Great fit. What do you use for finish? I like the finish what ever it is?
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure what's actually still on there.

I put on about 6 coats of CA then wet sanded to 12000 and hit it with some hut plastic polish. That didn't give it quite enough gloss for me, so I took it to a buffing wheel and ran it through Tripoli, white diamond and finally carnauba wax. In the process, the wheels reintroduced a lot of rippling in the finish (well, in the wood, presumably) so I have to conclude that the CA was probably not still present by the time I got it over to the wheel. So the current finish I'd wager is just carnauba wax.
 
mmayo said:
Nice pen and very nice photos. The wood is interesting and goes with the kit. If this is your first post - WHOA! Please share more!

If I may suggest something - contact Rick Herrell from this forum and look into his sander. I mounted mine on an MT2 and do a final sanding and squaring after most of the turning is completed. After using the sander I do my final sanding and finishing of the tubes. The pen components are REALLY tight when the kits goes together with this technique.
Click to expand...

I will -- it's not my first pen, maybe my 15th or so, but it's the first one I've felt strongly enough about to post.

I'll do that -- I've discovered that with burls, if I just take another blank and use it to back my Abranet sandpaper in the lower grits (180-500), that seems to help with keeping the sanding even, but I'm always looking for things that help with fit & finish. Thanks for the tip!
 
Very pretty pen! Are the burls difficult to turn? I love the swirly patterns they make, but haven't had the opportunity to turn any yet.
 
Can't wait to see more from ya if this is the first(posted at least).
I'd keep it too:biggrin:

How many have you done?





Scott (sounds like someone I know) B
 
tigerlily said:
Very pretty pen! Are the burls difficult to turn? I love the swirly patterns they make, but haven't had the opportunity to turn any yet.
Click to expand...

They take time & patience, and I did one early ( < 5 pens turned) that didn't turn out so well. Now I know better to take these slowly and carefully. I also use a Woodchuck Pen Pro on them, so I'm cutting with carbide instead of my HSS tools.

At this point, I'd wager I've turned about 25 pens, give or take. I've got 16 in a roll at home and have given a few away to friends. Sold one or two. Thrown lots of blanks into a "lessons learned" box that I keep opening now and again when I'm feeling cocky. :)

Learning to take shallow cuts and work slowly, look for sawdust more than shavings near the end, and back my sandpaper with another blank when sanding the coarser grits (180-500) have really helped me get good results out of burls. But I'm still learning on every single blank I turn. Which is awesome.
 
Pen looks great and the photo isn't as bad as you think. That's one of the nicest piece of afzelia burl I've seen in a whipw
 
wortmanb said:
mikespenturningz said:
Very nice indeed. Great fit. What do you use for finish? I like the finish what ever it is?
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure what's actually still on there.

I put on about 6 coats of CA then wet sanded to 12000 and hit it with some hut plastic polish. That didn't give it quite enough gloss for me, so I took it to a buffing wheel and ran it through Tripoli, white diamond and finally carnauba wax. In the process, the wheels reintroduced a lot of rippling in the finish (well, in the wood, presumably) so I have to conclude that the CA was probably not still present by the time I got it over to the wheel. So the current finish I'd wager is just carnauba wax.
Click to expand...

Hi Bret,

I like your efforts and I particularly like the pic composition and quality, that aspect of pen making and displaying, is a hard one to tame...!

In regards to the finish, I think you may be right, by the time you finished with the buffing, wasn't much CA left on the softer parts of the blank/wood/burl, reason why the gloss is patchy and the surface in not smooth anymore, I think a case of, too much is not always best...!

However, the shape and fit are quite good so, you may want to practice a little with the CA coating, 6 coats if thin CA is not enough, particularly on soft patched woods/burls, thin CA for the first couple of good soaking coats is great but after that, a medium CA will leave a lot more thickness behind, allowing the finish to still be gloss and deep after all the sanding and buffing.

I keep it like that, it will be you best example to compare with as you CA finish gets to where I know you want it, and I know you can achieve so, something to target for...!

My opinions and suggestions are based upon the intent to give you constructive "feedback" something that many people would like to make but, are too scared to offend, that would be the exact opposite intent for them and me, I'm sure.

Keep up the good work...!

Cheers
George
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom