Amboyna Burl on Cambridge Fountain Pen

[wizard]

Made it early this A.M. It's Amboyna Burl on a Sterling Silver and Gold Accented Cambridge Fountain Pen. Sanded to 600 grit. Applied 1 coat of thin CA followed by 8 coats of medium CA. Sanded lightly with wet 600 grit followed by MM (wet) from 1200 to 12000 grit. Finished the surface with HUT Plastic Polish. The Amboyna looked nice and tried to bring that out in the pictures. Comments welcome and thank you for looking! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
Doc

 

[Akula]

That looks wonderful. Hands down my favorite wood

 

[ctubbs]

Doc, that just may be the best one yet. Your finish is a mile deep on this one. I would ask how, but you have told us before. Is it the finish or the burl that gives it that depth I see? Your fit and finish are just barely up to your standards, but so far ahead of mine to be exceptional.
Charles

 

[wizard]

Doc, that just may be the best one yet. Your finish is a mile deep on this one. I would ask how, but you have told us before. Is it the finish or the burl that gives it that depth I see? Your fit and finish are just barely up to your standards, but so far ahead of mine to be exceptional.
Charles

Charles,
Your comments always make my day! It's the finish on the pen that gives it depth. My wife keeps telling that the finish looks more like plastic than wood.
I don't know but I like the look and durability it imparts to the pen. I use pretty heavy coats of medium CA after the initial coat of thin CA. Regards, Doc

 

[Jim15]

Absolutely beautiful, awesome work.

 

[bradh]

Very nice. Most people pick gold with silver accent with this wood, this is the first one I have seen with it the other way. Looks great!

 

[dannyshoots]

Nice work! Questions on the finish. I've done CA finishes: never 8 coats of medium though. I see where people use BLO while applying this finish. I have only used accelerator so far and had no trouble. Why are they using BLO? Does it do the same thing as accelerator?

 

[Padre]

Wow Doc, another early morning foray into the excellent!

Does that amount of CA impact the fit of the pen?

 

[phil]

Excellent work! man im a sucker for a nice burl. seems to me like you do more before 8:00 a.m. than most people do all day!

 

[wizard]

Nice work! Questions on the finish. I've done CA finishes: never 8 coats of medium though. I see where people use BLO while applying this finish. I have only used accelerator so far and had no trouble. Why are they using BLO? Does it do the same thing as accelerator?

Danny, There are probably a lot more experienced people on this site that could answer that question better than I could and I hope that they jump in on this thread.
From what I know BLO brings out and accentuates the grain in the wood. I also think it is an accelerator for CA. I quit using it because it seemed that the pens I used it with a CA finish developed cloudy spots under the CA. It may have been an error in my technique in applying it but nevertheless, I stopped using it. I use the aerosol accelerator between coats 1, 3, 5 and the last coat of CA with the spraying done from about 12 inches away with the lathe at high speed and with the lathe hood dust collection system on. Regards, Doc

 

[wizard]

Wow Doc, another early morning foray into the excellent!

Does that amount of CA impact the fit of the pen?

Chip,
That amount of CA does impact the fit of the pen and I initially found out the hard way having to strip or sand off the majority of the finish on the ends of the tubes. I now very slightly overturn the edges near the bushings to accommodate the coats of CA. After I place the tubes for finishing on John Goodin's finishing bushings I use wet 600 grit sandpaper and a caliper to taper down the ends to ensure that they are flush with the kit fittings. I follow then with the wet MicroMesh series and HUT Polish. I hope that helps. Regards, Doc

 

[Rangertrek]

Very nice, also one of my favorite woods to work with.