cocobolo baron pen

[leatherjunkie]

I finally suceeded in completing this pen.
after 1 pen breaking on the lathe(tool not sharp enough),1 pen cracking during drilling(too fast drilling) and 1 pen glue set up before tube pushed all the way in(dont know what happened here).

Coco bolo is beautiful wood but has been a pain in my side the last few days. this pen is 90 degrees cut agains the grain. with all the setbacks this pen is worth it.
gold baron roller ball pen wearing cocobolo

 

[Snazzypens]

worth it she is just beautiful. Top Job glad you persevered it is gorgeous

Toni

 

[kkwall]

Nice pen. Most of your problems are probably down to the direction of cut on the wood.[]

Lovely as cross cut blanks are, they really make a big difference during turning, and weaken the blank considerably.


That said, you did a good job on the finished pen.[8D]

 

[leatherjunkie]

Originally posted by aussie_chick
<br />worth it she is just beautiful. Top Job glad you persevered it is gorgeous

Toni

this is a new blank. the other 3 broke and went into my scrap bin for later use.
someday i will be gluing up all of the scraps that i have collected and make something out of them. but for now i am just stockpilling them.

 

[papaturner]

I like your pen and your stick to it..........Perry

 

[leatherjunkie]

Originally posted by PAPATURNER
<br />I like your pen and your stick to it..........Perry

Thanks for the comments.

as far as sticking to it, I knew that the beauty of the wood far outweighted my frustrations.
I just wouldn't let the wood win also.

 

[Rifleman1776]

What you describe is a learning process. Congrats on sticking with it. Personally, I do very few cross cuts just because of the potential problems.

 

[rhahnfl]

I agree... you learned something and ended up with a very good looking pen. Way to go... hope your next ones go better each time. Thanks for sharing... we learn too.

 

[redfishsc]

Good job, enjoy it!

Cocobolo is in my top 10 favorite. I love the smell (well, at least until the SECOND pen.. then it gets a bit overpowering).



As far as the blank blowing up while turning, obviously keep a sharp tool. I turn crosscut woods with the lathe WIDE OPEN (3700 rpm+) and use a sharp spindle gouge and skew. Cut slow, take time. The hardest wood I have ever tried to turn was a bias 45* cut tigerwood artist sketch pencil--- two blanks later I got it done....


As far as it breaking while drilling, be sure the blank is NOT SEATED-- there should be a gap under the blank where the drill bit can come out. Also, drill at around 800 rpm and use a squirt bottle of mineral spirits to lube the drill bit.


As far as the glue setting before you sink the tube, use the thick CA, no accelerator..... or just use the 5 minute epoxy. I use epoxy for 90% of my pens.



Just a few things I've learned.


As far as

 

[bob393]

Great work, nice piece of wood!

 

[Stevej72]

That is a nice piece of wood and great job turning it.

 

[Fred]

Very nice Cocobolo pen.

The CA will react rapidly with the resin in the CA and thus will set-up almost immediately. I often notice a curl of vapor coming from the wood as soon as the CA is applied and then it is set in place. Try washing the resin from the wood with MEK - my most useful thinner - and see what your results are. Just don't soak the Cocobolo to much as it may tend to change the color a bit. Wash it a little and glue the tube in place immediately to avoid the resins being leched back from the internal wood and onto the drilled hole surfaces. This works rather well for me! []

 

[Fred]

Well, CA reacting with CA can you imagine that! ... my bad! It does react immediately with the resins in the Cocobolo and other resinous woods as well. Sorry! [:0]