Family Cedar

[tipusnr]

Here is a project I have been working on all week. The work is slow and frustrating as the wood is being extremely difficult. The wood appears to be soft but dulls my skew quickly.

I finally found a use for the CA slurry method you have all been talking about though I used it very sparingly. Since I had small chips to repair in almost every blank I extended a light coat of thin CA to the entire blank then sanded until it was almost gone. Finished with Behlen's Woodturner Seal and HUT Crystal Coat to get a good shine that is really smooth to the touch but doesn't look plastic coated.

Rifleman says he has cedar he might trade or sell and I may have some blanks when I finally finish this project. The more wildly grained and twisted stuff may need to be stabilized to preclude the fun I'm having.

Wood is extremely old!

P.S. Didn't mean to turn this into an ad as I'm not through making sawdust out of this myself yet!!

 

[Fred in NC]

Nice pens, Tip! The pic is very sharp too!

 

[C_Ludwigsen]

Great looking pens, Fred. My understanding is that Cedar is one of those very soft trees with a high silica content. So it dulls tools fast.

 

[Gary]

Just curious...why do you have to scroll left to right to read this post?

 

[Fred in NC]

Gary, the pic above is very wide.

 

[ryannmphs]

Good lookin' pens!

I've only turned the aromatic cedar and it's like Chuck said, high silica content so it dulls the tools quickly. When turning Cedar I usually have the lathe and grinder running at the same time.

Ryan

 

[tipusnr]

Thanks for the silica information. I thought my skew technigue went to #$@* a week before attending the Alan Lacer demo!!

Sorry about the picture width. The photo software I used to use was freeware and is not compatible with XP. I haven't taken the time to learn new software as the new programs are not "Tip" friendly and won't let me just tell it what I want without fifteen clicks and mouse overs in between!![B)]

 

[dougle40]

Nice looking pens Bill .
Interesting to hear about Cedar , I've got some comming and now I know what to expect .

 

[wayneis]

Tip you do nice work. I've not tried any cedar as of yet but I'll probably get to it someday. It may be just the photography but it looks like you have sharp edges where the wood meets metal, if you take a piece of either 400 or 600 grit sandpaper and while holding the blanks at about a 45% angle sand a camfer and they will blens in much better. I do this with all of the blanks that I turn, wood, acrylic or what have you. Just a little FYI.

Wayne

 

[KKingery]

Very nice looking! Your patience paid off well!