Finally!!

[wdcav1952]

This blank of Jichimu that I won in a contest sponsored by Dave (Rarest Wood) totally intimidated me. I cannot tell you how many times the finish was stripped and the blanks were touched up. It still is not perfect, but neither I nor the wood can take any more stress! :befuddled:

After trying varnish, wipe on Poly, and cursing, I finally did a CA finish on the wood. The Jichimu graces a Gold Titanium Statesman kit with a fountain pen nib upgrade using one of the Lou's (DCBluesman) semi-flex steel nibs.

Thanks to Dave Lee for allowing me access to such a piece of wood and to Lou for the nib upgrade.

 

[pianomanpj]

Wow, Cav, that sure is a beautiful piece of wood. And that pen came out great! Outstanding job!

 

[DCBluesman]

Stunning, William! Probably my favorite piece of yours since the Doha pen!

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Now thats classy!

 

[Woodlvr]

Great looking pen. I cannot attempt a blank that expensive, the nerves cannot handle it. I missed the doha pen I guess, I will have to see if you posted it. Sorry to hear you have health issues, I hope that it goes away quickly and you can get back to turning.

 

[CaptG]

Awesome William, just awesome. Hope you get to feeling 100 % soon.

 

[Texatdurango]

Nice pen Cav, seeing this reminds me that I've got a few of these to try.

 

[Hillbilly]

Cav, I'm getting ready to turn a nice piece of Jichimu I got from Gary Peck on a elegant beauty. Can you give any tips on turning,drilling and finishing. Did you strip all the varnish off? It looks good but I would be a little weary to add any varnish to mine I'd be afraid that I wouldnt be able to sand it all back off if I didnt like it.

Good job, it turned out great.

 

[johncrane]

Very nice work there Cav!! your fight with the finish has payed off well done.:biggrin:

 

[ed4copies]

Absolutely gorgeous finish!!!

Well done, Cav!

Can I send you a nice piece of plastic???? Easy on the nerves.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[TBone]

Can't see how it could come out any better. Beautiful pen.

 

[wdcav1952]

Thanks all for the comments. As for refinishing, I used Acetone to partially dissolve the finish I was changing, then sanded until I got wood dust, so I feel I got most if not all of the old finish off.

The wood drills and turns very nicely. It does have some open grain, so I filled in regularly with thin CA. Other than the intimidation factor, it was wonderful wood to turn.

 

[mrburls]

Looks good to me from what I can see. I like that kit with the blank. I think thats what I'm going to use with the blank I got from Gary too.

Keith "mrburls"

 

[talbot]

Thats a beautiful pen William and the finish is superb.
All the frustration and effort certainly paid off.
Thanks for sharing .
regards, Bill

 

[fernhills]

Looks good from this end.

 

[greeneyedblackcat]

Sweet