First attempt at custom finial and recessed clip.

[propencity]

This was my first try at custom turning a finial and applying what I've learned here on how to recess the clip. The wood is rosewood burl that I had gotten from Gary Max awhile back.

I'm still working on improving the CA finish; ridges are still visible. I've tried CA with BLO and without BLO. Sanded up to 12k MM and even used plastic polish on top of the CA finish. I'll get it just right one day.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

 

[Jmhoff10500]

Good looking pen! The best way i have used to get ridges out of the CA is to hit it with 600 grit sheet paper (not pads, or wet sanding)(strips work great) and sand till there is no more shiny parts... If you anticipate that you are going to do this you might want to put an extra coat or two on...

This was my first try at custom turning a finial and applying what I've learned here on how to recess the clip. The wood is rosewood burl that I had gotten from Gary Max awhile back.

I'm still working on improving the CA finish; ridges are still visible. I've tried CA with BLO and without BLO. Sanded up to 12k MM and even used plastic polish on top of the CA finish. I'll get it just right one day.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

 

[Mark]

With ridges I've done the same, only used a dry MM then went to wet MM and so on.

Nice looking pen. The rosewood burl is sweet.

 

[Rfturner]

it looks great as far as the finish goes if you sand to much past 600 the pores of the wood start to get clogged up and the finish has a hard time sealing. I use a CA/Blo finish and I was able to get the ridges out of the CA try one layer of BLO then CA it may or may not help, You might also be using too much CA all at once so it dries in little ridges. Try to use a little less CA and it will probably clear up that issue. If you have any questions PM me

 

[ldb2000]

Mark , that came out great for a first attempt . Check out the Penmakers Challenge stage 2 going on in the Advanced penmaking forum right now . We are just finishing the 2nd stage in which we made custom finials and practiced on doing tenons for finials and segmenting on the lathe . You might be able to pick up some tips , some of the guys have done some amazing work there .
As for your finish , just keep practicing . A good CA finish is something that requires allot of practice . Your finish technique looks ok and is working for you so don't make any major changes , just perfect what you are doing .

 

[propencity]

CA Finish

Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions. I know I can always count on you folks here to come up with things to try that will help the process.

What I've done before, including on this pen, was to go through the whole sanding process, from 320 to 12k MM and then apply the CA/BLO. Next time I'll make a slight adjustment. I'll pause the sanding process at 600, then apply the CA/BLO, then proceed with 600 to 12k MM sanding, and finish it off with plastic finish.

Keep you posted...

 

[Ligget]

Good suggestions on the CA problem, fantastic looking pen otherwise!

 

[propencity]

I forgot to add.

I turned a tenon on the upper blank for the centerband to fit in (typical Euro).

On the custom finial, I turned a small remaining piece from the original blank on a glue chuck, until I got the same measurement as the upper end of the top blank; I also turned a tenon on the other end of the finial just small enough to easily fit through the upper blank's 7mm tube. I did reinforce the fit with a drop of CA on the inside lip of the tube to permanently place the finial.

The recessed clip was done by drilling with 7mm on the upper tube followed by 11/32 bit (hand-drill cause I wanted to go very slow) to create the 1/8" recess. I used a small dremel type tool to cut the notch. Again all this I learned from reading thru the articles available in the Library; great stuff.