First Polaris

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bud duffy

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Feb 21, 2004
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Oreana, Idaho, USA.
This is my first Polaris i have made it is a Rhodium kit with a piece of Cocobolo left over from what i picked up to make a shoe horn for my brother . I didnt intend for it to be angled on the grain but the drill wandered crooked on me still looks pretty good this way tho, and the finish (CA) came out splotchy must be somthing with the wood cause i havnt had any problems with other woods.

541213254_Cocobolo%20Polaris%20march%2031%202005-1.jpg



541213322_cocobolo%20polaris%20march%2031%202005-2.jpg
 
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JimGo

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Jan 24, 2005
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The wood is VERY pretty! See, there's a reason to let the drill bit wander! :) Nice job on the fit, and from those pics, the finish doesn't look too bad, but I'll take your word for it. Cocobolo is a very oily wood; rubbing it down with denatured alcohol before the CA can help the CA bond better. I'm actually exploring other finishes for the oilier woods; I only have about a 50% success rates with CA on cocobolo (probably my inexperience, though).
 

Daniel

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Jan 1, 2004
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Nice Pen, I have a soft spot for tha Polaris adn I love Cocobolo. and yes it can be a bear to get the finish right with. but once you do OH MAN! it is some real fine shine. two things I can think of that woudl leave Splotches. one is the oil in the Cocobolo. remedied as mentioned above. the other is sanding through spots in the CA in the beginning stages. in this case you sand it all down bare and start over. of course with this pen I would just write it off and keep it for myself. can't sell or give away flawed merchandise. oh darn!
 

opfoto

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Dec 28, 2004
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Albany, NY, USA
I love the cocobolo wood as well. I think the wandering bit only made your pen look better. I like the way it "turned" out!!! I read somewhere that you should hit it with the above mentioned denatured alcohol before finishing as well. I also remember something about using sanding sealer would help too. Though I have not tried either method yet. Insert tagline here >....
 

JimGo

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You know, Bud, the more I come back to your pics, the more I think I might give one a try too. I'm not a big fan of the shape, but it REALLY shows off some nicely figured wood. Thanks for posting this!
 

bud duffy

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Feb 21, 2004
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Oreana, Idaho, USA.
Thanks for all the kind words guys i appreciate it. I really did not like the looks of these pens either but Ryan had them on special at Woodturningz so i figured what the heck i would try them out. And now i feel bad because when i got the pen done and held it in my hand it feels so natural i really like it i belive this will be my daily carry pen now!Oh ya now i know about wiping things made of cocobolo with alcahol before finishing, good thing too cause i just finished turning the shoehorn for my brother. Now i dont have to screw up the finish on that.
 
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