It's ALIIIVVE...

[tipusnr]

OK...Not really. But it got your attention!!

Here are my latest lab experiments

The top one is fairly basic. Bubblegum dymonwood with a matt black slimline kit.

The center one is another wormy chestnut and maple glue up resulting in four stripes running down the length of the pen. Again the filling the worm holes and generally the look of the pen was disappointing. At the last part of it I also got an orange-ish (really a word?) color that dirtied up the maple right at the nib. I think I'm done with this idea![xx(]

The bottom one is one of the segmented scrapwood glue-up blanks I showed earlier. A little tricky to turn with all of the glue joints but overall I'm pleased with it. The bottom is a piece of cocobolo I used when the bottom blank blew up towards the end of the project. What's science without a few explosions anyway?[:0]

Let me know what you think. I'm trying to load a larger version of the image in my gallery.

 

[WoodChucker]

Bill, nice work on the 3 pens, I think they look great!

 

[penhead]

Relly nice looking "experiments" Tip..!!
Like the bottom one best[]

 

[Fred in NC]

Yes, Bill, very nice work! I like them all.

I like the maple/chesnut pen a lot. I had the same problems when laminating constrasting materials before.

Different woods behave differently ... hehe, that was a very intelligent comment. Well, some woods bleed the color, and some are so porous that they will fill up with sanding dust from the contrasting piece. Is that better?

Testing for bleed is very simple: DNA ! That is, rub a test piece of the same wood with some denatured alcohol. If any color rubs out, you might have a problem when laminating with a lighter color, especially if the finish has a solvent.

If the darker wood does not bleed, then I seal the wood. After sanding to 400 I dust the barrels very carefully, and apply a couple coats of sanding sealer. I use blonde shellac, which dries very fast. Then I continue sanding. This has helped me a lot.

Filling holes with sawdust/CA has not worked for me. The CA seeps into the adjoining wood, and changes the color. I am using Elmer's for lighter wood, and Titebond for darker wood.

Bill, you are getting very good results, don't give up on the lamination. People seem to like that kind of pen.

 

[Gary Max]

Graet looking pens---The second one would be my favorite.

 

[PenWorks]

Good job Tip, nice pens and experiments.

Anthony

 

[tipusnr]

Thanks for the comments! I like your ideas Fred. Never thought to "prewash" the blanks though the laundryroom IS right around the corner.

 

[DCBluesman]

I love your glue ups. Don't give up. Remember Edison and the light bulb. According to him, he didn't fail 99 times, he discovered 99 ways NOT to build a light bulb. You've just discovered your first way NOT to laminate maple and chestnut!

 

[jwoodwright]

Nice pens and great ideas...

 

[dougle40]

Good stuff Tip . I tried a different wood glue-up recently - Purpleheart and Aspen -- MISTAKE !!!!!!! I've still got 1/2 of the pen laying around , the other 1/2 is all over the floor somewhere !!!

 

[wdcav1952]

Tip, For an explosion, the bottom pen is my favorite. BTW, was that you at the table behind me in science lab????