Rifleman1776
Member
The bias cut blank for this pen came from Eagle as part of a trade. Interesting wood. Making this pen entailed several 'firsts' for me. I have eschewed bias and cross cuts blanks because they can present difficulties not always found with straight cuts. I used super glue a/k/a CA for the tubes. This is not my first pen without a center band. I used micro mesh a/k/a MM for sanding for the first time. And I used CA as the finish. Turning was done in two parts. The upper barrel was on the mandrel alone, using the bushing for a European without the 'try' ring for a center band. When finished, I sanded through all grits of MM. Then I reversed the center band bushing, put the lower barrel on the mandrel and turned down almost to the bushing. I then removed the bushing and moved the lower and upper barrels together to assure a proper fit, using each other as a bushing. The lower was sanded through all grits of MM up to 12,000. At that point it looked real good. I then cleaned it with denatured alcohol a/k/a DNA and [:0] Uh-Oh! [:0], the whole thing went rough on me and raised the grain. At that point it looked lousy. I resanded through all the grits of MM again, wiped it off with my fingers, no more DNA. The grain was still quite open so I applied two fairly heavy coats of Myland's sanding sealer, waited about half an hour and gave it a length-wise hard buffing with my wool blanket. I then applied CA as my finish. That was another 'first' for me, using glue for a finish, never thought it would happen. I must be submitting to the evils of this forum. [}
] Next thing you know, I might even turn 'plastic' [V]. Oh, well. [] I was amazed at how easy it is to obtain a good finish using CA. Here I had long thought that appling finishes was supposed to entail hard work, dissapointment, angst and suffering. This was so easy I almost feel guilty. After an appropriate period of waiting and meditating, I applied two coats of Johnson's paste wax and buffed with an authentic Viva paper towel. The finish is good, not quite an Eagle, Lou, Griz finish but good. The center band a/k/a CB replacement is dymondwood.
] Next thing you know, I might even turn 'plastic' [V]. Oh, well. [] I was amazed at how easy it is to obtain a good finish using CA. Here I had long thought that appling finishes was supposed to entail hard work, dissapointment, angst and suffering. This was so easy I almost feel guilty. After an appropriate period of waiting and meditating, I applied two coats of Johnson's paste wax and buffed with an authentic Viva paper towel. The finish is good, not quite an Eagle, Lou, Griz finish but good. The center band a/k/a CB replacement is dymondwood.