Pecan Zen with CA Finish

[TonyL]

First Zen (making my way though my bucket list ).

• Pecan blank
• 10 Coats of thin CA (BSI)
• Sand to 600 Abranet
• No MM or wet sanding. I tried something new thanks to TheWishMan and MackC (from Canada) introducing me to some Caswell buffs and compounds (even learned how to turn a 2MT).
• Meguiars 105, 205, and Rejex.

Welcome to say what even you want. I think the lens of my camera had something on it, but it did not get in the way of the pen.

Thanks for looking.

 

[liljohn1368]

Looks great...

 

[TonyL]

Thank you. I forget to add that my last three steps are always the same: Meguiars 105, 205, and Rejex.

 

[thewishman]

Looking good!

 

[TonyL]

Thank you Chris...what did I call you 30 times in two weeks? And that was alternating between you and MackC on Skype! You are both super guys. Thank you. I am going to build another set of buffs tomorrow (with the strings buffs this time).

This method will be my "ticket" out of wet sanding on CA; I fail (with a cloudy spot 20% of the time)..I had enough.

Tomorrow, my friend's wife is delivering a big sheet of plexi...more fun .

 

[Skie_M]

When I do my CA finish, I make sure to never use an accelerator. Except for the Minwax (contains BLO, I think) on the first layer of a wood barrel's finish.


Beyond that, my steps are basically your steps, cept I use PlastX and then Turtle Wax. I've NEVER had those white hazy spots you talk about.

 

[Bean_Counter]

Tony great looking pen. Zens are great kits... Is that pecan a burl? Beautiful and I'm interested in your new finishing schedule as well

 

[ironman123]

Gorgeous blank. Nice work.

 

[Joe Burns]

Beautiful pen. The Zen has always been one of my favorites. They sell well for me.

 

[1080Wayne]

Are you sure that is pecan ?

 

[propencity]

Almost looks like Amboyna

Are you sure that is pecan ?

I was going to ask the same question. Almost looks like amboyna or thuya burl. Whatever wood it is, it turned out very well. Beautiful.

 

[TonyL]

Thank you. I am only sure that the packaging stated pecan. It was also only $3. I thought I would try it given its figuring and price. It doesn't look.like any of the Amboyna that I own. I also stink with a camera.

 

[TonyL]

Tony great looking pen. Zens are great kits... Is that pecan a burl? Beautiful and I'm interested in your new finishing schedule as well

This process was not my invention. Chris c and MackC shsred their buffing process with me and I emulated it. It was nice not to wet sand. We will see.

 

[thewishman]

I figured that a 3' by 4' sheet of plexiglas will yield enough finish to cover 10,000 pens. I doubt you'll run out of plexiglas in your lifetime.:wink:

 

[thewishman]

Oh, and I learned a lot of buffing information from George Butcher (Texatdurango). Here's the thread:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/buffing-kicked-up-notch-55476/

 

[bloodhound]

for starters the pen and blank are very nice. I have some cin. burl that looks just like that. second. Back the truck up. whats this plexiglas finish you guys are talking about. can you point me to a link please? anyway nice pen and beautiful finish.

 

[Skie_M]

Lol ... he's talking about working on something using the Plexiglas ...

Possibly a display case? I dunno .. I'll wait around and see what he posts

 

[SDB777]

Nice burl...good eyes throughout! What is it though?


Scott (bucket list - check) B

 

[TonyL]

Thanks folks. The talk about Plexiglas is using it as a pen finish. I haven't tried it yet. Very, very basically...plexi is mixed with acetone and stored in a jar in a plasma/heavy molasses state. It is then thinned using more acetone for application as a finish. TheWishMan informed me about it.

Here's a link: Plexitone Plastic Finish


Getting back to the blank - the packaging said "pecan". I may have bought it from Ed (Exotics) months ago. Or one of the three stores near me that sell pen blanks. I will take more photos later and rotate the blank.

Thanks again folks!

 

[CHARLES STOPCZYNSKI]

Great Pecan

Tony,

That must be Pecan burl. I've never seen any previously. I've made pens from Pecan that were beautiful but not like your pen in the photo.

I'd love to get some Pecan burl.

Charlie

 

[Skie_M]

Oooohhh ... Plexitone looks interesting ... I bet I could use that to set my house on fire!



Wait ... that's not a good thing ....


But forget all that, how does it LOOK??? =D

 

[TonyL]

Thanks. And I checked Ed's site and he had some nice spalted pecan, but I didn't see what I had. I am going to check Hut's site. Remember, the packaging may have been missed labeled. Also remember, where I lived for 44 year's -NYC, anything that grows out of the sidewalk is a tree - so I am not the guy to know.

 

[Edgar]

That could possibly be pecan burl. I don't have any that looks exactly like that, but pecan burl is typically much darker than the normal trunk & limb heartwood. I've also seen photos of some very reddish pecan burl similar to what you have, I just haven't seen any like that in person yet.

Then again, I don't have a lot of pecan burl. Well, actually I do, but most of it is on living trees, so I won't be harvesting any of that for quite some time (I hope).

 

[TurtleTom]

Heck, I'm still doing Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Why does my pecan not look like that? I really want some, really bad.

 

[Band Saw Box]

Beautiful pen, really well done

 

[TonyL]

Thank you.

Separately, isn't acetone, CA, etc..highly flammable? Is there something about the plexiglas and acetone combination or reaction that makes it a greater hazard?

My friend was awaken by smoke alarm in his shop. He had only a small amount of BLO on a rag that must have made contact with something else. I know these perils are real, but don't want to invite more.


Comments, expert advice, anecdotal opinion, old wives' tales, and anything they saw on a Harry Potter movie welcome. I really want to know.

Thanks!

 

[Tom T]

Very nice looking pen. Great fit and finish. Thanks for sharing. Gives me something to shoot for.

 

[TonyL]

Correction: Not Pecan

Sorry folks. I visited a Woodcraft today and saw exactly what I purchased and presented as pecan.

It is thuya burl, and it was $9.99. My apologies to anyone that I unintentionally mislead. It is a packaged blank. The online WC doesn't look like close to what it actually looks like.

But this image on ebay does:

Thuya Burl Turning Blank Xxtreme Figure Amazing Quality Cues Calls | eBay

My apologies again.

 

[TurtleTom]

My friend was awaken by smoke alarm in his shop. He had only a small amount of BLO on a rag that must have made contact with something else.

[/QUOTE]

I'm nearly certain the culprit was the linseed oil as it will self ignite. It has burned more shops and homes than I care to think about. If you have BLO on a rag you need to clean it like you would a brush, with paint thinner.

 

[Chief Hill]

Beautiful pen. I've always liked the Zen. Burl woods always make a pen pop.