Redwood Burl - First Closed End Pen

[Sprung]

Got a set of pin chucks in from Rick Herrell yesterday sized for the Jr. Gent II series of kits and couldn't wait to put them to good use. Between last night and this morning I made my first closed end pen.

Wood is Stabilized Redwood Burl.
Finish is a satin CA finish I've been working on developing a process for - very warm in both looks and feel. Still have some work to do on tweaking it, but so far I'm happy with the results I've been getting.
Kit components used were from an Atrax kit.
In the cap portion beyond the tube, I coated the wood in epoxy to seal it and hopefully help keep the nib from drying out.


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[1080Wayne]

Very nice . Really like the finish .

 

[tjd]

Nice job , great looking pen

 

[lyonsacc]

Looks great. I've been wanting to do something like that for a long time

 

[magpens]

Great looking pen !!! . Congratulations !!! . I like it a lot !

Please, do you mind telling how you got the satin finish ? . Steel wool ?

 

[socdad]

Very nice work.

 

[Cwalker935]

Nice!

 

[Sprung]

Thank you, everyone!

Great looking pen !!! . Congratulations !!! . I like it a lot !

Please, do you mind telling how you got the satin finish ? . Steel wool ?

Mal, I'll be happy to share, but typing it up will have to wait until later - going to spend some time with my family before bed. I don't have my process perfected yet, but I'm happy with where it's at and how it's going so far.

 

[mark james]

Beautiful job Matt!

The shape is excellent and I like the satin finish. Awesome blank.

 

[Sprung]

Thank you, Mark!

Please, do you mind telling how you got the satin finish ? . Steel wool ?

Alright, now that I'm the only one still awake in the house, I've got a few minutes to type, lol.

Here's how I achieved the satin finish. Still tweaking it - have done less than 10 pens with it so far - but so far I'm pretty happy with the results. Kinda feels weird to pretty much abandon the high gloss CA finish that I spent a lot of time getting just the right process down, but I really really like how warm this finish looks and feels. I'll still use the high gloss on occasion, but this satin finish will now be my go-to finish on pens. I like how it looks/feels and takes me a lot less time.

After turning, I sanded up to 600 grit, as I normally do before finishing. I applied 3 coats of thin CA. Sanded that back with 600 grit to even it out - with the lathe running and then lengthwise with the lathe off. Applied 2 coats of thin CA. Sanded with 600 grit to even it out - again, lathe both on and off. Applied two more coats of thin CA. Buffed that with some 0000 steel wool - and again, lathe both on and off. Then I gave the whole thing one quick swipe with a blue shop towel dampened with some lacquer thinner.

The lacquer thinner wipe down, which is a solvent that does soften CA (learned the hard way on that one some time ago...), was discovered by accident. Wasn't happy with one of my attempts in coming up with a process, so I grabbed the lacquer thinner to clear off the coat of wax I had applied before sanding down the finish and applying some more coats of CA. The wipe with lacquer thinner leveled it out and left it at the exact level of satin I was aiming for. There is a difference between what it looks like after the steel wool and after the lacquer thinner. It's not a huge difference, but it was noticeable to me.

 

[1080Wayne]

Added lacquer thinner to my shopping list

 

[Jim15]

Thank you for sharing your finishing technique. I'm going to give it a try.

 

[southernclay]

Great pen and agree on the finish it looks great.

Has your lathe grabbed the steel wool from you yet? Steel wool fibers everywhere! I will eventually pick up some synthetic steel wool as I've abandoned using steel wool with the lathe on ever again. Lol

 

[Sprung]

Thanks again, everyone!

Great pen and agree on the finish it looks great.

Has your lathe grabbed the steel wool from you yet? Steel wool fibers everywhere! I will eventually pick up some synthetic steel wool as I've abandoned using steel wool with the lathe on ever again. Lol

It hasn't yet, but I'm not using a large piece either. I'll tear off a small piece and use that until it's wore out instead of going at it with the large piece - figure it's safer that way. However, the idea of using synthetic steel wool and avoiding the steel fibers is an idea I like and I think I'm going to look into getting some.

 

[mark james]

Have to admit... I just copied your finishing comments into a new file: "Finishing Stuff." I have several other threads to export too, but this is a great start.

And... For pens for ME! I prefer to have a natural wood finish - Danish Oil & Walnut Oil are my favorites.

Yup, I know, do not last too long, but I love the feel, and i hate to turn a beautiful wood into plastic (which I do at times:redface: )... So I appreciate your progression from a CA finish into a more tactile finish. Have FUN!

 

[Sprung]

Have to admit... I just copied your finishing comments into a new file: "Finishing Stuff." I have several other threads to export too, but this is a great start.

And... For pens for ME! I prefer to have a natural wood finish - Danish Oil & Walnut Oil are my favorites.

Yup, I know, do not last too long, but I love the feel, and i hate to turn a beautiful wood into plastic (which I do at times:redface: )... So I appreciate your progression from a CA finish into a more tactile finish. Have FUN!

Thanks, Mark! I feel honored and humbled that others have wanted to try my finish. I delved into experimenting with coming up with this style of a CA finish after seeing and holding the pens of a friend from another forum. He sells pens and other wood items for a living and I got to meet him in person for the first time a couple months ago when he was at a show not far from where I live. I go about my finish in a little different manner than he does, but his light, satiny CA finish inspired me to give it a go in finding a process that works for me. (Plus, I forgot all the steps he does to his, so I kinda had to start from square one, lol! :tongue: )

I'll still do my full glossy CA finish from time to time, but not often anymore methinks. My wife really likes the new finish too and, as of today, has a pen from me with it. I still want the protection of CA, but since this is less coats and a thinner finish, it's definitely not going to fill in some of the voids, and I'm happy with that - it lets the wood speak a little more and say a little louder that it's real wood. You can't feel the grain of the wood, but it's a lot more natural finish than I had been doing!

 

[mark james]

Thanks, Mark! I feel honored and humbled that others have wanted to try my finish. !

Many different processes get suggested. and most work well. But with varying

Temperatures, humidity, and other factors,

it is nice to have several "reciepe's" to start the process again...

 

[williaty]

Then I gave the whole thing one quick swipe with a blue shop towel dampened with some lacquer thinner.

Which lacquer thinner? There's several completely different chemicals that all get colloquially called lacquer thinner. The actual chemical name will usually be under the "Lacquer Thinner" line in very small print. If it's not there, it'll be in the MSDS for the product.

 

[Sprung]

Then I gave the whole thing one quick swipe with a blue shop towel dampened with some lacquer thinner.

Which lacquer thinner? There's several completely different chemicals that all get colloquially called lacquer thinner. The actual chemical name will usually be under the "Lacquer Thinner" line in very small print. If it's not there, it'll be in the MSDS for the product.

Not certain which one I use. The can of it I store in a cabinet and have a smaller bottle that I refill as needed. But, based upon where I usually purchase things like lacquer thinner, it's probably either Klean Strip or Sunnyside brand.