Steve Busey
Member
Have you ever pulled an old blank from your shelf/box and said "that looks boring". Then much later something caused you to make a pen with it, and you say "Wow! I didn't know that was hiding in that blank!".
In an effort to weed out some hidden gems (and since I got a new 3/8" drive center for Christmas and need to make some sawdust
), I've started rounding and putting a fast, faux finish on a bunch of blanks. I'm the old dog; the new trick is that I've gotten it down to just a few minutes per blank. Kinda like this...
Started a bland looking blank - here's one of Constant's orange dyed blanks.
Drill a hole in the center so the drive center doesn't crack the blank (DAMHIKT)
Mount the blank
Rough off the edges. You can do the whole blank, or just an end to get an idea of what the blank will eventually look like
After knocking the corners off, I lay my rounded skew on it's side and do a light scrape to smooth the blank. I'm not bothering with sanding for this activity, just trying to "git 'er done!"
I drip on one coat of thin CA, quickly wipe it even
We could easily stop here, since we have a pretty good idea of the coloration the blank will have under a finish... there's a lot more character in this blank than the exterior revealed!
But taking a quick pass with my secret weapon...
...shows the finish with a bit more shine, closer to a real finish.
Now when I dig through the blank box, I have a better idea what a finished pen might look like.
Here's my secret weapon - I've seen it in a couple auto part stores here. I've quit using Novus and use this as my final polish on both CA finishes and acrylic pens. Apply with a clean cotton cloth, and wipe with a clean part of the same cloth. And no, I am in no way affiliated with this product, just a satisfied customer.
Thanks for looking!
In an effort to weed out some hidden gems (and since I got a new 3/8" drive center for Christmas and need to make some sawdust
), I've started rounding and putting a fast, faux finish on a bunch of blanks. I'm the old dog; the new trick is that I've gotten it down to just a few minutes per blank. Kinda like this...Started a bland looking blank - here's one of Constant's orange dyed blanks.
Drill a hole in the center so the drive center doesn't crack the blank (DAMHIKT
)
Mount the blank
Rough off the edges. You can do the whole blank, or just an end to get an idea of what the blank will eventually look like
After knocking the corners off, I lay my rounded skew on it's side and do a light scrape to smooth the blank. I'm not bothering with sanding for this activity, just trying to "git 'er done!"
I drip on one coat of thin CA, quickly wipe it even
We could easily stop here, since we have a pretty good idea of the coloration the blank will have under a finish... there's a lot more character in this blank than the exterior revealed!
But taking a quick pass with my secret weapon...
...shows the finish with a bit more shine, closer to a real finish.
Now when I dig through the blank box, I have a better idea what a finished pen might look like.
Here's my secret weapon - I've seen it in a couple auto part stores here. I've quit using Novus and use this as my final polish on both CA finishes and acrylic pens. Apply with a clean cotton cloth, and wipe with a clean part of the same cloth. And no, I am in no way affiliated with this product, just a satisfied customer.
Thanks for looking!
