Setting up for production how to's needed.

[rlharding]

I want to make 50 pens over the next couple of weeks. I have often read some of you say 'and then let it dry while you get started on the next one'.

How exactly do you do this? How do you take the still wet blanks off the mandrel and out of the bushings?

How do you store them to finish drying?

I hope I don't have to buy a bunch more mandrels. I can make bushings using some corian I have.

thanks.

 

[TowMater]

Ruth,

I recently quit using the Medium CA on my pens. I go with 6 coats on thin CA, MM through 4000 then buff with Tripoli and White diamond. This significantly speeds up production for me. I do however turn between bushings without a mandrel, which slows down production somewhat. I would drill and glue all the blanks one night, trim them all up the next night
and start turning 10 of them a night.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[turned_for_good]

I use a dowel rod and put my drying blanks on them. Many people have extra bushings and mandrels.

 

[Texatdurango]

Originally posted by rlharding

I want to make 50 pens over the next couple of weeks. I have often read some of you say 'and then let it dry while you get started on the next one'.

How exactly do you do this? How do you take the still wet blanks off the mandrel and out of the bushings?

How do you store them to finish drying?

I hope I don't have to buy a bunch more mandrels. I can make bushings using some corian I have.

thanks.

Ruth, What type of finish are you using where the blank is wet on the mandrel? Are you using lacquer?

 

[rlharding]

Yes, Lacquer. I have been wiping on and like to wait until each coat is dry. I like to do 6 coats; I get a nice finish but can still feel the wood. I don't like the feel of a deep gloss.

I think I will go back and try the lacquer dipping now I have a better idea of what to do. I have lots of material and can also make a lot of bushings to do several at a time and hang them.

Thanks guys, I will let you know how it goes. They are starting a Saturday and Sunday market on the island at the end of the month. We get lots of day tourists.

 

[JohnU]

Ruth, I also use lacquer and like to work on six or more pens at a time so I made a little stand to slide the pen tubes on while they dry. Im not at home to get you a pic so I used paintshop to draw it. Its very simple but does the trick. I bought a roll of wire at the local Farm and Fleet in the fencing isle and put a bend in the ends so the tubes wont slide off. I cut some blocks about 3" long from some 1" scrap stock and drilled the hole to fit the wire in. I put a drop of glue in the hole so the wire doesnt spin. After each coat of lacquer, I slide the tail end of the lathe back and unscrew the nut on the mandrel and use the far end bushings to slide the two tubes off the mandrel and onto the wire rack. This allows me to move them around without touching or messing up the finish. Im sure there are better ideas out there, but this works for me.

 

[rlharding]

Thanks John, that's another idea to try out.
I will let you folks know which method I choose.

 

[Fred]

If you are using lacquer and dipping I might suggest that you use a dowel rod that fits the tubes and after dipping slide each section onto the dowel rod for drying. You might also want to wax the dowel rod to try and keep the lacquer from sticking to it so well. Make sure the dowel rod is sized to fit the tube so that you can turn the rod as the lacquer is drying. If you can't find -or make - a dowel rod of the right diameter, you can always "foul" the tube onto the dowel using a toothpick as a little wedge. Slide the tube onto the dowel, insert the toothpick and break off the excess. You only need to hold one end of the tube in place to allow the dowell to be turned a bit.

Surplus lacquer an easily be cleaned fro inside the brass tubes by using a barrel cleaning brush in the proper calibur of the tubes. I have used a .38 brush to clean many tubes. I mount it in a short section of the cleaning rod and put that into the drill press and spin away. Be careful of sharp edges though.

You can vary the length of the dowel rod to make it hold as many as you want - within reason. AND do not let the ends of the blanks touch.

I like the idea of spraying lacquer since that allows ME the ability to control how much and where the lacquer is applied. Just remember that any dust collected on the sticky lacquer will caus a lot of extra finish work. The inside of a large cardboad box lined with tacky paper works rather well. Spray adhesive on paper towels might be a good trick to use to try and catch any stray dust.

Again, just my .02 worth of an idea.

 

[Rudy Vey]

If you are doing that much of a production, I think lacquer finish takes way too long and too many steps. I recently changed to thin CA like and have not looked back. Its fast and easy, and that's important for me, reproducible results.