Did You Ever......

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

.....finish a pen. Assemble it. CA glue the parts in so they don't come loose in the customers hand........get that satisfied feeling of another job well done?

And then.....see a glaring defect in the finish of the pen? You have looked the blanks over when you turned them, when you put the finish on them, when you buffed the finish on them and put a little wax on them.

You put it together, actually four pens put together, and you pick them up to put in your stash, and there staring you in the face is a defect in the finish. A defect that has managed to hide till then?

Without taking the pen completely apart again, remember it has the parts CA'd in, how in the heck can you touch up a little ding in the finish. It is only about 1/8" from a gold plated center band on a cigar pen. Just a little mark in the finish. A Kingwood pen blank not a piece of scrap wood.

Anyone have any tips, tricks or tonics?

 

[tipusnr]

I usually sigh, tape the parts, polish...buff..then remind myself these are handmade pens and this one is just a little more unique than I would like!!

 

[Fred in NC]

Mac, it just happens !

First of all, that is the reason I avoid using CA to glue the parts in. Learned the hard way. I had to figure out if I really wanted to fix the defect. I found a little void in the lower barrel of a maple burl pen. Was only about 1/16" and very shallow. Something that could be expected to happen from time to time when working with burls. I filled the void. A little masking tape around the mechanism, and I put it in a Jacobs chuck, leveled it, and put some finish on it. The pen sold right away.

One thing I can say, a Dremel type tool can help. I would not use the sanding drums, they are too coarse. Sand by hand, and put finish on carefully. The use the buffing wheels on it, with a very LIGHT touch. Then wax it.

 

[dougle40]

I agree with Fred , the Dremel tool and buffing pads would be the way to go .

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

Thanks for all the tips. Hadn't thought about the Dremel and buffing wheels for it. I'll give it a shot. May even try to make before and after pictures.