Finishing coffee bean?

[John M]

I got some blanks from Wolftat, and they are perfect blanks. Could not be happier. As I figured, there might be a few practice blanks so I did a Siera so I could cut the blank in half to give it a try. My question is that when you guys finish them, do you fill up all the little holes with CA? I put a CA finish on it, but there is a divit where the middle of the bean was, I hid that under the clip, but then there are also some small places that are in the bean. I think it adds to the pen, but was curious what other did. You cant see them unless you look at the pen close, and they are sealed, just not filled.

I will post a pic of the next one, this will be my carry pen as it is not without its flaws.

 

[NewLondon88]

My question is that when you guys finish them, do you fill up all the little holes with CA?

No .. cream and sugar. :tongue:

Yeah.. you need to fill them. Unfilled, they smell wonderful but they're not
practical. Grab your CA bottle and go slow.

 

[wolftat]

John, I usually use about 5 coats of medium CA to build up a good thick wall and then sand it down smooth. It should fill in any small holes that you have including the divot in the middle of the bean. If you are having a problem with the blank, please let me know and I will gladly make you more. But a couple coats of CA should take care of it.

 

[John M]

No, it is not a problem with the blanks at all, they are good stuff, all the spots I am talking about are from inside the beans. The next one I will spend some more time on, I put the coats on there, but I guess I need to put drops on the spots, and then turn the down. Ill do the next one tonight when I get home. Good thing they are coffee blanks cuz I wont get home till midnight.

 

[John M]

And instead of starting a new thread ill ask it hear. When you sand the CA with the 1500-12000, even though I am carefull, I sand through on the edges. I have the lathe at about 1800. I just started sanding longways after each grit and was wondering if I should just sand longways by hand with the lathe off?

 

[wolftat]

Are you wet sanding them? Thats important and all you have to do is sand very lightly, you are just trying to remove the scratches left by the previous grit. After you sand with the lathe on, stop the lathe and sand gently along the blanks, then wipe the grit and dust off and turn the lathe back on and go to the next grit and repeat. You shouldn't be going through the Ca, but if you find you are, use more coats until you are comfortable with the finish.

 

[John M]

Ill give a try tonight. I just got the BLO the other day and have not really got to try it yet, hopefully that will help me getting the CA smoother to begin with.

And I wet sand, I have a cup right there, there is plenty of water.

 

[JerrySambrook]

I actually did NOT finish one of the coffee pens I got from Neil. And here is the kicker on it, Jimmy Clewes wanted that pen because you could still SMELL the coffee. Neil did an excellent job of casting, so I was not loosing any beans. This was a white base model. I then did a blue one, and one of the guys I shoot with wanted that one, again for the same reason, you can SMELL the coffee.

May not be the most practical for an everyday use pen, but I think Neil did such a good job casting these, that they will hold together real good.

As a side note, I did a real fine shear scrape on them to keep them round, and an extremely light sanding to 12000 and the stayed very round.

The first one I did, a green one, you could feel every bean, because I was ham-handed, and flattened them due to the hardness difference.

Just my .02. But it might be worth a try to not put anything on a couple, and see the comments you get

Jerry

 

[John M]

I did another one last night. I had two beans that came apart, Maybe I am putting to much pressure on them. They are not coming out of the cast, there is a little tiny part in the bean when you break it open, almost like another really tiny bean, those came out. I put a CA finish on it anyways and actually had my best CA finish to date, at least I am getting that out the way. This one also came out super smooth compared to my first one. The next one should be golden, lol. Third time is a charm. I showed them to a few people and the people that are not " in the know " think they are awesome. But I know I can do better.

 

[nava1uni]

I use thin CA for the majority of the finish. If a part of a bean pops out I first try to glue it in with thin CA. If it is a large hole I put a drop of medium CA, using a toothpick, to fill the spot and hit it lightly with a bit of accelerator. I sand using wet micro mesh and wipe between grits with small pieces of clean cloth. Finish it to 12000 and then use Nova polish.

 

[CSue]

John, thanks fo asking this question. I turned on coffee blank and have been wondering the same thing.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

[programmergeek]

One other question when I finish wood I use a coat of BLO first, I do this so the color stays more even, I have gotten streeks using the ca, blo mix so hitting it with BLO first helped. Can I do this on a coffee blank? Or will the BLO inhibit the CA from sticking to the plastic areas?

I dont' have grate luch with just CA it seems to be very ruff when I apply it alone.