Keeping color crisp

[Rick K.]

I'm sure I can't be the only one... I purchased a segmented pen blank from woodcraft and turned it for a PSI guardian it all went great until the sanding. The darker wood almost bleeds into the light wood. It may be blood wood and maple. I can't post pic right now but it is a woodcraft #15. And I just cant keep the lines crisp and the maple clean. Tried nothing between grits, also tried water which was really bad , then alcohol wasn't as bad as water but still not good. Looked the best just going between grits but then CA finish sealed in "dust" as I figured it would. Sanded down again and looking for suggestions.... help also where is the best deal to buy CA?

 

[Ruby pen turning]

Don't sand it. Make your finish before you CA with your skew. Just do a quick light pass with your first and second CA to seal it up and go from there. This is what I do with my Honduran Rosewood that has light and dark wood.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Maple is really bad for doing that. You can try blowing out the dust with an air compressor. For me what works best is to either use a sharp scraper or a skew as a scraper and gently turn down until the sawdust is gone then don't sand just finish. A CA finish works well. Just be careful if you use the skew as a scraper to not let the ends dig into the blank.

 

[Rick K.]

Great, it does look best off the skew I'm just used to sanding I guess. Thank you.

 

[Donovan's Corner]

One of my students just made a bloodwood and maple segmented pen. She had to apply a few sealing coats of CA to the Maple to keep it from turning red as well. 3 coats CA did the trick. Thin CA will soak in well, but she just used Medium. Good luck.

 

[TerryDowning]

You can also try burnishing the wood after your final pass with a skew. Burnishing closes up the pores and and presents a decent surface for the next finishing steps.

 

[mredburn]

MOnty, (wooden wonders), sells CA and a lot aof accessories. Exotic Blanks, Indy Pen dance, all sell CA.
Wooden Wonders, Your one stop glue shop
Indy~Pen~Dance
http://www.exoticblanks.com/