Lesson Learned - BLOWOUT

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StatProf

StatProf

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Joined
Jan 30, 2007
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168
Location
Richardson, TX, USA.
Preparing myself for the onslaught of "been there, done that" replies. I got a piece of gorgeous Teak Burl the other day and decided to turn this for a Jr Gent II for my office pen. As can be seen in the pics, I forgot to use the skew to knock off the corners. Here was my thought process:

/Man this looks good
/You know, I should probably grab the skew and
//SNAP

"Newman" (obscure Seinfeld reference)

Anyway, I almost cried as this piece of teak burl is absolutely gorgeous. I split the cap when I went a little too far with the gouge. So I have a question . . . is there anything that I can do with the "body" of this pen? Does it fit any other kits by itself (like a Sierra)?

Blessings,
StatProf
 

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Yep.. part it off square down to the brass. Drill out a piece of wood and glue in place. Re-turn just like you meant it to be there :)

Wait.. did I just admit to knowing how to fix an oops ;)
 
I have glue pieces back onto the blank. Then let it set for a while and then finish turning it. If there are any cracks I make a slurry out of CA and dust from sanding and fill it then finish and this would be a pen I would do a CA finish on.
 
I'd go for trying to repair it. Do you have anything left over from the blank? It's possible to do an inlay or onlay that might be almost imperceptible do to the figure.

Marc
 
I am with Marc try to repair it if you can find everything. I had a piece of bog wood burl blow up on me. I CA it all back together an ended up with a nice looking pen. Best of luck!
Travis
 
I went back out to the shop to look for the piece. Unfortunately, I still hadn't finished cleaning up from turning a piece of green mahogany this weekend (14 incher). It's like looking for a needle in a pile of needles. I'll try again tomorrow. If no luck, I'll do my first ebony band.

StatProf
 
On the "been there, done that", I once turned bowl out of gumvein eucalyptus. I had finished the bowl, and was getting ready to sand it, but I felt one tiny part of the curvature that wasn't right, and decided that one single, light pass would fix it.

I turned the lathe back on, just *touched* the bowl with the chisel, and FROOM! Pieces went flying.

I found all three pieces of the bowl and pieced them back together, and found that because of the extensive hollows in the wood, fully half of the bowl was held together by only three small points, each about 1/4" in area.

Once I found that out, I didn't feel bad any more... I felt amazed that the wood held together as long as it had!
 
If you try the bands, be sure you square the joint end of the band before you glue it on. Normally I'll turn the blank down till it is smaller than my pen mill. Then cut the band, square the glue end, then glue it onto the tube. After the glue dries square the other end of the band.
 
That's not too bad. I would try adding some crushed turquoise or whatever type/color of stone you like. I do that with the voids in burls all the time and I really like the way it looks. Just put a small dot of CA right in the middle of the hole, add a small amount of crushed stone, then another dot of CA. After the CA sets up, repeat the process until you have a small mound that fills in the area. Turn down with a sharp skew. You can use a parting tool to peel it away from the bushing, then trim up the end with a pen mill by hand. If there are any small voids in the inlay, you can fill them with CA. Don't use accelerator though -- it produces a white foam that you won't be able to get out of the inlay.

Personally, I think an oops band or stone inlay looks better than trying to glue the piece back in.
 
Kyle,

Where you messed up was when you going to make the pen for "yourself" ;-) That's why I never make "myself" a pen. I've also noticed that the "gift" pens that I make always seem to be a little better than a "seller" pen.

I have swept the garage floor looking the missing piece. If I can find I can usually save the blank. I spin it as fast as it will go, hold my breath and take light cuts.
 
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