sanding

I picked up a supply of these Blond Shellac 16oz packages, expiration date is June, 2023. They normally sell for $30-35, I can sell for $6 each plus shipping. I can get 4 packages into a Regional A box that would be $11 for shipping, if you want more then I can see how many I can get into a...

This Article is now available to download. https://www.penturners.org/resources/sanding-polishing-basics.486/ Introduction I thought I would provide some insights I've gleaned about sanding, now that we have this forum. I have gone through the process of learning how to properly sand for the...

Since it was only $9 with same day delivery and I love tinkering I ordered a DPDT switch so as to make my lathe reversible. That being said, has anyone noticed a real advantage of being able to reverse direction for sanding? Seems like you'd have to look through a microscope to see the fibers...

Probably a very dumb question, but they say the only thing dumber than a dumb question is the dumb guy who doesn't ask it. I keep seeing mentions of wet sanding. I'm a newbie with only 8-10 pens under my belt, but I'm trying to learn as many techniques as possible. My first five pens were...

My grandson turned it down for a Wall Street III pen. The color and grain are outstanding! However, it has pits all over it. I have tried using thick CA but it was rough and light sanding didn't help. Acetone made it worse! Most of the CA is off but the pits are now white spots. It is...

I am new to turning pens , and want to try and get the best possible finish on acrylics. Do you sand through 12000 micro mesh at a high or low speed? Heavy pressure or light preasure? Any feedback would be a great help. Thanks guys and gals

Letting the knees rest a bit. I know there are several types of synthetics and I will use this word as a broad term. Does anyone use a skew for turning synthetics? I am using a 3/4 roughing gouge and getting a decent surface prior to sanding and polishing. I have read that a skew, on wood...

Ok I need some advice on the do's and don't of finishing mammoth tooth pens. What's the procedure and what is the finishing technique for it?

The way I've been doing it is to add 2 layers of thin CA, then run through my micromesh pads lightly once. Then I add a medium CA coat, run through the pads again, then another coat, pads, and so on, until I'm happy with the finish. Question: Do I need to be sanding with the micromesh in...

When I turn a blank, I get it down to a reasonable width with tools, then I go the rest of the way to the bushings with sandpaper. I've never had an issue, however, I was working with some spalted oak in a slimline style and I noticed that one side of the blanks was flat and even with the...

I'm very new to pen turning, having recently completed my fourth pen. An ongoing issue that I am having is with my ca finishing. I use the lathe on its lowest rpm (500) to apply the ca. I drip about 3 or 4 drops while my paper towel is under the blank. Then I wait 1 or 2 minutes for it to dry. I...

Has anyone else experienced discoloration in light-colored woods (maple, yellow cedar, etc.) when sanding with ultra-fine sandpaper? I seem to continuously get grey or black discoloration when sanding with finer than 400 grit sandpaper. I often have to go back to 220 grit and re-sand to get...

Hello all, I'm having an intermittent problem with sanding/finishing turned pen blanks. Every so often, I get what seem to be "dirty checks" in a turned piece. I usually turn with sharp tools and sand with 150,240,320, 400. I then use micro-mesh up to 12000. I'm doing both rotational and grain...

So I have been trying to put some contours and V cut details into my turnings. On any turnings that are straight, its easy to apply CA and everything goes smooth. When there is any shape at all, I usually have to apply the CA in two or three parts and I get overlapping, if I have a small V cut...

Will I follow orders - Jeff's intro email direct new members to this forum & ask them to do their first post. I have turned 3 wood pens and enjoyed doing it ... My technique is very crude but I'm working on it. Have a used Jet mini lathe - the one that requires you to change belts for...

I was looking for an easy way to square off the ends of my pen body pieces after completing my CA finish. Being cheap, I didn't want to spend much money. Used the following parts: faceplate - free (came with lathe) scrap piece of maple - free 5" PSA to Hook & Loop conversion pad - $3 at local...

I have recently turned a pen using oak and yellow wood. In both situations I used the same standard pen turning sandpaper (150 - 600) and found that the grain on the wood kept getting a grayish or brownish dusting into the grain that made the pen look like crap. I have not noticed this problem...

ok...I screwed up and used black sandpaper on my ww swirl blank. I prefer it because the 400 and 600 grit paper seems to work better than the stock rolls you get from pen kit suppliers. Well, after trying to skew down the blank a little bit trying to scrape off the stain, it is still there...

I am very new to pen turning, I have only turned one pen so far, I've got about $100.00 worth of products coming mail order tomorrow.:biggrin: Here's my problem: I turned a Tycoon pen, used purple heart, which after I had the blanks cut and tubes glued in I was told purple heart doesn't...

Although PSI sells inserts to center a bit when milling blanks for (example) the Majestic pen, I purchased some Lotus Pens. There are no similar bushings for it, so I was looking for alternative ways to mill the ends without having to purchase another power tool, in this case a disk sander. So...