Cocobolo Problem

[Paco]

I'm turning a cocobolo blank and hit a small knot (or some kind of imperfection) right at the tip. At first I thought I'd be able to keep turning until it disappeared, but now it looks like it may go almost all the way to the brass tube. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to stabilize this thing so I don't loose the blank?

 

[leatherjunkie]

never had to stabilize cocobolo before and dont think that you need to stabilize this piece.

there are a few tricks you can do to save this piece.
one trick is to take wood shavings and stuff it into the hole soak it down with thin ca glue. you can also use any fine material to stuff into the hole.
after glue is cured you can finish turning the blank or sand it down before turning with tools.

another trick is to part off that area so that its square to the brass tube and add another type of blank material to it. then finish turning it to your desired shape.
this trick is knowin as a oops band.....

 

[NewLondon88]

I'm turning a cocobolo blank and hit a small knot (or some kind of imperfection) right at the tip. At first I thought I'd be able to keep turning until it disappeared, but now it looks like it may go almost all the way to the brass tube. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to stabilize this thing so I don't loose the blank?

It sounds like you'll need to be careful with this one. Normally, adding glue
to the blank to fill small voids is no big deal, we all do it all the time.
Leatherman described how to do that, but with cocobolo you might want
to be extra careful with it, since cocobolo is one of those woods that
sometimes doesn't like to take glue at all.
Some have suggested wiping down the wood with denatured alcohol, while
others say to use the CA activator. This might make it difficult to get any
glue in there!

First thing is to clean the oil from the area. Alcohol, activator .. your
choice as long as you can get rid of the surface oil so glue will stick.
I think I would get a good sized magnifier over the hole, fill it with sawdust
that closely matches the color, drizzle some thin CA into the sawdust and
then hit it with the activator to hold it in place.

That's my guess..

 

[babyblues]

Is the knot solid or does it look like it's going to break? If it's solid I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure your tools are sharp and as long as you take it easy, you should be fine. If you're worried that it will break, I'd drizzle some thin CA glue on it.

 

[Paco]

There's a kind of center to the knot, like a core of some kind. That's the the part that looks like it might go all the way to the brass or pop out at any minute. When the knot first showed I kept cutting and it got smaller. It looked like I would get past it into more solid wood. Now it's getting larger and deeper. If I do mix some of the cuttings with CA and fill the hole, how noticeable will that be when the pen is finished?

 

[leehljp]

As others said, add thin CA to it and let it cure; and more - until it is built up.

Next, If you are close to final size, within 1/16 or 3/32 of what you want to achieve, use SANDPAPER and sand it down to size with 180 then 320. It will take a few minutes, but if you are afraid of losing it, then 5 to 10 minutes of sanding down the blank to size will be worth it.

I often bring pens to size with sandpaper.

 

[OldWrangler]

Try digging out the loose knot and then fill the hole with ground turquoise. Turn it down to size and polish it up. It will dress up a pen and save a lost blank. See the pic of a bad spot on an Afzalia blank that I filled with the stone. Just drizzle a little thin CA when you have the hole filled. Sorry the pic is not very good but you see what I mean.

 

[Paco]

Thanks to all you folks for the help. I'll get to work and see what I can do.

 

[nava1uni]

Sometimes when I have little holes or knots that sound like what you are talking about I take a piece of similar wood and hand sand it on a piece of paper. I then take the fine dust and mix it with medium CA and put it into the hole using either a dental pick or a tooth pick. Then I let it set for a minute to settle, spray it with accelerator and then fill any depression that might occur from the settling or shrinking after the accelerator. Then I finish turning, using a light touch or sand paper. This is an instance where having micro tools it very helpful.