Erasing my mistakes

[Warren White]

I have mentioned an issue I had with an early attempt at a CA finish for one particular walnut pen. The finish was very poor, probably due to a combination of issues; perhaps a bad batch of CA, using too much accelerant, and my novice set of turning and finishing skills.

I also had an early turning of a quilted maple slimline pen that was just way ugly!:mad-tongue:

Well, fast forward a couple of weeks and my receipt of a 7mm pen disassembly kit from PSI.

I was able to successfully disassemble both pens, re-turn and re-finish both, and now I am a very happy pen turner once again. So, what was a huge frustration each time I looked at them has turned into two pens that I am quite happy with.:glasses-cool:

One more example of why I use more of the eraser end of a pencil than the pointy end, and another example of why this hobby is one of the best ever! I learn even from my mistakes...

Thank you all!

 

[Dalecamino]

Congratulations! But, you didn't tell us what you learned. Did you discover that, Walnut is an oily wood? :wink:

 

[Warren White]

Congratulations! But, you didn't tell us what you learned. Did you discover that, Walnut is an oily wood? :wink:

Well, let's see:

1. Finishing is neither easy nor does it lend itself to rushing through any of the steps. (I believe I was using too much accelerant and and allowing the fact that I was 'accelerating' the CA to lull me into 'accelerating' the whole process.)

2. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, ugly is bone deep! My first attempt at putting a bit of a bulge near the pointy end of the pen was just plain ugly. Memo to me: Just because a little is good doesn't mean that a lot is better.

3. I think walnut is difficult to finish not necessarily because of the oil, but because of the deep pores that get exposed during the turning. Putting the second finish on it was very successful. My thoughts on this are that even though I turned and sanded through the first imperfect finish, some of it was still in the deep pores of the wood. That left me with a more even surface to work with.

4. Learning from failures is still learning.

 

[TimS124]

Making mistakes can be one of the best ways of learning! The trick is to make new mistakes each time...

 

[navycop]

Making mistakes with wood is good. You can either burn it or cut it up into toothpicks and saw dust.

 

[Monty]

But you also have to read and learn from other peoples mistakes because you don't have time to make them all yourself.

 

[BSea]

The trick is to make new mistakes each time...

Finally, I'm doing something right.

 

[SDB777]

At what point does a fella run out of mistakes to make?


I'm still making them, probably made one here somewheres?






Scott (spelling don't mean lots) B

 

[navycop]

But you also have to read and learn from other peoples mistakes because you don't have time to make them all yourself.

I like to learn from others mistakes. That why I don't have to try and reinvent the wheel. They already did the ground work for me and I can improve on it..