Questions on my second pen

[skamrath1]

Well here is my second pen. It's a Princeton from woodcraft. I was happy with everything til I had to take the blank off the lathe. The bushings were glued to the blank lol so I tapped them on the edge of the work bench and then I was able to pull them off. Then on to the assembly. After scratching my head on how to put it together for about 30 min I finally did it and after looking at the pen I realized something went wrong when pressing everything together. If you didn't notice in the picture closes to the min it looks like the CA finished pulled apart from the wood. What did I do or not do lol?

 

[firewhatfire]

Delrin bushings will help with ca sticking.

 

[OOPS]

Yes, some people go with Delrin bushings, others put vaseline on their bushings to keep the CA from sticking. Still others will take a parting tool and run it ever so lightly between the bushings and the blank just before taking it off the lathe, to break any CA bond that might be there. The point is that everyone seems to develop their own method for dealing with this issue. If you don't, and you tap the bushing on the table, you risk peeling off some of the CA.

One more option that some do (like myself) Try a dipped finish instead of CA. I use water based polyurethane, or oil based wipe-on poly, depending on the type of wood.

 

[Drstrangefart]

It takes some learning on the CA. Layer it TOO thick and you have that issue. Another thing it to try tapping it straight down on the bushing istelf so it breaks off cleanly. Use fine sandpaper on a flat surface to clean the edge up. See if that helps you out any.

 

[thewishman]

You picked a difficult pen for #2. The dimensions have to be perfect for the Virage/Princeton to feel right. The cigar is the friendliest for new turners, there is more room for error at the places where the part meet the turned barrels.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

I will break the bushings loose between each coat. If I forget or they are stuck on too well I use a utility knife and gently cut the line between bushing and blank.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Except for the oops the finish looks good and looks like the blank is the same size as the hardware. Pretty good for a rookie. :wink::biggrin:

 

[TerryBlanchard]

no bushings

Take the bushings out afterturning and sanding, put the blank without bushings back between centers gently snug tail stock to the part and CA away. Remove from centers and gently sand ends until flush with the tube, works very well. USE CAUTION sanding.

 

[nativewooder]

Could also be that you applied too much pressure when assembling the pen. "Only the Shadow Knows! Har! Har! Har!"

 

[DestinTurnings]

If the CA extended out past the end of the barrel, then you pressed the pen components together, there would not be enough room for the finish and the CA can wrinkle or seperate from the wood. All sugestions made are valid and will solve your issue.

 

[ghostrider]

Like some of the others, I have my methods for this problem. I'll first coat my finishing bushings (pieces of delrin that I drilled and turned down to cone-shaped) with wax, then part them off with the skew when I'm done applying CA. Next, I'll fine tune the ends of the barrel with sand paper mounted on my pen mill to make it true and smooth. Once that's complete, I'll go back to the lather with my regular bushings for final sand/polish.

I'd probably do things differently if I had my buffer set up complete, but it's still on the "to-do" list.

 

[sbell111]

I wax my bushings any time that I use CA while the blank is still on the mandrel. This is fairly rare for me as CA is not my preferred finish, but I still do some blank repair and fill work with CA, so it happens. One other thought is that if you do a CA finish, you must hand mill or sand the blank ends prior to assembly.

 

[BradK12]

The issue is is too much CA. This happened on my first attempt at the process as well and the chipping afterwards happened. Use very little CA and make sure you heat up to bond it (wait for the CA "Smell"). Successful results since.