Saves, how do you handle them?

[Indiana_Parrothead]

I probably have more than a dozen pen blanks in a box waiting to be "saved". These are blanks that for one reason or another had a problem during turning. Finish not what you expect or want it to be(after already being stripped twice), pin holes that will not fill with a single drop of CA. Cracks, chip outs, the list goes on and on.

If I am working on a CA finish and and have sanded back to wood twice I will just add it to the box and try again later, unless it is really needed. There are just times you have to walk away because you are making too many mistakes.

So do you have a box of "saves" or do you fix all problems as they happen?

Mike

 

[Cmiles1985]

I have a pile behind the lathe of "F" barrels that are chipped, so I've turned a portion down to the tube for later segmenting. The pile next to the drill press are the "I've finished these twice, and still don't like them" barrels that I'll get to (eventually). Those would be the "SF" barrels. For the sake of readers, I'll leave the abbreviations a mystery.

 

[robutacion]

I probably have more than a dozen pen blanks in a box waiting to be "saved". These are blanks that for one reason or another had a problem during turning. Finish not what you expect or want it to be(after already being stripped twice), pin holes that will not fill with a single drop of CA. Cracks, chip outs, the list goes on and on.

If I am working on a CA finish and and have sanded back to wood twice I will just add it to the box and try again later, unless it is really needed. There are just times you have to walk away because you are making too many mistakes.

So do you have a box of "saves" or do you fix all problems as they happen?

Mike

Well mate, everyone has a box with blanks that had something happening to them, important enough to have them removed from the lathe and put away.

I have 2 takes on the issue, some problems/mistakes/oops, are just not worth the time, expense and effort to fix them up. I find that, if the blank is important, I will try to fix the problem while I have them on the lathe, basically have it finished/done and carry on however, if I throw it in the OOps box (yes I have one...!), I never touch it again, unless I'm short on a particular tube or I need a piece of some for some segmenting but in general terms, they don't get touched but, are not thrown in the rubbish bin, for some unknown reason...!

Cheers
George

 

[plantman]

I will usualy do any saves at the time I am working on it. The exception would be a two piece pen blank that I have wrecked or I'm dissatisfied with and can not replace. At some point, when I am scratching for something to do, I will turn down the blanks to the tubes and start over. Chips and holes, if the tube isn't showing, I wil fill with CA and wood dust, or just CA. I always keep a number of fly fishing containers with different colors of wood dust or use colored powders and CA to fill in deeper chips, cracks, or holes where the tube is showing. You can also take a parting tool and remove a flaw creating a ring arond your blank and add a filler to this area. There are quite a few different ways to save a blank that you are not happy with. Don't throw them away, as someday you will come back to them with a fresh idea and turn it into a pen to be proud of. Jim S