Should I remove sealer?

[Bobalu]

I thought that by buying a larger piece of wood (2" X 2" X 12") to cut down into individual pen blanks that I might save some money. The wood I purchased is an exotic encased in a wax type sealer. Would I be smart to remove this sealer manually before milling the wood, or just go at it. I'm concerned the waxy stuff will gum up my blades and knives on my power tools.

 

[TellicoTurning]

I can't answer your question re gumming up your tools... I've bought a number of pieces that were encased in the wax... I usually set up and drill or turn as appropriate... biggest problem I've run into... sometimes the woods aren't quite dry yet, they're waxed to slow the drying process and prevent cracking, but are still wet to some extent.

 

[GouletPens]

This wax shouldn't hurt anything. If you're using some kind of pen blank holder to drill the blank, the wax might make it a little tougher to hold it, but that's about it. I'd just go to town. You could always take a scaper and scrape the wax off it you're that worried about it.

 

[hunter-27]

Whatever you do, don't boil it off in your wife's favorite kettle. Been there done that. :beat-up:

 

[GouletPens]

Whatever you do, don't boil it off in your wife's favorite kettle. Been there done that. :beat-up:

Yeah, I tried this too....with my wife's permission. The pots clean just fine, but I didn't find the wax to boil off well at all. In fact, it just thinned out and soaked into the wood. I tried to lacquer on top of it and it was wet for a week (WET!). This was a clock I was making.....not a pen!

 

[Wildman]

I would take a cabinet scrapper to sides removing sealer, leaving ends sealed. Then would let that wood hang out for awhile before cutting into blanks. Want the wood to reach emc.

You could also cut and set aside until wood reaches emc too.

Either method scrapping or cutting should let you know how wet/dry the wood is.