Hey Ron,Do you ever sleep?Or are you just a pen making machine.What kind of blank is that? Todd
Todd: Yes and No... I do sleep, just not very much. I am an unmedicated insomniac. I went to bed this morning at around 5 am. I got out of bed at 8:30 am. I have tried about every natural remedy in the world and nothing makes any difference. In a week, I usually sleep what most people sleep in two or three days.
I got me a Yippee of that, any tips?
Jonathan, Yes. I will share the tips that Ed told me, and what i learned turning the material...
GO SLOW. This stuff requires your full attention. I compare it to driving a dragster. Each pass of the tool is a 1/4 mile pass. Requiring you to pay FULL attention from start to end. No "Cruise Control" with this stuff.
Be well rested. This tip is pretty important. You have to be able to truely pay attention to the cut, not drifting off in thought like with wood or Pr or something easy.
Bring the ends down early. I am kinda a rookie to the fundamentals of turning, and purely self taught, so i am not positive why you do this, but i followed the instruction and my pen worked out nicely. I think it is to prevent losing an end to chips. WHAT I DID: I mounted the tube one at a time on my mandrel and rounded to perfectly round. Then i used a parting tool and made a tiny tiny cut on each end. I cut probably 1/16" On each end, Then i used a round nose scraper to bring the main area down. I left the little parting tool cuts a bit proud of the bushings and once i got the rest scraped down to that point i went into hyper focus. A couple of very very gentle shearing cuts.
The material turns out quite Opaque as mentioned, so tube prep will be key. The turn signal amber paint i used is more of an overcoat for models so it goes on thin. I put on several coats and it still came out blotchy. Normally, this would be a HUGE problem, But with the amber paint under the amber blank with little peek-a-boo's of brass, I must say it looks pretty striking! If i was HAD to do it with a solid paint color, I would find a nice orange and go with that. If i was going to do it all over again, I would do the same thing i did this time... No differences.
BE PATIENT... It took me about 30 or 45 minutes to turn each tube. I may have been going too slow, but my pen sure is pretty so i think my speed was about right!
It was kinda weird, the material didn't really like to be cut with a tool, but soapy wet sanding seemed to work better than on PR. The shine i got from this material rivals any finish i have ever had on any material. It is definately VERY HIGH on my list of favorites(the material that is)...
I love the Yipee's. This one wasn't mine originally, but i ended up with it and know where it came from. I love to turn a new material and fall in love with it. This is the fourth material and second yipee material i have fallen for.
