Drstrangefart
Member
My first shot at curly maple. It was harder to work with than I anticipated. Did a lot of cleanup with the skew and sandpaper. Also finally got the high gloss finish just right.
If I can be critical, I think you may have a few rough spots in the finish. Just to the left of the ball of the clip, half way down. See the way the highlight breaks-continues-breaks-continues, that's an inconsistency in the finish.
CA finishes are odd things. When you're in the zone it seems like you can't mess it up if you tried. Then, something happens and you can't get it right. Kinda like the shanks in golf lol
In the zone for me is apply a rice grain size strip of med CA to a paper towel and wipe it back and forth 7 times (each direction counts as 1) on one blank, do the second piece and walk away so you're not tempted to hit it again too quick. 6-8 coats produces a nice finish.
You just got to be careful that your paper towel doesn't accelerate the drying of the CA. If so the two could become one lol
There should be a meet coming up in Atlanta soon. Hook up with those numbskulls and I'm sure you can talk one of them into walking you through it step by step.
And not to bust your chops but the CA is mightier than the curl. There's no reason for curl to keep the reflection from being continuous I wouldn't think. Here's a VERY curly piece I did and you can see the reflection from the light is consistent the length of the pen.
If you're using a hair dryer, you may want to get a squirt bottle of CA accelerator. You can get it at hobby stores that sell RC car parts if there's not a Woodcraft near you.
For me, roughly my steps are:
Seal with a layer of thin CA.
Fold paper towel the lenght of one blank.
Squirt a bead of medium CA on the end of the paper towel.
Touch the bead to one blank from the underside with the lathe on low.
Wiggle it a little side to side then take it away.
Let it dry or hit it with accelerator if I'm feeling brave
Sand LIGHTLY with MM, a low grade, maybe #2 with the lathe turned halfway up.
Turn the lathe off and sand horizontally until the whole blank is consistently ashy.
Wipe down with a clean paper towel.
Apply another coat, repeat.
Maybe apply another and repeat.
Work my way through the MM using accelerator as a lubricant.
Cross sand through the first half of the MM set.
That's about it.
If I can be critical, I think you may have a few rough spots in the finish. Just to the left of the ball of the clip, half way down. See the way the highlight breaks-continues-breaks-continues, that's an inconsistency in the finish.
the design of your pen is way out of proportion. top is Ok, but he bottom doesn't compliment the top. Have you tried to hold the pen in your hands and see how it feels?
skye mentioned about the CA finish. the best way you can practice is to take whole bunch of blanks and don't drill them and try to round them center to center on the lathe and then apply CA finish until you are satisfied with the finish. and, CA only takes maybe 3 Sec. on one path and same on the way returning, longer than that will leave spots and ridges, I had to learn it the hard way ,but i have a good teacher whom pens are always admired here on IAP.
Best of luck.
Actually, I showed it off in a public forum a few hours ago, and everyone loved it. I know the proportion is off, that's a result of the wood trying to tear away and doing a LOT of cleanup with sandpaper. I think my gouce may have been sharpened at the wrong angle. My fault. I'm gonna try to fix that.
the design of your pen is way out of proportion. top is Ok, but he bottom doesn't compliment the top. Have you tried to hold the pen in your hands and see how it feels?
skye mentioned about the CA finish. the best way you can practice is to take whole bunch of blanks and don't drill them and try to round them center to center on the lathe and then apply CA finish until you are satisfied with the finish. and, CA only takes maybe 3 Sec. on one path and same on the way returning, longer than that will leave spots and ridges, I had to learn it the hard way ,but i have a good teacher whom pens are always admired here on IAP.
Best of luck.
Actually, I showed it off in a public forum a few hours ago, and everyone loved it. I know the proportion is off, that's a result of the wood trying to tear away and doing a LOT of cleanup with sandpaper. I think my gouce may have been sharpened at the wrong angle. My fault. I'm gonna try to fix that.
the design of your pen is way out of proportion. top is Ok, but he bottom doesn't compliment the top. Have you tried to hold the pen in your hands and see how it feels?
skye mentioned about the CA finish. the best way you can practice is to take whole bunch of blanks and don't drill them and try to round them center to center on the lathe and then apply CA finish until you are satisfied with the finish. and, CA only takes maybe 3 Sec. on one path and same on the way returning, longer than that will leave spots and ridges, I had to learn it the hard way ,but i have a good teacher whom pens are always admired here on IAP.
Best of luck.
Actually, I showed it off in a public forum a few hours ago, and everyone loved it. I know the proportion is off, that's a result of the wood trying to tear away and doing a LOT of cleanup with sandpaper. I think my gouce may have been sharpened at the wrong angle. My fault. I'm gonna try to fix that.
I know beginners are into this big an bulky bulges but do yourself a favor and do a straight shaped pen and notice the huge difference in both the look and the finish you can achieve. When doing bulges like that the consistancy is hard to accomplish and frankly they look odd. Give it a try on your next one.
If your finger is sticking to the towel you need to fold the towel in half and 2 swipes on the pen and walk away. Do not try to keep going back and forth on the pen. Not needed. Time to improve and step up
If you're using a hair dryer, you may want to get a squirt bottle of CA accelerator. You can get it at hobby stores that sell RC car parts if there's not a Woodcraft near you.
For me, roughly my steps are:
Seal with a layer of thin CA.
Fold paper towel the lenght of one blank.
Squirt a bead of medium CA on the end of the paper towel.
Touch the bead to one blank from the underside with the lathe on low.
Wiggle it a little side to side then take it away.
Let it dry or hit it with accelerator if I'm feeling brave
Sand LIGHTLY with MM, a low grade, maybe #2 with the lathe turned halfway up.
Turn the lathe off and sand horizontally until the whole blank is consistently ashy.
Wipe down with a clean paper towel.
Apply another coat, repeat.
Maybe apply another and repeat.
Work my way through the MM using accelerator as a lubricant.
Cross sand through the first half of the MM set.
That's about it.
I used accelerant before, didn't like it too much. Mostly wasn't sure what to expect, and I was being overstimulated trying to get the thick coats of medium CA. The hair dryer does a good job of spreadint areas that are too thick out, covering mistakes. Once I get comfortable with my process I'm gonna work on something more like the one listed above. I'm still quite happy with most of my results, as they are improving with every pen I turn. As a matter of fact, let me go check to see if my cherry burl's 3rd layer of medium is dry.......
Allan, I hope my comment didn't turn you off doing this. In a pic. that was the first thing that got my attention. In my opinion when you look at a piece of art the proportion and the flow of the art object also expresses how well the artist's vision has come to life on the object. But, now that you say your customers like it then that's a different story. You have to cater to your customer base. Of, course I am not that experienced like some of the veteran turners here, it was just an observation and comparing with what I have seen on IAP during the time I have been on here. Best of luck to you and happy turning.
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Dude, it's totally cool. Everyone has their own philosophy and I will listen to them all without taking it too personally. My vision for that pen kinda got diminished after sanding out all of the tearaways and realizing I had lost a lot of material. As it was my only curly maple blank, I figured I should probably finish it and call it a day. I happen to like the shaped bodies as well, so it works out. I can turn the narrower straight bodies all day. They just seem a bit dull.