amboyna problems?

[Woodnknots]

I made my first pen from amboyna last night. I got the amboyna from WC about a week ago. I made LOML a sterling silver baron fountain. today when she got home from her job, it was cracked all over, and appeared to be shrinking down the tube!! Has anyone else had this problem? What am I doing wrong, or is the amboyna burl most likely just not completely dry? It seems dry, if fact, I was not ready for how hard ambyona turned out to be. My bandsaw blade was actually smoking when I cut the blanks from the block!

 

[alamocdc]

Sounds like a combination of heat and not being dry, Dave.

 

[Dario]

Smoking? or was that steam you saw?

If you are not sure if your wood is dry or not do this test.

Cut and drill the blanks. Put the blanks in the microwave for a FEW SECONDS (one pair of blanks might just take 4-5 seconds)

Get the blanks and stand it in your counter or a plate (hole at the bottom). Let it sit for a few seconds. Lift the blank up...if there are water mist on the counter/plate where the hole was...then your wood is wet.

Run it a few more cycles and it should dry fast. Re-drill the hole before gluing the tube.

 

[Woodnknots]

It was definitely smoke, I could smell it. The wood doesn't have that "cool" wet feel to it. I'll definitely try the microwave test before the next pen. I made another one tonight, hopefully I didn't waste a baron TG kit on it. The pen at least looks pretty for now!

 

[wdcav1952]

Dave,

I have caused blanks to crack with too aggressive sanding. Building up too much heat in this way can cause the pen to crack.

FWIW,

 

[punkinn]

The very first amboyna pen I turned cracked as well; but the crack followed a sapwood-heartwood line so I wonder if it was just a matter of time for the stress to let go. Funnily enough, that first blank was purchased as "stabilized"... none of my amboyna since has been treated and I've never had a crack again. Bizarre, but why tempt fate? []

Nancy

 

[terrymiller]

Dave it sounds like the Amboyna was not dry. The day I left your house I turned my first amboyna and had no problems cutting or turning the blank. Was this one of the blocks off the front table that was waxed. The wax may have held to much of the moisture in. Can you post a pic.

 

[Dario]

Originally posted by daveturns05
<br />It was definitely smoke, I could smell it.

Your blank may have cracked during the drilling due to heat...though you didn't notice it.

Try slowing down your drill press. Also check if your drill bit is sharp and clear the shavings off the bit/hole as often as you can.

 

[Woodnknots]

Thanks for all the help. It is definitely SHRINKING!! I turned another pen last night, and today it has not cracked, but it has shrunk back from one end of the tube. Must mean it's wet. If I do Dario's microwave trick, do you think that'll help? I'm destroying some really nice pen kits, here. One was a sterling silver baron, and another was a Ti gold baron.

 

[terrymiller]

Dave do you have a moisture meter to check the wood. Ive looked at the wood at WC before and I'll bet it is wet. It came from the same place as that Boxelder and Sycamore. When I cut that stuff the other day water was dripping on some of it.

 

[Dario]

Originally posted by daveturns05
<br />Thanks for all the help. It is definitely SHRINKING!! I turned another pen last night, and today it has not cracked, but it has shrunk back from one end of the tube. Must mean it's wet. If I do Dario's microwave trick, do you think that'll help? I'm destroying some really nice pen kits, here. One was a sterling silver baron, and another was a Ti gold baron.

It will help...you can dry it after or before you drill. Search here for microwave drying...you'll find a lot of tutorials

Destroying the kit? you can definitely salvage those...including the tubes. Just disassemble and turn away all the wood until you reclaimed the tubes. Worst case...buy spare tubes.

 

[Woodnknots]

Originally posted by terrymiller
<br />Dave do you have a moisture meter to check the wood. Ive looked at the wood at WC before and I'll bet it is wet. It came from the same place as that Boxelder and Sycamore. When I cut that stuff the other day water was dripping on some of it.

I ordered my moisture meter from HF a few days ago along with a riser block for my BS. I have no idea when it'll get here.

 

[Woodnknots]

Originally posted by Dario
<br />

Originally posted by daveturns05
<br />Thanks for all the help. It is definitely SHRINKING!! I turned another pen last night, and today it has not cracked, but it has shrunk back from one end of the tube. Must mean it's wet. If I do Dario's microwave trick, do you think that'll help? I'm destroying some really nice pen kits, here. One was a sterling silver baron, and another was a Ti gold baron.

It will help...you can dry it after or before you drill. Search here for microwave drying...you'll find a lot of tutorials

Destroying the kit? you can definitely salvage those...including the tubes. Just disassemble and turn away all the wood until you
reclaimed the tubes. Worst case...buy spare tubes.

How do you safely dissasemble a baron? I'd like to salvage the sterling silver kit.

 

[alamocdc]

Dave, HF sells a set of transfer punches for just a few bucks. Great investment and I've yet to find a pen I can't disassemble with them. Though I haven't tried the sterling silver.

 

[Dario]

What Billy said. Get the transfer punches from HF.

Trickiest part here I think is the plastic insert on the cap. How I handle it (and I am not sure if I am doin this right) is after removing the top most part that holds the clip...thread the cap to the threaded end cap of the pen. you can put something on the end to protect it from scratches and disassemble as usual. This way you will be hitting the endcap while disassembling and not the plastic insert. Hope this helps.

 

[alamocdc]

While I've successfully driven the threads and CB out using the punches, Dario's method might actually be better. Just remember to unscrew the nib assembly first. You don't want to be driving against it.

 

[Dario]

Billy,

I am using the other end...the threaded end cap NOT the nib part.