Back at it.

[Humongous]

After a self imposed sabbatical to concentrate on my other hobbies, I'm back working on some holiday gifts. This is a European style pencil kit from Woodcraft in a nice Bocote blank. This is an interesting kit, It uses a Schmidt click pencil mechanism but is advanced with a 1/4 turn of the top barrel. There is a piece that transfers the rotation to a plunger action that advances the lead, pretty ingenious.

Thanks to a thread from David350 ( https://www.penturners.org/members/david350.34973/) I thought I would give the Berea artists UV resin a try for a finish. This is 2 coats of resin with no sanding or Micro meshing. I didn't go very thick because I liked the look of the grain showing through and the feel of the pencil. I'm usually a "the shinier the better guy" but I liked the slightly matt finish that this gave to the wood. I like the look and will probably do some more experimenting with this as a finish, so far so good. It's definitely a huge time saver.

Thanks for looking, comments and critique welcome.

 

[Fine Engineer]

The wood is outstanding, and I like the finish a lot.
This also shows that the UV cure resin may have some real versatility, as it isn't only for gloss finishes. It would be interesting to know the techniques for the different gloss levels.

 

[David350]

The wood is outstanding, and I like the finish a lot.
This also shows that the UV cure resin may have some real versatility, as it isn't only for gloss finishes. It would be interesting to know the techniques for the different gloss levels.

I haven't played more with this since my original post, but I would think you should be able to start with the highest micromesh to knock down some of the gloss and continue to work your way down to more course micromesh pads to get the level of satin finish you want...

 

[David350]

After a self imposed sabbatical to concentrate on my other hobbies, I'm back working on some holiday gifts. This is a European style pencil kit from Woodcraft in a nice Bocote blank. This is an interesting kit, It uses a Schmidt click pencil mechanism but is advanced with a 1/4 turn of the top barrel. There is a piece that transfers the rotation to a plunger action that advances the lead, pretty ingenious.

Thanks to a thread from David350 ( https://www.penturners.org/members/david350.34973/) I thought I would give the Berea artists UV resin a try for a finish. This is 2 coats of resin with no sanding or Micro meshing. I didn't go very thick because I liked the look of the grain showing through and the feel of the pencil. I'm usually a "the shinier the better guy" but I liked the slightly matt finish that this gave to the wood. I like the look and will probably do some more experimenting with this as a finish, so far so good. It's definitely a huge time saver.

Thanks for looking, comments and critique welcome.

View attachment 345288
View attachment 345289

I'm glad you gave this a try and your choice of wood brings up an interesting detail / feature. I used desert ironwood in my test and that of course is a wood that sands up very smooth, almost like an "acrylic" blank. I do like how the grain still shows through in your blank and still maintains that real wood "look"

 

[Fine Engineer]

I haven't played more with this since my original post, but I would think you should be able to start with the highest micromesh to knock down some of the gloss and continue to work your way down to more course micromesh pads to get the level of satin finish you want...

David,
I was thinking that you didn't use any post application sanding and got a high gloss, and Ken (Humongous) didn't either and got a matte finish. I was wondering if there was some technique involved to get the different gloss levels. Looking back on your initial post, you note that the high gloss finish dulled a bit after a couple of days, so that is an interesting factor as well. So to get a high gloss you would have to wait a few days then buff?
I'll probably try working with this in the spring when I get time to make some more pens.

 

[David350]

David,
I was thinking that you didn't use any post application sanding and got a high gloss, and Ken (Humongous) didn't either and got a matte finish. I was wondering if there was some technique involved to get the different gloss levels. Looking back on your initial post, you note that the high gloss finish dulled a bit after a couple of days, so that is an interesting factor as well. So to get a high gloss you would have to wait a few days then buff?
I'll probably try working with this in the spring when I get time to make some more pens

I plan on doing some more testing on this in the near future to better document with pictures under consistent lighting conditions, etc., what if any changes the finish undergoes after application. I did notice after the initial cure when it was extremely glossy, it felt a bit tacky, not really as an uncured product, but more like a "squeaky clean" surface. The next one I do, I plan on using the Novus 2 fine polish that I use as a final polish on my "acrylic" pens to see if it gets rid of that feeling and to see what it does to the level of gloss. I'll do a cigar pen, and treat each half a bit different and see what happens...

 

[Humongous]

David,
I was thinking that you didn't use any post application sanding and got a high gloss, and Ken (Humongous) didn't either and got a matte finish. I was wondering if there was some technique involved to get the different gloss levels. Looking back on your initial post, you note that the high gloss finish dulled a bit after a couple of days, so that is an interesting factor as well. So to get a high gloss you would have to wait a few days then buff?
I'll probably try working with this in the spring when I get time to make some more pens.

Could be quite a few differences in play. Bocote is more of an oily wood, while I wipe it down with acetone first it could interact. The blank soaked up quite a bit of the resin and as I said I went light. It was also about 45 degrees in my shop, I only have a small space heater. The resin was thicker than when I was using it over the summer. Any or all of these factors may have contributed to the difference. I plan on more experimentation.

 

[Kcimdrib]

Great work. I am also a fan of the Euro style a bit more work but worth it.

 

[Humongous]

Great work. I am also a fan of the Euro style a bit more work but worth it.

Thanks, this one is a little bit different as it uses 11/32" tubes instead of the standard 7mm so you will need bushings if you use them. However cutting the tenon etc... is the same

 

[Kcimdrib]

Yes the ones I made were 7mm but good fun to make.

 

[Hippie3180]

What great grain and that finish is really nice. Sweet pen.