Jimos
Member
It's been a while since I've contributed to the forum. I have a habit of jumping around to various hobbies. Jack of all trades, master of none.
I started making pens this year after I decided to make some gifts for the sales counterparts that I work with. I discovered the Majestic Jr, and thought they were certainly gift worthy. Unfortunately, I ran into the same issues I've had with finishing. The old problematic method; Turn, Sand (150, 240, 320, 400, 600), 1 coat of stickfast thin CA, 6 coats of medium, abranet sanding until all shine is gone, Stickfast satin & gloss polish.
As soon as I polished my blanks, any small hole in the wood just popped white. I threw away at least 4-5 blank sets (pics of 2 enclosed). Very frustrating needless to say. I had reached out to IAP in the past with the same issue. I still couldn't figure out what I could do to eliminate the problem.
Since the white snow always "popped" after polishing, I decided to try a different method. The new; Turn, Sand (same grits as before, but slowed my speed a little, and stopped wrapping the sandpaper around the blank. Essentially less aggressive sanding), EEE Ultra shine, 2 coats thin CA, 10 coats medium CA, abranet sanding as before, wet sanding with micro-mesh pads 1500-12000 (9 pads). So far I haven't had to throw away any blanks. Zero issues as before. I couldn't be happier.
I've attached a few pics. Two are the failures I was having. One are blanks that I finished this evening. After sanding I could see micro holes in the grain and thought, "Oh crap, here we go again". As you can see, without using the polish, it came out just fine. I'm 2 pens short of finishing up my project for my sales counterparts. Well ahead of schedule for December when we have our sales meeting. Thanks for listening and best regards.
I started making pens this year after I decided to make some gifts for the sales counterparts that I work with. I discovered the Majestic Jr, and thought they were certainly gift worthy. Unfortunately, I ran into the same issues I've had with finishing. The old problematic method; Turn, Sand (150, 240, 320, 400, 600), 1 coat of stickfast thin CA, 6 coats of medium, abranet sanding until all shine is gone, Stickfast satin & gloss polish.
As soon as I polished my blanks, any small hole in the wood just popped white. I threw away at least 4-5 blank sets (pics of 2 enclosed). Very frustrating needless to say. I had reached out to IAP in the past with the same issue. I still couldn't figure out what I could do to eliminate the problem.
Since the white snow always "popped" after polishing, I decided to try a different method. The new; Turn, Sand (same grits as before, but slowed my speed a little, and stopped wrapping the sandpaper around the blank. Essentially less aggressive sanding), EEE Ultra shine, 2 coats thin CA, 10 coats medium CA, abranet sanding as before, wet sanding with micro-mesh pads 1500-12000 (9 pads). So far I haven't had to throw away any blanks. Zero issues as before. I couldn't be happier.
I've attached a few pics. Two are the failures I was having. One are blanks that I finished this evening. After sanding I could see micro holes in the grain and thought, "Oh crap, here we go again". As you can see, without using the polish, it came out just fine. I'm 2 pens short of finishing up my project for my sales counterparts. Well ahead of schedule for December when we have our sales meeting. Thanks for listening and best regards.