Before CA ?

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CountryPens

CountryPens

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Jan 1, 2006
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El Cajon, Ca.
How many of you guys have been turning pens more than the last 2 or 3 years? I'm just curious as to what the preferred finish was prior to the current wisdom/popularity of "CA" finshes. I can't beleive "CA" has been used to make pens that long, but I think people have been making pens a long time.

Thanks,

Lester
 
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I started making pens about 8 years ago. Started using friction polish because that's what all the instructions and other instructional info said. The pros on this site know what is good and what will last to satisfy themselves and their customers. Learning on my own I would still be making mistakes and learning on my own. Here and other websites gives me the opportunity to learn from others mistakes and successes. The AAW chapter I belong to has no other pen turners other than myself so I could not learn from them. I became the pen expert even as a beginner.
 
I've been adddicted to this hobby for about 14 years. The only source for parts and supplies at the time I started was Woodcraft in Indy. The guys working there were clueless as to what pen turnibg was all about. I used the HUT waxes, floor wax, bees wax (raised my own), polyurethane, you name it, I tried it. About a year and a half ago I was taught the CA finish by Mr. Fritz McCorkle, Master pen turner, and that is all I use now. I haven't kept track of the number of pens I've made but it is the hundreds. I do demos at the local Rockler store (2 coming up soon) and give one on one how tos for anyone wanting to learn. How cool is it that this hobby has developed into such a broad interest appeal. I really enjoy seeing what you folks have come up with that is a new twist on an old hobby. Don't stop trying new things, it will keep you young.
Wood Butcher
 
I started making pens in the middle 90s. The recommended finishes then were the Hut waxes and Behlen's Woodturner's Finish, a friction polish. I also used Johnson's floor wax as a top coat over the friction polish. I'd hate to go back to those days.[:)]

txbob
 
Originally posted by Wood Butcher
<br />I've been adddicted to this hobby for about 14 years. The only source for parts and supplies at the time I started was Woodcraft in Indy. The guys working there were clueless as to what pen turnibg was all about. I used the HUT waxes, floor wax, bees wax (raised my own), polyurethane, you name it, I tried it. About a year and a half ago I was taught the CA finish by Mr. Fritz McCorkle, Master pen turner, and that is all I use now. I haven't kept track of the number of pens I've made but it is the hundreds. I do demos at the local Rockler store (2 coming up soon) and give one on one how tos for anyone wanting to learn. How cool is it that this hobby has developed into such a broad interest appeal. I really enjoy seeing what you folks have come up with that is a new twist on an old hobby. Don't stop trying new things, it will keep you young.
Wood Butcher
Click to expand...

And here Fritz is hardly visiting over here nowadays! I think I'll have to let him know he's a celeb! [:D][:D]
 
When I started over 8 yrs ago, there wasn't a IAP to "jumpstart" you. Being far from the mainstream was just another problem to be dealt with.

I used Hut Perfect Polish sticks, as this was all the USPS would allow through the mail... Tried schellac, and other can finishs. Never thought of CA. Then I read an article by Russ Fairfield, I tried his receipe for a friction finish and it was good and repeatable.

Penn State, Berea and CSUSA were the suppliers.
I ordered kits and exotic woods and the accrylics and plastics...
Then I found Corian, really hooked because the finish is easy to maintain.
 
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