Birdsye And cherry Burl In The Same Day

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adirondak5

adirondak5

Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2016
Messages
242
Location
Long Island NY
I showed a friend some of my first pens and he was amazed , especially with the cherry burl I harvested and stabilized . A few days later he asked me if I could make him a few , he'd buy them , I told him I'd be happy too . Here's what I ended up making for him

Euro pen , brushed satin - birdseye
Sierra , gun metal - cherry burl
Bolt Action , gun metal - cherry burl
Bolt Action , gun metal - birdseye

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He attends a lot of regional conferences throughout the state as part of his work and said he'll show them around , so maybe this will help with the financing of my new addiction :smile:
 
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OZturner said:
Well Done Herb,
Excellent Pens, Great Blanks.
Superb Fit and Finish.
Good luck with some future Orders.
Congratulations,
Brian.
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Thank you Brian . The day I started turning those barrels started off rather badly with some other issues going on , when that unpleasantness was over I told my wife I am going down to the shop , I turned them all one after the other and finished and assembled them . It was a great way to clear my mind and relax in my own way , pen therapy you might say :smile:


magpens said:
Well done !!!! . I especially like the cherry.
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Thank you Mal . That was my last blank of stabilized cherry burl , I sliced up some more and have it sitting and drying a bit more before I stabilize it .
 
Well , my friend got his pens , he was thrilled with them :smile:. I need to make 6 more cherry burl bolt actions for his associates , he said they sold without question . To say I am thrilled would be a colossal understatement ! Good thing I've got some more stabilized ,I have been stabilizing more cherry burl blanks the last few days . He also asked permission to give out my contact info to interested parties . Hopefully this will be the start of something .
One barrel finished off the lathe , one finished on the lathe , I need to drill and glue up 4 more blanks and I'll get them turned tomorrow .

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Newbie question that I have been dying to ask someone. How exactly does one "stabilize" a blank? Sorry for the idiot question
 
LR9788 said:
Newbie question that I have been dying to ask someone. How exactly does one "stabilize" a blank? Sorry for the idiot question
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No such thing as an idiot question Luke , a few years ago I had no idea what stabilized wood was either . :wink:
Stabilized wood in the way I do it is infusing the wood with an acrylic resin by placing it in a vacuum chamber submerged in the acrylic solution (Cactus Juice) and applying vacuum until no more air is coming out of the wood . Then vacuum pump is turned off , vacuum released from chamber , the acrylic resin is then drawn into the wood relplacing the air that was vacuumed out . Then I place the wood in a toaster oven and cure the acrylic resin at 200* for about an hour and its done. I now have blanks that won't move , won't rot or decay , are stable , machine easily .
For a better explanation than I can give and some videos ,here's a link to TurnTex website

https://www.turntex.com/help-center/cactus-juice-stabilizing-resources
 
3 more Cherry Burl barrels turned and finished , had the 4th just about done and got a catch and blow out , tried fixing it but you can see the crack where it blew out so I'll have to glue up one more fresh blank

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adirondak5 said:
LR9788 said:
Newbie question that I have been dying to ask someone. How exactly does one "stabilize" a blank? Sorry for the idiot question
Click to expand...

No such thing as an idiot question Luke , a few years ago I had no idea what stabilized wood was either . :wink:
Stabilized wood in the way I do it is infusing the wood with an acrylic resin by placing it in a vacuum chamber submerged in the acrylic solution (Cactus Juice) and applying vacuum until no more air is coming out of the wood . Then vacuum pump is turned off , vacuum released from chamber , the acrylic resin is then drawn into the wood relplacing the air that was vacuumed out . Then I place the wood in a toaster oven and cure the acrylic resin at 200* for about an hour and its done. I now have blanks that won't move , won't rot or decay , are stable , machine easily .
For a better explanation than I can give and some videos ,here's a link to TurnTex website

https://www.turntex.com/help-center/cactus-juice-stabilizing-resources
Click to expand...


Thanks! Looks like I need to go buy more toys
 
LR9788 said:
Your finish is perfect on these! Do I remember seeing that you use friction polish rather than CA?
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Thanks Luke , yes , I do use Mylands Sanding Sealer followed by Mylands Friction Polish . I sand to 600 g and then use EEE on the barrels , then I clean them with naptha or DNA and micro mesh to 12000 , next they get a few coats of the sealer , followed by 6 or more coats of friction polish , final step is a good coat of carnuba wax . I'm no expert but this works good for me . Being in a basement shop I don't like using CA too much , the fumes are awful , I've done some finishing with CA but just prefer the sealer and friction polish . Some day that may change but for now that's my method .


LR9788 said:
adirondak5 said:
LR9788 said:
Newbie question that I have been dying to ask someone. How exactly does one "stabilize" a blank? Sorry for the idiot question
Click to expand...

No such thing as an idiot question Luke , a few years ago I had no idea what stabilized wood was either . :wink:
Stabilized wood in the way I do it is infusing the wood with an acrylic resin by placing it in a vacuum chamber submerged in the acrylic solution (Cactus Juice) and applying vacuum until no more air is coming out of the wood . Then vacuum pump is turned off , vacuum released from chamber , the acrylic resin is then drawn into the wood relplacing the air that was vacuumed out . Then I place the wood in a toaster oven and cure the acrylic resin at 200* for about an hour and its done. I now have blanks that won't move , won't rot or decay , are stable , machine easily .
For a better explanation than I can give and some videos ,here's a link to TurnTex website

https://www.turntex.com/help-center/cactus-juice-stabilizing-resources
Click to expand...


Thanks! Looks like I need to go buy more toys
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Ha ! Its a good way to make questionable wood workable and useful .
Not to sound like an ad man for Turn Tex but they are the place to deal with for that kind of gear IMO , fast , honest , and a great source of info .
 
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