Black Ash Burl Rhodium Jr. Gent

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Bree

Bree

Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
1,736
Location
Buffalo, NY
I scored some beautiful Black Ash Burl on EBay. I took one of the #2 blanks (by my grading) and made a Rhodium Jr. Gent yesterday. The pen was sanded to 600 grit and then MM-12000. I gave it just a touch of Tung Oil and heated it up with a high temp friction buff using a lintless cloth. After it cooled, I buffed it up with a Beall double buff and then applied 4 heavy coats of CA/BLO.

I am using heavier coats and getting good results with the added thickness. It is very easy to go too heavy so I am trying to stay just under that boundary. I don't want CA flying off the blank and I don't want it rippling. I want it smooth as a baby's butt after every coat. I am using a bit more BLO to get this effect. So far so good. The last three pens I have made with the heavier coats have been very well received by peeps who have handled them and looked at them first hand.

The finish has a high thickness overall since I sand very little of it off. I only sand the final coat and even there I am sanding very lightly. It just doesn't need it. After the CA/BLO I double buff again and hit it with Ren Wax.

I need to work on getting some better PIX. My photo tent is nice but I have trouble getting the character of the finish shown. My lighting is wrong. I hope to get that solved one of these days.

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:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
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I just did one of these only on a flattop rollerball from a blank I picked up at Rockler and I like this burl and your pen is beautiful.
 
Bree - what do you mean by "double buff". I noticed that on a couple of your other posts. On one you also said triple buff.

Very nice work, BTW.
 
JimB said:
Bree - what do you mean by "double buff". I noticed that on a couple of your other posts. On one you also said triple buff.

Very nice work, BTW.
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The Beall Buffer has three buffing wheels. Each is constructed diferently for a different buffing action. The first is designed for Tripoli polish. It has a stronger cutting action and it gives a medium polish. The second wheel is designed for China White. It is a fine buffer and gives a very glossy polish. The third wheel is for Carnauba wax. It is the finest polishing wheel. It has very little cutting action but glosses the item up like glass. The wax helps protect that polished finish.

I very often double buff which means I use the China White wheel and the Wax wheel only. I do this because sometimes the Tripoli wheel simply abrades too much. Indeed I often will double buff but apply no charge to the wheels using only the residual charge from the last application. It depends on the wood and what I have done to it before.

Normally I have bare wood that is polished to 12,000 grit or CA on top of wood polished to 12,000 grit and buffed to boot. So I don't want to introduce any visible scratches with the buffer. That is why I will double or single buff.
:wink::wink::wink:
 
Bree said:
The Beall Buffer has three buffing wheels. Each is constructed diferently for a different buffing action. The first is designed for Tripoli polish. It has a stronger cutting action and it gives a medium polish. The second wheel is designed for China White. It is a fine buffer and gives a very glossy polish. The third wheel is for Carnauba wax. It is the finest polishing wheel. It has very little cutting action but glosses the item up like glass. The wax helps protect that polished finish.

I very often double buff which means I use the China White wheel and the Wax wheel only. I do this because sometimes the Tripoli wheel simply abrades too much. Indeed I often will double buff but apply no charge to the wheels using only the residual charge from the last application. It depends on the wood and what I have done to it before.

Normally I have bare wood that is polished to 12,000 grit or CA on top of wood polished to 12,000 grit and buffed to boot. So I don't want to introduce any visible scratches with the buffer. That is why I will double or single buff.
:wink::wink::wink:
Click to expand...

Thanks Bree. I thought that might be what you were refering to but I wasn't sure. I've seen several of your SOYP posts lately and your finish always looks great.
 
Beautiful work, Bree.

I have had pens that I used a lot of friction on to heat cure a polish to crack later. Have you had any problems with wood cracking weeks or months later with this technique?
 
wdcav1952 said:
Beautiful work, Bree.

I have had pens that I used a lot of friction on to heat cure a polish to crack later. Have you had any problems with wood cracking weeks or months later with this technique?
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I have never had one crack. I try to apply the friction uniformly and I judge the temp by my finger. If my finger can't handle it I figure the wood can't either. That said, I know that I run a risk of damaging one.

But what the heck... it's like bridge... if you don't lose some of your doubles, you're not doubling enough!! LOL!

I am always in a hurry and heat gets me done faster. I trade the risk of damage for speed.
:wink::wink::wink:
 
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