Bleed in pen, how to stop this from happening?

[QuietHill Crafts]

I attempted a segmented pen, started real easy or so I thought.

Ebony blank, cut on both ends at 45 degrees. Then, two 45 degree cuts in Holly.

I was going for the black to white contrast.

Everything was fine until I started sanding into 600 grit paper...then the ebony started making it's way into the grain of the holly when sanding with the grain to take away the orbital scratches from the lathe, and I couldn't get it to go away. I must have sanded it 4 times through 600 to get the same thing to happen.

I figure it's because the ebony is so oily? Did I just choose the worst combo of woods out there to combine? Is there something I could have done to prevent this?

 

[CREID]

I had this happen once and someone told me to try sealing the Holly with CA or something before sanding.
Curt

 

[QuietHill Crafts]

I'll try that on the next one. This is the best part of this hobby, figuring out what went wrong. It still made a great pen, looks really nice...although I'm giving this one away as a fail...the guy is still really stoked to get it. The process will improve and I really like the different look segmenting gives it.

 

[lorbay]

I Use a mixture of Shelac and Denatured alcahol (spray on ) to stop stain colours from bleeding from one to the other. It might work for this too.

Lin.

 

[magpens]

Instead of Holly (which is fairly soft), a whitish hardwood (if you can find one) might collect less of the black Ebony dust.

But having said that, I would classify this pen as a big success !!! ... I can't see much, if any, bleeding.

 

[CREID]

Mine was a holly center band on either claro walnut or cocobolo.
Kind of a bummer but it was an idea I had with some leftover dark wood, someday I'll get around to it again.
Good luck with whatever you try, CA, shellac sanding sealer, just something that seals the pores so that the dust doesn't get in them.
Curt

 

[pianomanpj]

Try using a carbide cutter to get your final finish. That way you can avoid sanding altogether. I do that all the time with laser inlay kits.

 

[Sabaharr]

I would suggest sealing with thin CA as stated above then go one step further and make your final passes with a sharp skew. Properly done you can get a 220 grit or better finish with a skew. Then apply your CA finish or whatever you prefer. Eliminate the sanding all together, for this combination anyway.

 

[TurtleTom]

I'm with Sabaharr, always the skew with dissimilar woods.