wayneis
Member
First of all I recently found that all Dymondwood is not created equal. I've been buying this stuff from several different companies and it dawned on me after a recent shipment from River Ridge that after turning blanks from them that theirs was quite a bit different. I asked about it and was told that Steve orders his made different, more dense. The blanks that I have bought from them are in my opinion much better than any others that I have tried. These blanks are not porus like some of the others but more like a solid hard wood. They polish up like glass. I sand with MM to 12,000 and then buff and they look like I put a finish on them.
What I have also found is that you need to keep the heat down both when drilling and when turning but I now go one step further and it has made a huge difference. I now ream the tubes out before I assemble the pen. I use a drill bit just a bit smaller than the tube and wrap sandpaper around it and put it in the tubes and ream the insides out to where I can just press the parts in by hand. When I get them reamed I put a drop of ca in the tube before I press in the part. Sence I have been doing this I have not had one blank crack, before I did this I had several crack either when pressing the parts in or shortly after. I had almost swore off this wood but now I turn it regular but I only will purchase blanks from River Ridge from now on.
Wayne
I am only a satisfied customer, I'm not getting paid for this.
What I have also found is that you need to keep the heat down both when drilling and when turning but I now go one step further and it has made a huge difference. I now ream the tubes out before I assemble the pen. I use a drill bit just a bit smaller than the tube and wrap sandpaper around it and put it in the tubes and ream the insides out to where I can just press the parts in by hand. When I get them reamed I put a drop of ca in the tube before I press in the part. Sence I have been doing this I have not had one blank crack, before I did this I had several crack either when pressing the parts in or shortly after. I had almost swore off this wood but now I turn it regular but I only will purchase blanks from River Ridge from now on.
Wayne
I am only a satisfied customer, I'm not getting paid for this.