Elegant Sierra, Amboyna

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Jeremy

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Mar 5, 2010
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Just started turning a few weeks ago, I've sold around 16 or 17 pens so far. This is the latest one I made, my favorite so far.

penbrushedamboyna.jpg
 
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Nice piece of wood, but it might have looked a bit better with a slight bulge contour, not enough to make it look preggers, but just enough to add some shape, rather than straight bushing to bushing, the Finish looks pretty good, what did you use?? If you're doing work like this after three weeks, I think you'll do quite well at this insanity.
 
bitshird said:
Nice piece of wood, but it might have looked a bit better with a slight bulge contour, not enough to make it look preggers, but just enough to add some shape, rather than straight bushing to bushing, the Finish looks pretty good, what did you use?? If you're doing work like this after three weeks, I think you'll do quite well at this insanity.
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Thanks everyone. Finish is CA. I had another similar kit so I tried a bulge like you suggested. I'll let you judge.

penmidtitgold.jpg
 
Jeremy said:
Thanks everyone. Finish is CA. I had another similar kit so I tried a bulge like you suggested. I'll let you judge.
Click to expand...

If you don't mine me critiquing your "bulge" ... when I turn a Sierra it looks basically like this one at the top but at the nib end I taper it down to the bushings with no bulge. I suppose the best way to describe it is to combine your original posted pen and this second pen.

What a great CA finish on it!! What grit do you sand to? CA only? Buffed? Micro-meshed?
 
Yes, those are very nice and you really have the finishing process worked out. I agree with the others on the bulge, you can get an I deal on the shape they are talking about by studying the pictures of these kits others have posted.
 
I prefer the second pen to the first one, but that is just personal preference I suppose. When writing with it, I prefer the feel of the pen with a slight bulge in the body. Nicely Done.
 
Crickett said:
If you don't mine me critiquing your "bulge" ... when I turn a Sierra it looks basically like this one at the top but at the nib end I taper it down to the bushings with no bulge. I suppose the best way to describe it is to combine your original posted pen and this second pen.

What a great CA finish on it!! What grit do you sand to? CA only? Buffed? Micro-meshed?
Click to expand...

Well, it's been a sort of experiment the last couple weeks. My first few pens I sanded to 400, then MM all the way to 12,000. Then I'd apply a little BLO on the bare wood, wipe it clean with a clean towel while spinning, apply some CA on a clean towel, wipe down the spinning pen. Then using the BLO towel, I apply a little more BLO to the pen and remove any excess. Repeat 5 times then sand with 600 to remove any ridges and go through the MM routine again.

This worked ok, however on some pens I started getting some kind of hazy foggy crap that wouldn't go away no matter how much buffing I did. This week I started trying it without BLO. Haven't had a problem since. The other things I changed were:

Sand to 400, stop lathe, sand with grain, start with CA. 5 coats, sand with 600, sand to 12,000, buff with carnuba. This has been a big improvement and no misses yet. However I do miss the chatoyance I got with BLO.
 
I think your finish looks great as well! The way I see it, if it works for you, then stick with it. It took me about 3 months to master the CA finish. Don Ward gave me a crash course on it, but I was in la la land in his shop, so I was unable to retain any of the info he taught me, therefore had to re-learn everything. Anyone who has been in his shop would understand! (Thanks Don!)
 
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