finishing bow?

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mrcook4570

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Joined
Mar 27, 2005
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4,098
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Mason, WV, USA.
IMHO all wood pens that will be used need a good durable finish. If the pen is for decoration only, then leave it natural.

Human hands are filthy and will transfer dirt, sweat, oil, etc to anything they touch.
 
S

spiritwoodturner

Guest
Wipe clean with Naptha when you're done sanding and use thin CA, multiple coats, for a finish. It will stick, look great, and protect it for a very long time. Read up on CA finishes throughout the site.

Dale
 

Rudy Vey

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Jan 26, 2004
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Location
South Plainfield, NJ, USA.
Just use CA, I use thin. Never wipe the blank down with alcohol or so, I just give it a dry rub with an old towel before I apply the CA. I am afraid that some alcohol might be trapped under the finish, and alcohol contains a lot of water (rubbing alcohol is normally 60% alcohol, rest is water).
 

mywoodshopca

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Nov 3, 2008
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Location
Charlottetown, PEI Canada, Derby Kansas and Canyon
Thanks :)

I have all the pens turned and sanded to 2000 grit sandpaper.. going to go get some ca tomorrow morning..

Problem though.. The place I am going to get the CA glue at is sold out of micromesh (and wont have any until Jan), I searched all over today and the finest sandpaper I could get is 2k grit.. Would I notice much of a quality difference if these are done with that only instead of mm? It takes about a week to get any here via mail.. These need to be done for Friday..
 

NewLondon88

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May 15, 2008
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5,077
Location
Claremont NH
Go with the 2000 .. that's higher than some people sand. It will give you a
nice finish, but perhaps not as much depth... or maybe it will. :biggrin:

Go with what you have and do the best you can ..
Who can ask more than that?
 

ldb2000

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Sep 11, 2007
Messages
5,381
Location
Laurence Harbor, NJ, USA.
Pick up a 6" buffing wheel and arbor for your drill press and use white diamond compound to buff after sanding . You could also use plastic polish on the lathe after sanding , CA is a plastic finish . Either way you will get a much better shine then sanding alone .
 

Munsterlander

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Jan 10, 2008
Messages
267
Location
Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
I did a BOW barrel yesterday using Rudy's technique (but a few extra coats) - worked great. I did, however, wipe down with DNA to clean the barrel - seems I'm always able to get more sanding dust (including some specks of bushing dust - yeah, I know) using DNA versus just a towel - but I let it spin on the lathe for 15 minutes or more before applying the CA glue to make sure it was dry.
 

GouletPens

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Nov 9, 2008
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Ashland, VA
I wipe my pens with acetone before finishing with CA b/c acetone dissolves in just seconds. Way faster than dna or mineral spirits. I have some olivewood I did a while back for my father in law and used a friction polish. It lasted.....about 5 days on it. He likes the natural wood feel though, but still I would use CA if at all possible.
 

jkeithrussell

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Oct 20, 2008
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1,277
Another option is to rough sand with CA to work up a CA/slurry. Then sand and finish with CA as you normally would. The CA/slurry will build up a good base coat for the CA finish. I discovered that with BOW by accident while trying to fill in a void. When I finished sanding and got ready to apply the finish, it was already shiny and had a decent CA base.
 

mywoodshopca

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Nov 3, 2008
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Location
Charlottetown, PEI Canada, Derby Kansas and Canyon
Another option is to rough sand with CA to work up a CA/slurry. Then sand and finish with CA as you normally would. The CA/slurry will build up a good base coat for the CA finish. I discovered that with BOW by accident while trying to fill in a void. When I finished sanding and got ready to apply the finish, it was already shiny and had a decent CA base.


Actually working on one this afternoon that had tons of figure in it, soon as I got the blank rounded, the figure was pretty much gone.. now that its down to pen size, it looks like maple :rolleyes: And I noticed a small void I need to fill.. so i will try this as well :)

Thanks!
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
274
Location
San Antonio, TX, USA
I just used a normal CA/BLO on my last one, but I wiped it down very thoroughly with denatured alcohol before I put on the finish. If you try this make sure the denatured alcohol is completely dry. I thought the results were quite good. Not perfect, but the best I've gotten so far. I also used renaissance wax after finishing. I prefer a natural finish on BOW if its my pen, but this one needed to be very durable so a natural finish wouldn't suit it.

The best option is to experiment and let us know what works best,
Good luck,
-Joseph
 
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