First attempt at a stabilized blank

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dustmaker

dustmaker

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Oct 22, 2009
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Gastonia, NC
I had a customer custom order this one. It is the first stabilized blank I have turned. Boy is that stuff tough! I sharpened my chisel three times before I was done with this. Nothing altogether fancy, a Slimline in Gold stabilized Box Elder Burl (BEB). What do you think? I will be delivering this one shortly...
 

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Thanks guys. Should of said, did a CA finish. About 6 coats of thin CA if memory serves. MM to 12K and a light white diamond buff.
 
Wow very nice. I imagine it took a little longer to turn than normal, not including the sharpening. I like the color and think it goes great with the color of the kit.

As a side note I love your signature and your name "dustmaker"!
 
I dropped this off to the customer about an hour ago. I heard the words, "wow", "beautiful", and "perfect" The rest was a blur, I was in seventh heaven. It wasn't a big money maker, but knowing I have a satisfied customer is enough for now. That little sale will no doubt pay dividends down the road...so far my business is all pretty much word of mouth...he took a few business cards too (which never hurts). Thanks for all the nice comments; you guys are the best!
 
Congratulations. Nice pen, you are happy, the customer is happy. Good outcome.
However, I would question the necessity of sharpening three times for one pen.
That's not to say I (we?) haven't encountered similar problems with odd materials. But, a relatively soft wood stabilized should not give that kind of problem.
Methinks there is something lacking in your sharpening technique. Or, you have really cheap steel in your tools. Just a thought.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
Congratulations. Nice pen, you are happy, the customer is happy. Good outcome.
However, I would question the necessity of sharpening three times for one pen.
That's not to say I (we?) haven't encountered similar problems with odd materials. But, a relatively soft wood stabilized should not give that kind of problem.
Methinks there is something lacking in your sharpening technique. Or, you have really cheap steel in your tools. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

Well, I suppose there is room for improvement, but it probably wasn't the chisel or my sharpening skills. I've made about 100 pens so far and resharpen often and this is the first time I've encountered this kind of difficulty. It being my first stabalized blank I really didn't know what to expect, so maybe I over reacted? Dunno, but the pen came out fine and the customer is delighted so I couldn't be happier. I have a few other stabilized blanks to try, so we'll see how those go...
 
Stabilized woods are much denser than regular wood blanks. They are my favorite blanks to turn. You can finish them or just polish them.

Nice work - your customer's praise (and cash) are the sincerest compliments.
 
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