First Stabilized Blank - Need Help

[Third Bay Woodworking]

I tried my first stabilized blank this morning and overall am pleased with how it turned out.

I finished using micro mesh, but had a few very minor chip outs. My wife couldn't see them, but I knew they were there. I decided to try to fill them with CA, and then resand the whole thing.

Now I've got a white spot. Should I try to pick it out and use CA again? Any other suggestions?

 

[Brotherdale]

You could probably get that out with acetone and a paper towel.

 

[magpens]

You don't have much choice because you can't leave the white spots there. . However, I am not familiar with the technique suggested by Brotherdale above.

Once you apply acetone you may have a mess on your hands. . Acetone is not very nice to work with and it might attack the stabilization resin.
Acetone is a hazardous substance and the fumes are noxious and annoying.

I don't understand how the "chip outs" occurred. . Did they happen as a result of your turning the stabilized blank ? . Or were they voids in the material ? . If your tools are sharp and you are not cutting deeply, you should not get chip outs. . If they were voids in the material, perhaps your stabilizing technique is a bit "off" because stabilizing should fill small voids.

Either way, it is OK to fill with CA as long as your technique for doing so is appropriate. . It is pretty hard to say what might have gone wrong.
But that whitish result is always a risk with CA, even for experienced users sometimes.

 

[MRDucks2]

Long shot but what the heck: not sure how or with what you stabilized but guessing you voids that had stabilizing resin trapped inside and had little crystals. Once you tried to fix it, the ca dust from sanding also got into the voids and compounded the issue.

You can try to pick it out, I have used the ends of those cheap little modelers/mini files or you try scraping or grinding.

The area they are in looks very dark or black so the other thing you may want to try is a good old black Sharpie, India ink or dye in an attempt to stain/color what it there to match the color of the wood. If the color takes and no white is left, you then remove any ink/dye on the surface around the pits with a quick wipe with denatured alcohol.

After this, you would them fill the colored pits with thin layers of thin CA until they filled above the surround surface. Once completely dry, Bentley hand sand until even with the surface then finish/refinish/complete the finish for the pen.


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app

 

[budnder]

Nice blank. If it were me, I think I'd try to pick that white area out to get it below the surface (Dremel if it wouldn't yield to the pick), then fill with black CA or epoxy. Might sound weird, but I've used finely ground coffee before for the tint. I've also used some Harbor Freight black powder coating.

I've had CA go "white" on me like that when filling if I hit it with too much accelerate. A whole 'nother can of worms, but I found some brands of CA to be much worse about this than others...

 

[Third Bay Woodworking]

Thanks guys!

Yes, the blank had a number of voids in it to begin with. I had filled what I thought was the majority of them with epoxy I had tinted blue. I didn't stabilize the blank myself, so I'm not sure what was originally used but just made so with what I have. I'm very pleased with everything except that one spot.

I appreciate the suggestions and think I'll try to pick it out with some dental tools or a dremel bit and give it another shot.

 

[FGarbrecht]

I had the exact same problem with a dyed stabilizes elder burl blank. I tried all above suggestions except acetone. I ended up sanding the CA off at the white spot. I still had some burl turning waste and sanding dust which I ground up fine in a mortar and pestle. I put the dust in the void spot and dripped in thin CA (similar to how you would do a powder inlay), then refinished the whole blank. A lot of work for a tiny spot

 

[robutacion]

Most suggestions given are good, my approach would be pick/removed all the white spots, fill them with epoxy glue mixed with a powder that matches the darker veins of that blank, re-sand the blank and re-apply the CA finish.

Best of luck,

Cheers
George

 

[Ward]

Easy fix . . . use an old toothbrush and mineral spirits to remove the spots, then refinish as normal. Good luck!