Giving up on hempwood

[qquake]

The first pen I turned from hempwood, a Gatsby, turned out pretty good. But the second two, not so much. They both blew up on me. This was after I had rotated my carbide cutter to a fresh edge. So I'm giving up on it. There are plenty of other woods and acrylics that aren't so frustrating.

 

[Bats]

The glue in that second blowout looks awfully clean - almost like it didn't bond to the wood securely/at all. Makes me wonder if epoxy would've behaved any differently... although the other blowout says it would've just exploded differently, so it's probably a moot point.

That first pen's awfully pretty, though. Too bad it isn't more practical to get to that point... although I suppose you could always employ the proverbial "40 grit gouge" to shape it.

 

[wrjones224]

Hempwood has given me all sorts of problems but don't give up on it yet. I will use very sharp tools and after I turn it down a little bit I will stop the lathe and fill it with CA glue. It if does blow out you can always try to glue the pieces back on. I haven't tried any stabilized pieces yet but I imagine it would help.

 

[howsitwork]

Never tried it but the results do look good!

I am having a similar issue with black palm and having to use v sharp tools , shear cutting followed by lots of CA after a shirt turning session then leave it to soak. This is AFTER I stabilised it with stickfast , should probably have left to soak longer after vacuum but live and learn. one minute it's fine , next one of the fibres strips clean out !

Variety of challenge helps,you learn new "Norse incantations " to assist and lower your blood pressure.

 

[qquake]

The glue in that second blowout looks awfully clean - almost like it didn't bond to the wood securely/at all. Makes me wonder if epoxy would've behaved any differently... although the other blowout says it would've just exploded differently, so it's probably a moot point.

That first pen's awfully pretty, though. Too bad it isn't more practical to get to that point... although I suppose you could always employ the proverbial "40 grit gouge" to shape it.

I did use two-part epoxy. It's all I ever use for gluing tubes into blanks. I can't imagine how long the 40 grit gouge would have taken.

 

[qquake]

Hempwood has given me all sorts of problems but don't give up on it yet. I will use very sharp tools and after I turn it down a little bit I will stop the lathe and fill it with CA glue. It if does blow out you can always try to glue the pieces back on. I haven't tried any stabilized pieces yet but I imagine it would help.

I actually thought about flooding it with thin CA, and might have, if I had gotten it turned closer before it "blew".

 

[qquake]

Never tried it but the results do look good!

I am having a similar issue with black palm and having to use v sharp tools , shear cutting followed by lots of CA after a shirt turning session then leave it to soak. This is AFTER I stabilised it with stickfast , should probably have left to soak longer after vacuum but live and learn. one minute it's fine , next one of the fibres strips clean out !

Variety of challenge helps,you learn new "Norse incantations " to assist and lower your blood pressure.

I turned a couple of black palm pens recently, and didn't have any problems. Knock on wood... I used a carbide chisel with a shearing cut.

 

[Bats]

I did use two-part epoxy. It's all I ever use for gluing tubes into blanks.

Wow... weird that it pulled off so cleanly, then.

I can't imagine how long the 40 grit gouge would have taken.

Good point. Angle grinder, maybe?

(I'm only half kidding. Before I got my first lathe, I would occasionally "turn" pens by using a die grinder while spinning the mandrel on the drill press - with a makeshift ball bearing live center clamped in the vise - then do the final shaping with sandpaper. scary misuse of tools, but it did work... more or less)

 

[Bats]

I haven't tried any stabilized pieces yet but I imagine it would help.

I'd had exactly the same thought (and said as much), but in a recent thread Ed from Exotic Blanks commented that he'd tried stabilizing some, and that it really didn't make things any easier. Go figure.

 

[Larryreitz]

I agree. Hempwood might be nice but some things are just not worth all the aggravation and frustration. If you are in the business of selling pens at A&C shows I have to sincerely wonder if a successful pen would bring a return that could compensate your time.

 

[qquake]

Wow... weird that it pulled off so cleanly, then.


Good point. Angle grinder, maybe?

(I'm only half kidding. Before I got my first lathe, I would occasionally "turn" pens by using a die grinder while spinning the mandrel on the drill press - with a makeshift ball bearing live center clamped in the vise - then do the final shaping with sandpaper. scary misuse of tools, but it did work... more or less)

I have used the 80 grit gouge on chippy blanks like inlace acrylester, but since I discovered the shearing cut with a carbide chisel, I haven't had any problems with inlace. Bring it on!

 

[David350]

Beautiful pen Jim, too bad its such a pain to work with. Ideally, a pen that nice would make up for numerous failures but for me blowouts ruin my whole day...

 

[BULLWINKLE]

The first pen I turned from hempwood, a Gatsby, turned out pretty good. But the second two, not so much. They both blew up on me. This was after I had rotated my carbide cutter to a fresh edge. So I'm giving up on it. There are plenty of other woods and acrylics that aren't so frustrating.

Too bad. It's a beautiful wood. Maybe if it was stabilized?

 

[qquake]

Beautiful pen Jim, too bad its such a pain to work with. Ideally, a pen that nice would make up for numerous failures but for me blowouts ruin my whole day...

Me too!

 

[qquake]

Too bad. It's a beautiful wood. Maybe if it was stabilized?

I don't know, maybe. But I have no way of stabilizing it. If I had to try it again, I would flood it with thin CA several times as I turned it.

 

[BULLWINKLE]

I don't know, maybe. But I have no way of stabilizing it. If I had to try it again, I would flood it with thin CA several times as I turned it.

That might accomplish the same result

 

[howsitwork]

I turned a couple of black palm pens recently, and didn't have any problems. Knock on wood... I used a carbide chisel with a shearing cut.

yes i'm almost there with mine now. I'm using my favourite 6mm round HSS skew , honed to preflection ( well as close as I can get without polishing the bevel up! Even so a moments failure in concentration and the grain plucks!

Its ( the blank ) resting whilst I gather the necessary concentration to finish it !

Then there are three more prepared blanks to drill and work on Does look good though when finished. Like the black hardware on yours

 

[jcm71]

I stabilized the ones I got from Exotics. Did not do much good. They are very difficult to drill and turn. My technique is to use a R4 carbide cutter and using the front left corner, working from right to left no more than 1/8 inch at a time, making a straight on parting type cut. Pull the cutter straight out, move it to the left 1/8 inch and repeat, only going down toward the tube 1/8 inch at a time. Tedious but still works for me. Epoxy works better than CA. A simple single barrel pen only takes me about 30 minutes. Hemp takes two to three times longer. Also, I am only doing these on thick walled pens like the Sierra Vista or the Gatsby Grande. No way I'll try one on a Slimline.

 

[qquake]

yes i'm almost there with mine now. I'm using my favourite 6mm round HSS skew , honed to preflection ( well as close as I can get without polishing the bevel up! Even so a moments failure in concentration and the grain plucks!

Its ( the blank ) resting whilst I gather the necessary concentration to finish it !

Then there are three more prepared blanks to drill and work on Does look good though when finished. Like the black hardware on yours

That's a Capital Click pen from Woodturningz.

Capital Click Pen Kit - Matte Black - WoodTurningz

The Capital Click Pen in matte black is perfect for anyone and will be sure to fit your everyday life. Solidly-crafted, this pen has knurling (similar to our tactical pen) on both upper end as well as surrounding the nib making your pen easy-to-grip and write with. Easy-to-make with a single 3/8...

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[KateHarrow]

I stabilize all of my hempwood and I tell everyone the following: Hempwood is 90% patience and 10% determination. It's a PITA no matter what. Stabilizing helps but not as much as we are used to with other woods because of the high glue content. The glue does not absorb cactus juice so if it breaks, it will break on a glue line. That being said, light cuts with sharp tools and some thin ca by your side will get the job done. You also definitely don't want to use a barrel trimmer - use a sanding jig to square the ends

 

[Bats]

I stabilize all of my hempwood and I tell everyone the following: Hempwood is 90% patience and 10% determination.

"Patience" is a funny way of spelling "profanity".

 

[KMCloonan]

Have you tried burning it?

 

[qquake]

I stabilize all of my hempwood and I tell everyone the following: Hempwood is 90% patience and 10% determination. It's a PITA no matter what. Stabilizing helps but not as much as we are used to with other woods because of the high glue content. The glue does not absorb cactus juice so if it breaks, it will break on a glue line. That being said, light cuts with sharp tools and some thin ca by your side will get the job done. You also definitely don't want to use a barrel trimmer - use a sanding jig to square the ends

Surprisingly, I didn't have any failures with the trimmer.

 

[KateHarrow]

Surprisingly, I didn't have any failures with the trimmer.

Having the fancy one might help with that. I've found that folks sometimes end up splitting the fibers apart by using the trimmer

 

[qquake]

Having the fancy one might help with that. I've found that folks sometimes end up splitting the fibers apart by using the trimmer

That's actually happened to me with solid wood.

 

[howsitwork]

"Patience" is a funny way of spelling "profanity".

Having the fancy one might help with that. I've found that folks sometimes end up splitting the fibers apart by using the trimmer

The "blades" are shear cutting which may help out? . I found in the drill press using a square block with a V to support the blank along its sides helps out a lot and you MUST have a sacrificial bit of wood under the end for the drill to cut out into rather than breaking out.

 

[qquake]

The "blades" are shear cutting which may help out? . I found in the drill press using a square block with a V to support the blank along its sides helps out a lot and you MUST have a sacrificial bit of wood under the end for the drill to cut out into rather than breaking out.

The cutters on the Ultra-Shear are pretty much square on to the blank being trimmed. I'm sure this is what has caused the few failures I've had with solid wood blanks. It does chip wood blanks fairly frequently, but not usually enough to matter. A sanding jig would probably be better, especially for blanks like Spectraply or hempwood, but I prefer using the trimmer. I did have a homemade lathe mounted sanding jig at one time, but didn't like using it.

 

[mmayo]

Please try again, I'm only a bare intermediate turner and I manage. Fresh, new Carbide, light cuts, solid tool rest support and you'll get it. Do the ends carefully first. If needed apply thin CA everywhere, spray and wait. Try again.

Drilled on lathe as always and flush trimmed in the lathe using a sandpaper disk and Rick's jig for the tail stock.

 

[qquake]

I actually did try again, with dyed stabilized hempwood.

Gatsby Grande Hempwood

The pen is a PSI Gatsby Grande in gold and gunmetal. I know I said I was done with hempwood, but this blank is dyed and stabilized from Bullseye Turning Supply. I was hoping the stabilization would make it easier, and it did. I did have a couple of chipouts, but they were minor, and I was able...

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