Irish Bog Oak - My Latest

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MDWine

MDWine

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Far from my best work. Unfortunately, I took these in a hurry, and edited them in a hurry too. The pictures don't show the true pen. The finish is actually fairly nice, and much glossier than the pictures show. Yes, those "cracks" in the finish are actually the character of the wood. Those were hard to fill, hopefully the one I continue to work with will fill in and look a lot better. (The wifey indicated that this was the final deadline, I couldn't put off finishing any longer!)

Thanks to Lou for his assistance and moral support!

http://thewritewoodshop.com/ibo_pen.htm
 
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Nice work Michael, I have some of this wood also and only tried to turn it once and just couldn't seem to get it right, my finish was all uneven so I have set if aside for now, but seeing yours has giving me the incentive I need to try it again.
Thanks :)
Janet
 
Finish:
2 coats Deft Gloss, cure for 1 or 2 days, MM
2 more coats Deft, cure for 1 or 2 days, MM
TSW, cure for a day
REN wax to ward off fingerprints

I have another blank that I have through that process, but will go through 2 more "cycles" before I "finally finish" and put together.

The finish is really much better than the pictures show, but there are a few "flaws", due to the character of the wood.

thanks for your kind words!
 
Michael,

I have a bog oak pen in progress using spray laquer. I'm not sure I WANT to fill all the surface grain "cracks". Don't you think that is part of the character of the old wood??

Interested in anyone's take on this, not too late to change my approach!

Thanks
 
Michael, to answer your question, my opinion is a natural finish looks great with the various open grains of the wood, but high gloss to me, needs to be smooth. I love the glass-like look of a CA finish. When you go that high-gloss it looks like an error in the finish to expose the "cracks". I'm sure many would disagree...just my opinion [:I]
 
Michael,
It looks like you turned it well. I finally get to see it. I still have two skinny blanks, but I'm not in a rush to use it. How about that ambrosia maple? I might have an order from a company for an engraved pen, with a company logo on it. They'll be done in super curly maple.
Rob
 
Michael,

Looks good. Why the MM between coats of lacquer thought? New coats partially dissolve previous coats, so seems to me the MM is unneeded effort until you have all the coats you need. Unless of course, you decided to add more after seeing the open grain after finishing the MM the first time, which means I'll just be quiet now. [:I]

Cheers,
Draken
 
the "cracks":
Yes, it is the nature of the wood to have that open grain. I didn't find the wood hard to work with, just "challenging" to finish.

Glossy:
I have mixed feelings. This first round, I think I may like the small "imperfections" in the glossy finish. It looks nice, but it also looks "real", if that makes any sense. The second blank has LOTS of these voids, and would be extremely unattractive if they were all left to show through. I wondered about CA, but I'm not very good with CA, and don't like the plastic feel. It does produce a nice glossy finish, and will fill in those spots, but would look like it was cast in clear resin, not the look I like. Not knocking CA, I have used it, and will again in the future. (or try, at least)

spray/sand/spray/sand:
Lou indicated that this would be a good way to get the grain to fill in some. (I know some will cringe, but when Lou give me direction, I just do it, and admire the results.) In this case, his direction was precisely what I needed, and what produced the results I wanted. (He knew this, I'm sure!) Had I continued the spray/MM process, I am confident I would have gotten the nice clear glossy Deft finish I really like. (Yes, I know it's more work, but I like it, I think it looks nice, and the lacquer is nice and warm to the touch.)

I did find, Draken, that on previous attempts (my usualy way of finish) to put multiple coats of Deft, cure, then finish sand did not fill in the voids. I think this actually helped define these 'features' and make them more prounounced!! I took off 2 of these attempts! I even tried to fill these voids by smearing the lacquer with my finger... yes, right...BAD MOVE![:p]!! I have no guess as to why this works, all I can say is that it did!

As I mentioned before, this first blank had 2 cycles of "spray and sand". The results were "nice" for me, and my wife is happy with the results. For the second blank, I plan to use the "spray and sand" cycle until the grain is filled, and the MM produces the nice smooth glossy surface.

I'll keep you posted on the final outcome. I'm hittin' it with some more 'spray and sand' today, and again on Sunday... we'll see if more is required after that!
 
Hmm, interesting. I'm guessing that you don't wipe down the blanks with DNA or the like between grits of MM so it doesn't remove the sanding dust from the open voids? Hey Nils, if you're reading this, what do you think of the open voids I left in the canary wood pen I sent ya? I thought it kept it looking natural, but didn't think some may feel otherwise. Certainly something to think about, and now I know a method to help aleviate some of the voids. Hey Lou, would cutting the lacquer down more for initial coats help it to flow into the voids and fill them naturally without having to use sanding dust?

Thanks!
Draken
 
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