Knotty blonde afzelia burl on Ti Duke Jr.

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Turned out nice Charles, its a beauty
where did you get the TI Duke Jr. from? guessing Lau Lau
 
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Charles,
Great work as usual.Any chance of a video or some sort of tutorial on applying that many coats of CA?Do you stop and sand at a midpoint?Is it all 30+ coats and then MM?
Your pens are fantastic and I'd love to achieve that level of finish.Is it just a whole lot of patience?
Approximately how far below bushings/finish dimension do you allow for the CA finish.

Thanks
 
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I'll go in details in case this is helpful for others!

I do pens because I like to the beauty of the wood, the blanks I use cost a lot and my goal is to show the best side of those blanks. I do not care that much about the writing instrument.

Regarding the finish here is few details I think really make a difference when making/finishing a pen.


  • JohnnyCNC's bushings when finishing
  • A razor sharp skew to make my final cut before sanding
  • 4 wings carbide barrel trimmer
  • Satellite City's aerosol accelerator (makes a nice even mist)
  • Pen mandrel saver
  • Using good condition MM sand paper (ALWAYS!)
  • Good lighting
  • Working in a clean area
  • Turning when you feel good and you can afford the time doing so

Now regarding my procedure when finishing:


  1. I use 2 sets of bushings, old ones on the lathe and new to check the size of my barrels. When turned to size or just a hair over the new bushings I proceed with sanding.
  2. I dry sand with P220, P400, P600, when I am done I make sure I have no sanding dust left so I blow the barrels with my compressor and rub the blanks with a towel in all directions (vertical and horizontal). After, I do not touch the blanks with my hands when it is sanded because usually it leaves fingerprints.
  3. I use strips of 1/2" of Shop Towels as applicators. I set my lathe at 1000 RPM or less and I apply while turning and I use accelerator between each coat. I usually use thin CA glue for the first 3 coats and the rest is all done with medium. I usually wet sand with the green MM (1800) when I feel it is needed. Generally speaking the need come at around 7 to 10 coats, I sand to level the finish. I also like to sand the end of the barrels at this point so there's not too much glue build up. I take 320 and 600 sand papers and I rub the barrels in a circular motion on the sand paper that sits on the flat surface.
  4. I continue with 10 to 15 more coats and I usually sand between every 3 coats. Make sure you dry the barrels before applying more CA. I think the choice of accelerator makes a whole lot of difference with really dark wood like cocobolo or african blackwood, those woods are not forgiving. A fine mist of a accelerator will not cloud the finish as compared to the glass cleaner type of spray that has an uneven spray of droplets. I discovered this a little while ago and since I use Satellite City's accelerator making a nice finish has been easy.
  5. When I feel I am done, meaning my finish being even and the grain filled, usually at around 20 to 30 coats I go from 1800 to 12000 with the MM. I take my time, I usually dry the barrels after each grit with a shop towels to see where I need to work.
  6. When done with sanding I use Shop Towels as applicator for plastic polish and I apply it by rubbing from left to right but turning the lathe by hand and I go for 100 or so passes on each barrel. I set my lathe at 4000 RPM and I use toilet paper to polish the finish. I do this 3 or 4 times. Lastly I apply 2-3 coats of renaissance wax and polish it.
  7. When assembling the pen I make sure I work with enough space and that I am comfortable. I secure the barrels while I am not working with them. You don't want to drop them on the floor. Also wearing gloves to avoid finger print is a good idea.
Hope it helps! Go turn now! :)

Charles
 
Charles,

Just finished watching murder mysteries after 11 pm Thursday here read your description of your latest pen mind racing full well knowing you like catch phrases.

Never dissapointed this pen a high class example of perfection, no one shows detail in the sapwood any better than you.

Not sure I have the endurance to spend this amount of time in finishing but thanks to you I intend to give it a flick.

The thorough descriptions and prologue with chat intrigues me enough to not settle for less
for this reason I say thank you for not only pen production but impeccable photographs.

Kind regards Peter.
 
Thanks Peter,

This kind of comment motivate me to outdo myself every single time I turn. :)

Charles

pwhay said:
Charles,

Just finished watching murder mysteries after 11 pm Thursday here read your description of your latest pen mind racing full well knowing you like catch phrases.

Never dissapointed this pen a high class example of perfection, no one shows detail in the sapwood any better than you.

Not sure I have the endurance to spend this amount of time in finishing but thanks to you I intend to give it a flick.

The thorough descriptions and prologue with chat intrigues me enough to not settle for less
for this reason I say thank you for not only pen production but impeccable photographs.

Kind regards Peter.
Click to expand...
 
That pen is a beauty Charles. A lot of work goes into it & the finished product shows that work off. Great job. Thanks for the tutorial also. Very beneficial.
 
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