Lot's of Choices. Any for Mylands?

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shastastan

shastastan

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Joined
Jan 15, 2014
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Location
N CA
Wow. I'm new here and I had no idea thea there were so many different finishes. I've tried 4 or 5, but keep coming back to Myland's high friction. It sure does seem to last in the bottle for a long time. In fact, I have some with Craft Supplies name on the bottle which I'm sure must be a number of years old. I just used some today. I like it better than the PSI plastic gloss. I have some poly (both satin and gloss) but haven't tried it on pens yet. I like the satin on some peppermills I did. I see everyone raving about the CA finish, but I like the look of the Mylands. I do realize that it won't hold up as well as the plastic/glue finishes though. I sand through 1200 grit. Anybody besides me using Mylands? If so, do you like it?

Stan
 
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I used Mylands when I first started making pens and still use it for other wood turnings. I much prefer the durability of CA for pens that will be put to regular use. However I have found that a lot of pens that I make end up on display shelves rather than in regular use, so for that purpose Mylands would have been fine. I guess I'd rather make a pen for real use and stick to the CA.
 
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Another Texas howdy, Stan.
I use Myland's almost exclusively on my wood pens & other turnings. It's a personal thing, but I like the look & feel of a friction polish better than CA for most woods. I plan to give Pens Plus a try when I need to buy more, but I probably still have a 6 month supply.

I do use CA for some woods that don't take a good shine with friction polish, but I picked up some Minwax poly last week & I'm going to give Les Elm's dipping method a try (check out the library - he gets awesome results with it).

Ed
 
Mylands

Welcome Stan,
I use Myland's and happy with the results. Took awhile to get the application perfected. Finish varies depending on density of the wood, softer woods leave a
satin finish, while the real hardwoods are glossy. Container is aging so have recently been experimenting with home made mixtures and happy with the results. Entirely opposite application, but same result with the finish.
Thanks
Ed
 
G'day Everybody and many thanks for your valued comments. Today I decided to try something new. I had bought this small can of PSI Gloss Sealer, Lacquer-based Friction Drying Polish. I did everything as usual before applying the finish. I have this lint-free cloth that has the feeling of felt-- sort of. Using just a 3"x4" patch, I put some sealer on it and coated the pen with the lathe off. I started the lathe and applied the patch to the pen and just watched the shine pop out--very similar to Mylands. I did this about 2-3 times and that's it. This was an experiment because I was concerned that the pen would have a thick coating and look like plastic. Very pleasantly surprised with the result the sealer gives though. I was going to post a pic but I only know how to do it by uploading from my pc and I don't see how to do that here. Anyway, looks like I'll be using PSI gloss sealer for my pens for awhile..

stan
 
OK, here's my first photo insert try:

1_tulip_w_2_13.JPG
 
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Mylands was my go-to finish for a while, but I have since switched to CA and Pens Plus. Eagerly waiting to give Craft Coat a try, though.
 
walshjp17 said:
Mylands was my go-to finish for a while, but I have since switched to CA and Pens Plus. Eagerly waiting to give Craft Coat a try, though.
Click to expand...

I, for one, hope that you will post your thoughts about Craft Coat. I just went to their website and it sounds intriguing. I've been using wipe on poly, but I haven't tried it on pens. I like the satin but the gloss is a little too shiny for my taste, but everyone's taste is different. I've only tried on a dark cherry pencil cup. Maybe I'll post a pic.
 
The thing about a pen, or any item that is constantly handled, subjected to the abuse of everyday life and the oils of the human skin is, durability. A friction polish is too thin to sustain that in my opinion.

I am not a fan of friction polishes in that you frequently get the lateral marks from the application on the lathe and that it has to be real thin to apply on the lathe and dry. Before you shout out that CA is the same way ( applied on the lathe) CA has a higher viscosity (CPS) but CA also requires a accelerator to cure it and is generally applied in a thin and thick method (2 different CPS). Epoxy would do the same if it could be tamed in the same manner but I haven't found it to maintain its gloss over time.

That said, to test if a finish if a pen is durable enough, make 6 of them, finish to the way you want then and give them to 6 friends (preferably in 6 different climates) and ask for them back after that time period.

Most won't do that (and I don't mean that in a mean spirited manner). But a friction polish won't outlast a thick film finish of a CA or a lacquer for that matter, it is just too fragile. I have tried it, I am the most acidic skinned person you will meet.
Now if you want a satin finish, let's talk. It is a whole different world
 
I'm thinking that by trying all the different finishing techniques, we could start a "Finish of the Month" club ... :smile:

Like a lot of first time pen turners, I used friction polish on my first few pens. Loved the ease, and the look, but like almost everyone who has used it, was amazed at what pens looked like after typical handling by the user. In my case, it was friends and family, so I was glad I had not sold any, or I'd feel compelled to refinish or replace.

I've tried CA, but other than for finishing some spalted wood, which would crumble like balsa, I just did not like the plastic look and feel.

My current method is SLOW, but I like the results. I use a carbide tool to get the final shape and elimination most of the turning marks. I do not use any sandpaper, but instead use EEE-UltraShine to do get any remaining marks out of the blank. Since the EEE-UltraShine is based on wax, that left me with a dilemma -- what do I use to offer some long-term protection?

I went back to shellac, which is an excellent sealer, and dries fast. After a day to make sure it really is dried fully, I then start a multiple day process of applying light coats of wipe-on polyurethane. I wait a day, and recoat. I've found 2-3 coats is typically enough, with a day to dry in-between each application. The coats are typically smooth enough that I go right to a buffing wheel to add the desired gloss. I use the HUT wax sticks, and depending on the level of glossiness desired, use either the semigloss (brown) or gloss (white) stick.

So far it works for me, but if I were selling pens, I'd be out of business by now! This is a very time consuming process, but so far I like the results. I am doing a remodel on my shop and our house in general, so this gives me a nice diversion from that task.

Note: There seems to be two opinions on poly over shellac -- use only dewaxed, and "it does not matter". I am currently using non-dewaxed shellac (Zinser Bulls Eye) as a test, and it seems fine. I am out of dewaxed shellac flakes (I prefer to make my own), so I'll mix up some and compare the results.
 
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drs woodshop Pens Plus

I started with a CA finish (still perfecting my process) and still use it but the fumes make me sneeze. I ordered Drs Woodshop pens plus. I knew from other articles that this was not a high gloss finish equivalent to CA but I gave it a try. I have used this process on both bottle stoppers and pens and am very happy. A great feel with a medium gloss finish. I find sanding with the walnut oil very helpful for dry and porus / soft wood. I have heard that the shelaq holds up well.

Here is the blurb from the Drs Woodshop website.


Doctor's Woodshop PENS PLUS is a Walnut oil and shellac friction polish combined with microaggregated microcrystal wax (Cosmolloid 80H). *The microaggregation process produces wax particles so small they behave like a liquid.
The heat of friction polishing drives the oil into the wood, sets the shellac and melts the wax, allowing it to flow over the surface of the wood producing a high luster shine. The microcrystal wax topcoat has superior light transmission which translates to a brighter shine and greater water resistance. *
*

Doctor's Woodshop PENS PLUS *is an excellent choice for finishing pens, pepper mills *or other projects that will receive incidental water contact that need a hard, durable finish. *
*
If you intend to use a paste wax as a topcoat, I suggest the microcrystal paste wax DOC-105.* got into turning last year.
.
Anyone able to do a side by side comparison between Drs woodshop and mylands?
 

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steve worcester said:
The thing about a pen, or any item that is constantly handled, subjected to the abuse of everyday life and the oils of the human skin is, durability. A friction polish is too thin to sustain that in my opinion.

...snip...

Most won't do that (and I don't mean that in a mean spirited manner). But a friction polish won't outlast a thick film finish of a CA or a lacquer for that matter, it is just too fragile. I have tried it, I am the most acidic skinned person you will meet.
Now if you want a satin finish, let's talk. It is a whole different world
Click to expand...

That's a good point, Steve, and I confess to worrying about this. No one has ever said anything, but that doesn't mean that the finish didn't wear off either. We have had some of my pens for years and he finish is okay. However, those have not been our "go to" pens or mechanical pencils.

As noted above, I just started using the PSI gloss sealer which is lacquer based. I'll be using it for awhile now. Thanks for your input.
 
A lot of people really like shellac, Lee. I have a friend who makes furniture with marquetry and he uses nothing but the french polish pad method.

I think there are a lot of dislikes and likes when it comes to finishes as we can see by he posts on this thread. This is a really helpful and nice venue to learn about new finishes that keep coming out. For me, it's truly remarkable to see so many new things coming on the market. There are other factors to consider in our choices such as location, humidity, temp, and shop conditions that also come into play. I used to use Deft and the odors from that stuff are really intense. I could not bring any projects into the house to dry out due to those fumes which you even smell with the garage door closed. However, when it was very cold in the shop in December, I brought the stuff done with wipe-on poly into the bathroom and let it dry overnight. No fumes. Deft is very durable though. We used it to refinish our kitchen chairs and 3 coats make a tough and durable finish. YMMV
 
I just got mylands starter kit that came with sanding sealer, friction polish, and a stick of carnauba wax. I am still just getting started in this myself and any advice would be greatly appreciated. In my experimentation's i fount that if i sand to 600 then apply a coat of the sanding sealer, let that dry for about 2 mins then sand through 6000, apply 2 to 3 coats of friction polish waiting a minute or so between coats i get a good looking sheen, but it does not seem to last long. after assembling the pen and handling just long enough to put it in a case it seems to lose some of the sheen. Any advice?
 
If you want your wood pens to look like wood, stay away from CA. I really like wood and I like it to look like wood not glass.
Yes it will show wear later if finished with CA - it will also show less wear a lot later if made of plastic mostly even if all you do is sand it to 600 grit then go to wet sanding with micro mesh to 12000 and apply no finish at all just polish it.

One of my other hobbies is making cottage furniture, where makers work real hard to make it look "worn" in the right places, because folks buying it know that "old" wood furniture is going to show some wear and that's what they want to see.
 
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