new guy

[JHFerrell]

Good Morning

I'm just getting started with pen turning and I absolutley love it! I got some Shellawax with the starter kit I ordered and it seems to produce a decent finish in a very short time. As I have been following (some might say lurking) in the finishing forum however, I see that, just like in my other woodworking, there are a myriad of finishes available. I would prefer not to get locked into one type of finish right off the bat, so was wondering if some of you pros out there in pen turning world would recommend some easy to apply finishes for a newbie like me. Thanks in advance.

 

[JimGo]

John,
First off, WELCOME! As you will hear over and over, there are basically two kinds of finishes, those that are fast, and those that last. CA MAY be an exception to this rule, but it hasn't been used all that long on such high-use items as pens, so it's hard to judge. But things like Shellawax, which I agree provides an excellent finish, tend to not hold up well on pens because of the constant use. I'd recommend that you check out Russ Fairfield's web site (http://www.woodturnerruss.com); he has several excellent finishing articles, and his is pretty much the go-to site for a lot of fundamnetal pen turning (and wood turning in general) tips. By that, I don't mean to imply that his site is ONLY about the fundamentals, but Russ does an excellent job covering the basics, including finishing.

That being said, my two favorite finishes are BLO/CA and lacour (dang it...I can never remember how to spell that properly!). CA/BLO when I'm in a relative hurry, and the other one ( []) when I can take the time to finish it properly.

 

[JimGo]

Oh wait... you asked for advice from the pros; please disregard my comments! I'm far from a pro. Penworks, DCBluesMan, OldGriz, Wayneis, Fangar, ItsVirgil and some of the others here (sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone by leaving them off) are able to achieve some amazing finishes.

 

[JHFerrell]

Jim,

I've seen your pens in the critique forum....I think you qualify as a pro...thanks for the suggestions

 

[melogic]

John,
I don't know if you read this post or not, http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8483&whichpage=1#86348 but it has a good "Home Brew" in it that I recently began using and I love it. I'm not sure how it is going to do in the long run. I guess only time will tell.