pens plus becomes sticky?

[MedWoodWorx]

i was retouching my pen collection and when i picked up a sycamore wood pen that i had finished with pens plus i noticed that it felt sticky to the touch. I had the same issue with a pen made from chestnut wood. I don't know if this is because of the intense greek summer heat (~100F) or because of some mistake i did. I finish my pens with Dr's walnut oil while sanding to 3000 grit and then coat the wood with a few layers of Pens plus. I wait until the next day for the oils to cure and then i assemble the pen.
Has anyone encountered something similar?I find it odd beacuse these are not oily woods and i thought that they would absorb the finish well. Any input is welcome, cheers.

 

[SabertoothBunny]

I almost exclusively use Pens Plus finish for wood pens and often hybrids. Here where I live the summers are usually over 100F as well but I have not had this issue with the pens being sticky from that finish and I use at least 2-3 coats on pens. So my question to you is how are you finishing with Pens Plus? The finish itself isn't really sticky so I am not sure you are experiencing this.

Pens Plus is a friction polish. Before using it I do a friction base with the walnut oil. Once applied you have to use pressure to generate heat to melt the oils to make them fully absorb/bond. Not having seen how you go through the steps I cannot offer any real advice on what you are doing or should potentially change. My best guest would be you are not generating enough heat when applying the finish which is allowing is to get sticky later. I'm sorry but I can't really say much more than that without seeing how you go about finishing pens.

 

[MedWoodWorx]

I almost exclusively use Pens Plus finish for wood pens and often hybrids. Here where I live the summers are usually over 100F as well but I have not had this issue with the pens being sticky from that finish and I use at least 2-3 coats on pens. So my question to you is how are you finishing with Pens Plus? The finish itself isn't really sticky so I am not sure you are experiencing this.

Pens Plus is a friction polish. Before using it I do a friction base with the walnut oil. Once applied you have to use pressure to generate heat to melt the oils to make them fully absorb/bond. Not having seen how you go through the steps I cannot offer any real advice on what you are doing or should potentially change. My best guest would be you are not generating enough heat when applying the finish which is allowing is to get sticky later. I'm sorry but I can't really say much more than that without seeing how you go about finishing pens.

I use walnut oil while sanding as i said, after that i use pens plus (3-4 coats). I try to make enough heat so that i can feel my fingers burning. I don't think that this is the case.

 

[SabertoothBunny]

I use walnut oil while sanding as i said, after that i use pens plus (3-4 coats). I try to make enough heat so that i can feel my fingers burning. I don't think that this is the case.

That sounds like what the process that I use. I actually have a slimline pen that was finished with Pens Plus 2-3 years ago that I use daily at work and the finish shows little to no use minus a ding or two from being dropped.

Do your pens sit out in the shop where it is in the full heat? Maybe each out to Doctor's Woodshop directly to ask questions about this?

 

[MedWoodWorx]

i contacted the Doctor himself to learn more about the sticky finish of pen's plus. Here is what Dr Mike said:

Sorry to take so long to answer. Ther are a couple of explanations for the surface changes. It the wood was not dry originally the moisture in the wood could be coming to the surface and softening the finish. Itis als possible that the finish was not friction polished enough to harden all the oil and dry the shellac and wax.

If I am taking wood to Arizona where it will be much hotter than Oregon, i am very careful about residual water content. My best guess is the the finish was not sufficiently polished allowing oil or alcohol to work to the surface and soften the out layers finish.

I believe he was right about the wood not being dry enough; i polished the pens at high speed feeling the heat at my fingertips until it was too hot to handle, so i suppose that part was not the problem.
Anyway i leave his answer here just in case anyone else has the same problem, cheers.

P.S. do you guys use wood blanks with humidity levels ~10%? Is that humidity level considered not dry enough?

 

[SabertoothBunny]

i contacted the Doctor himself to learn more about the sticky finish of pen's plus. Here is what Dr Mike said:

Sorry to take so long to answer. Ther are a couple of explanations for the surface changes. It the wood was not dry originally the moisture in the wood could be coming to the surface and softening the finish. Itis als possible that the finish was not friction polished enough to harden all the oil and dry the shellac and wax.

If I am taking wood to Arizona where it will be much hotter than Oregon, i am very careful about residual water content. My best guess is the the finish was not sufficiently polished allowing oil or alcohol to work to the surface and soften the out layers finish.

I believe he was right about the wood not being dry enough; i polished the pens at high speed feeling the heat at my fingertips until it was too hot to handle, so i suppose that part was not the problem.
Anyway i leave his answer here just in case anyone else has the same problem, cheers.

P.S. do you guys use wood blanks with humidity levels ~10%? Is that humidity level considered not dry enough?

Relative humidity is a pain in the rear to say the least. I would venture to say that 10% moisture is pretty common for air dried wood in much of the US and other regions of higher humidity/moiture in the air globally. One option would be to dry the blanks futher in an oven at low temperature for a few hours. This could get the relative moisture content to 8% or lower to potentially reduce future issues with moisture and finishes. Pen blanks should dry quickly that way.

 

[jrista]

That sounds like what the process that I use. I actually have a slimline pen that was finished with Pens Plus 2-3 years ago that I use daily at work and the finish shows little to no use minus a ding or two from being dropped.

Do your pens sit out in the shop where it is in the full heat? Maybe each out to Doctor's Woodshop directly to ask questions about this?

This is largely my experience, with a pen about a year and two or three months old now. Its been an amazing finish, IMO, and has been plenty durable for my use (which is not crazy, but I do drop the pen often enough.)

 

[jrista]

i was retouching my pen collection and when i picked up a sycamore wood pen that i had finished with pens plus i noticed that it felt sticky to the touch. I had the same issue with a pen made from chestnut wood. I don't know if this is because of the intense greek summer heat (~100F) or because of some mistake i did. I finish my pens with Dr's walnut oil while sanding to 3000 grit and then coat the wood with a few layers of Pens plus. I wait until the next day for the oils to cure and then i assemble the pen.
Has anyone encountered something similar?I find it odd beacuse these are not oily woods and i thought that they would absorb the finish well. Any input is welcome, cheers.

One thought I did have recently myself...as, I did not have a good year last year, and barely turned anything all year... I bought my Pens Plus end of summer or so in 2021. At this point, given the size of the bottle, its barely half gone... Its got shellac in it. I've definitely had problems with friction polishes, either those I've made myself (i.e. shine juice), or bought (i.e. mylands) after about a year and a half or so. The only good reason I could ever find, was that the shellac doesn't last forever, being an organic substance.

I don't know if the synthetic wax in Pens Plus might help stave off that degredation in the shellac...but, it just hit me the other day that, maybe my own Pens Plus, might be reaching a point where the shellac can no longer do its job right? If so, it would kind of be a bummer...I've got half a bottle of a $22 finish left. I am really hoping to get back into the groove this year, and make as many pens as I can each week. Hopefully I'll be able to polish off (hah!) the rest of this finish within the next month or so here...

Anyway...that thought hit me like a brick a day or two ago...