Pleasant Surprise

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talbot

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I thought this blank would make quite an attractive pen when I started turning but what a surprise when I saw this appearing!
One of the pleasant aspects of wood and turning,,you don't know what's in there at times.
The figure appears on the clip side as well.
This stuff doesn't like CA finish though,, I tried and tried but couldn't get it right.
I'll go for a French polish and buff on the other pieces.
 

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VERY nice Bill:biggrin:
You don't seem to have a problem with CA on any of your other pens, so what is different about this wood? Is it oily or something?
I'm absolutely hopeless with a CA finish:redface:
 
Very nice...I do like the figure indeed on the blank. Sorry to hear that you couldn't get your normal CA finish on there, but it still looks awesome. Thanks for sharing
 
Love the shape on that pen. That grain pattern on opposite sides is the best thing about turning pens out of the stuff. I have seen very recognizable faces turn up regularly when using it. The finishing issues are the not so great part. Of course there is the question of is it lacewood/leopardwood. Quite a bit of confusion there as well.

I finally came to the conclusion that there must be some kind of strange chemical difference between the light and dark sections of the wood, in addition to the differences in hardness and permeability. Whatever it was, I never could get ca to cure consistently and even out when polishing.
 
I'm also interested in what problems you had with CA. I've done bottle stoppers from lacewood, and while the CA darkened it up a bit, it still worked out well. For things that don't need to be handled, I've also used a light coat of beeswax.
 
Great looking pen and nice job on it. I haven't had any trouble with CA on lacewood. I typically sand to about 800 grit, then flood the blank with thin CA. let it sit for a second or two then wipe off the excess with a paper towel. Two more coats of thin CA, a coat or two of thick then another coat of thin sanding with 800 between coats then 1500 - 25000 grit on the final coat. Polish with auto polish.
 
Thanks all for the replies.
The wood may be a bit oily and I didn't use acetone so maybe that's part of the problem.
Re what the wood is: the retailer had marked it as Ropala lacewood but there's no guarantee he was correct as leopardwood/lacewood can be difficult to identify at times.
I'll try another one using your finishing method Rick as I sanded all the way through before applying a finish.
The French polish I use Ken is probably as used for instruments and cabinetry etc. Its blonde dewaxed shellac dissoved in alcohol, or denatured alcohol as you guys call it.
I make it to a 1lb cut for flat work and I use a much thinner mix as a sealer in turning It's also good when you work with spalted/spongey wood. Dont mix up too much though as it doesnt keep too long.
thanks again everyone.
regards, Bill
 
Very nice!

I have a couple of pens made in that and first one I did with a CA finish played up a little! Had to give it a a sand with a CA slurry and sanding dust to fill in all the open grain, but after that gave the same gloss as normal?

Is an interesting wood though, as you never know how much of the grain or rays are going through as they are kind of in layers!

PHIL
 
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