DocRon
Member
I have been using CA/BLO for pens and generally like it, have just started using plexi, and am not sure yet. I decided to do this direct comparison on these carob wood bottle stoppers. Easier to make than pens. Bearing in mind that these were not necessarily from the same log or even the same tree, the results were fairly instructive. The first one was finished to 600 grit, then plexi. Finish off with Novus plastic polishes.
You can see the nice high shine, it has a wet look to it, but the grain is pretty light, without much "pop" to it.
The next one
was CA/BLO . I put on the BLO, then follow with medium CA. Much prettier grain, but a bit softer looking, as expected.
What about some combination of the two, BLO/CA to pop the grain, plexi to give a shine? As Sir Isaac Newton was heard to remark," The theory guides, but the experiment decides." Right on, Sir Isaac!., So I made one more, using that method, again finished with the Novus system.
Ignore, please, for the moment, the white spots where the plexi got too thick ( I will rework this, it doesn't satisfy my anal- retentive soul) We got nice grain, with a hint of chatoyance, and an overall amazing plexi shine. The fact that the grain shows so well helps mitigate the plastic look of the plexi (IMO).
Overall, this has been a worthwhile experiment. I plan to further develop it and apply it to pens. It works best on the simpler shapes, the grooves and deep contours are problematic for both of these finishes, but I think it has lots of promise for pens.
I hope the photos show what I am describing. These were tough to get detail, even with my new light box.
Comments invited and welcomed
You can see the nice high shine, it has a wet look to it, but the grain is pretty light, without much "pop" to it.
The next one
was CA/BLO . I put on the BLO, then follow with medium CA. Much prettier grain, but a bit softer looking, as expected.
What about some combination of the two, BLO/CA to pop the grain, plexi to give a shine? As Sir Isaac Newton was heard to remark," The theory guides, but the experiment decides." Right on, Sir Isaac!., So I made one more, using that method, again finished with the Novus system.
Ignore, please, for the moment, the white spots where the plexi got too thick ( I will rework this, it doesn't satisfy my anal- retentive soul) We got nice grain, with a hint of chatoyance, and an overall amazing plexi shine. The fact that the grain shows so well helps mitigate the plastic look of the plexi (IMO).
Overall, this has been a worthwhile experiment. I plan to further develop it and apply it to pens. It works best on the simpler shapes, the grooves and deep contours are problematic for both of these finishes, but I think it has lots of promise for pens.
I hope the photos show what I am describing. These were tough to get detail, even with my new light box.
Comments invited and welcomed
