johnnycnc
Member
I saw a thread recently where the memeber had a sort of sharp edge on his pen barrel, that could be felt. It was not entirely acceptable, and I'd agree.
I think you can SEE these too, and it comes from squaring the ends cleanly, and not "finishing" the ends.
My method is turn, sand up to 600 grit, remove the blank and use that 600
grit to GENTLY round the edges right on the ends of the blank. Just use the
paper by hand, and a motion not unlike twisting a bottle top on.
Return blank to lathe, touch up with the 600 to equalize any stray marks you may have made, and proceed as usual.
That edge break makes my pens more pleasing to me, at the transition,
and frankly makes the sizing down to the .001, a non-issue.
On acrylics in particular, the ends can show up whitish if not polished
and the edge break put on.
Use undersize bushings, or between centers with no bushings to access the ends and get rid of that flat white sore thumb. A gentle touch is required, so go easy and check it often.
I like the results, and think you will too.
Johnny
♠
I think you can SEE these too, and it comes from squaring the ends cleanly, and not "finishing" the ends.
My method is turn, sand up to 600 grit, remove the blank and use that 600
grit to GENTLY round the edges right on the ends of the blank. Just use the
paper by hand, and a motion not unlike twisting a bottle top on.
Return blank to lathe, touch up with the 600 to equalize any stray marks you may have made, and proceed as usual.
That edge break makes my pens more pleasing to me, at the transition,
and frankly makes the sizing down to the .001, a non-issue.
On acrylics in particular, the ends can show up whitish if not polished
and the edge break put on.
Use undersize bushings, or between centers with no bushings to access the ends and get rid of that flat white sore thumb. A gentle touch is required, so go easy and check it often.
I like the results, and think you will too.

Johnny
♠