DrD
Member
As I stated in an earlier thread, Requesting Assistance 8/31/2020, I have a rather large chunk of Macassar Ebony, also known as Striped Ebony and Amara Ebony. The heartwood generally has a very dramatic and appealing striped appearance. It is oily AND dulls cutter blades faster than you can say "Bubba loves trucks."
I have included some photos of 4 pens I just completed using this Macassar Ebony. Please note, being a dark wood - it is ebony - it is rather difficult for me to photograph in such a way as to capture the figure and color of the wood.
Photo 1 shows all 4 pens. The first - on the far left - is an Elegant Sierra - chrome and satin chrome - and there is only a wax finish on the wood. The wood on all 4 pens was sanded thru 1000 mesh paper, followed by sanding with the grain, off the lathe from 3600 thru 12000 MM. The first pen then received 2 coats of Ren Wax, on the lathe at ~1700rpm, buffed following each coat.
The second from the left in photo 1 is a free-style (what I call my DefensiveLine, as opposed to a Streamline) and is made from the wood shown in photo 4. Follow sanding, this pen received 3 coats of PensPlus, on the lathe, followed by 2 coats of Ren Wax. Photo 3 is another view of the DL pen, attempting to capture more the figure and color of the wood. Photo 4 shows the sanded blanks for the DL pen prior to finishing.
The second photo attempts to show some more of the grain in pens 1 and 2.
Photo 5 is a closer shot of a StreamLind RoundTop 7mm, without the center band and an Elegant Sierra Button Click. The Round Top was finished just like it's bigger brother, the DL, with 3 coats of PensPlus. The Button Click was finished with CA. Since Macassar Ebony is oily, after sanding off the lathe, with the grain, with the last MM, I mounted the blank on the lathe, spun it up to ~1700 rpm and wiped the blank thoroughly with denatured alcohol until there was no color being left on the rag, After the pen dried I applied a very thin coat of thin CA and let the blank sit overnight. The next day I applied CA, 2 coats of thin, followed by 10 coats of medium. After drying, I removed the blank from the lathe and hand dry sanded again, with the grain, using all 9 of the MM pads. Finally the blank was remounted on the lathe and 2 coats of Ren Wax was applied.
Thanks for looking. Any comments are appreciated
I have included some photos of 4 pens I just completed using this Macassar Ebony. Please note, being a dark wood - it is ebony - it is rather difficult for me to photograph in such a way as to capture the figure and color of the wood.
Photo 1 shows all 4 pens. The first - on the far left - is an Elegant Sierra - chrome and satin chrome - and there is only a wax finish on the wood. The wood on all 4 pens was sanded thru 1000 mesh paper, followed by sanding with the grain, off the lathe from 3600 thru 12000 MM. The first pen then received 2 coats of Ren Wax, on the lathe at ~1700rpm, buffed following each coat.
The second from the left in photo 1 is a free-style (what I call my DefensiveLine, as opposed to a Streamline) and is made from the wood shown in photo 4. Follow sanding, this pen received 3 coats of PensPlus, on the lathe, followed by 2 coats of Ren Wax. Photo 3 is another view of the DL pen, attempting to capture more the figure and color of the wood. Photo 4 shows the sanded blanks for the DL pen prior to finishing.
The second photo attempts to show some more of the grain in pens 1 and 2.
Photo 5 is a closer shot of a StreamLind RoundTop 7mm, without the center band and an Elegant Sierra Button Click. The Round Top was finished just like it's bigger brother, the DL, with 3 coats of PensPlus. The Button Click was finished with CA. Since Macassar Ebony is oily, after sanding off the lathe, with the grain, with the last MM, I mounted the blank on the lathe, spun it up to ~1700 rpm and wiped the blank thoroughly with denatured alcohol until there was no color being left on the rag, After the pen dried I applied a very thin coat of thin CA and let the blank sit overnight. The next day I applied CA, 2 coats of thin, followed by 10 coats of medium. After drying, I removed the blank from the lathe and hand dry sanded again, with the grain, using all 9 of the MM pads. Finally the blank was remounted on the lathe and 2 coats of Ren Wax was applied.
Thanks for looking. Any comments are appreciated