I agree with John here. Finish is a very, very subjective thing. I think this goes for any wood piece, not just pens. I'm still a fairly new turner, and I've experimented with a lot of finishes. I'm still experimenting, but the pool of un-tried finishes has shrunk considerably (mostly water-based, and my foray into that so far has left me very disappointed.)
I think there is definitely a personal aspect to finish. Not just how it looks, or how durable it is...but also how it applies, how easy it is to deal with, whether it brings out the underlying wood the way you want it to, etc. I have tried CA finishes, but have had a hard time with them myself. First and foremost, I have such a hard time, personally, turning my beautiful wood pens, into plastic pens. In the end, effectively that's what CA does, coats the wood in a plastic. Never liked that. Secondary to that, I have health issues with CA fumes and dust, and its pretty severe, so I don't like to use CA for that reason as well. I learned how to manage the risk, but, there is still a risk, and small exposure can mean fairly big health (breathing) problems. CA can be challenging to apply and finish properly as well, and can have other little issues (separation, bubbles, blushing, sand-through, etc. etc.) It scratches a certain way as well...scratches like plastic.
I started out with CA, then went to friction polishes. I really liked how they looked, how they brought the chatoyance of the wood out, and how they left the feel of the grain, even though they were still coating the wood. Eventually found out first hand what some people had warned me about...that shellac (the basis of most friction polishes) will ultimately dissolve in the presence of sweat, and is not that durable to start with, so will wear out fairly quickly. I have tried wipe on lacquers, which I still use for specific types of pens (pretty much always with holly wood, as the lacquer imparts the least color cast of any finish), but they dry out so fast that sometimes they can be hard to do right.
I've explored other finishes...including just oils, spray lacquers, poly and polycrylic, as well as something called Pens Plus. I've pretty much settled on Pens Plus as my go-to finish for pens, but I really like the simple wipe on poly as well. Both deliver an exceptional finish, that preserves the natural look and feel of the wood (you can both see and feel the nature of the grain, something CA obscures). I personally find that to be a huge factor with wood pens. The Pens Plus is a friction polish, but it has the added ingredient of a synthetic wax (cosmolloid 80h, same stuff that is in Renaissance Wax) that delivers an exceptional shine and much, much greater durability than any other friction polish for pens, and it really brings out the chatoyance (especially with oil wet sanding). The Pens Plus used to take a fair bit of effort, but over time I've found that with the right technique, its actually pretty easy to apply and once dried, is very durable, resists fingerprints, doesn't scratch quite like CA does (it more dents than scratches, but under normal daily desk use I haven't yet introduced any scratches, dents or other blemishes in about...6-8 months I guess on the pen I use daily?)
Wipe on oil-based poly is another really simple but beautiful finish. This is a classic wood finish, and of all finishes I think I like how this brings out the characteristics of the wood most. It just seems to make the wood grain pop and shimmer like nothing else, although Pens Plus is a very, very close second. It does have a slight yellowing or warming effect, but on most woods it is actually welcome. The few cases where haven't loved this warming is purple heart and holly and maybe a few of the lighter colored maples, otherwise its actually a welcome trait. This is probably the easiest finish to apply of all...although it requires some longer drying times between coats (I just have a little drying rack set up where I can drop blanks that need to dry).
I share all of this, because this is just my personal experience. I've found what I like, and there are many factors in what I like. Durability is of course a factor, but it turned out it wasn't the singular most important factor to me. I feel I've found durable-enough finishes, but I also really prefer to let wood remain wood, and exhibit its beautiful woody traits without having a layer of plastic on top. I want my finishes to be relatively easy to apply, and with the right sanding technique, the two I've settled on are. There is some drying time, which means the overall time to finish a pen start to finish, even though my actual time invested may be a few hours, that might span over days. That ended up being fine for me as well. A critical factor for me personally was also the toxicity of the finish. CA is very toxic to me, but pens plus is non toxic, and wipe on poly fumes are easily dealt with using a respirator and gloves and I've had no ill side effects.
Its a very subjective thing, finish. You could probably collate all the various traits and characteristics of each finish, and in fact that has largely been done with the book "Understanding Wood Finishing" (if you want a solid reference for everything about finish...its effectively the finish bible!) In the end, such a collation would still likely result in each individual choosing different finishes for different reasons, and no real consensus on what finish is "best". In fact, even though I've largely settled on two particular finishes...I still use others at times. There are subjective reasons for me to deviate as well...such as with holly and lacquer (which I'll be trying with some lacquer thinner in the near future here, to see if that improves the application of wipe on lacquer). Best is subjective...and contextual.
forms.gle
