Trim Rings and Bolivian Rosewood

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mark james

mark james

IAP Collection, Curator
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
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Location
Medina, Ohio
12 slot Trim rings of Maple and walnut. Body is Bolivian Rosewood. Wood supplied by the recipient.

I usually like to use a Wipe on Polyurethane with this many glue joints (slightly more flexibility than CA), but this wood was too oily (even after wiping with acetone before finish). After three days, I had to strip the tacky Poly off and used Glue Boost.

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RKB said:
That is a wonderful pen, really great balance, and that finish looks awesome.
Well done Mark.
Click to expand...

Thanks to all above for the kind comments.

Hi Rod. This set of blanks I struggled with a lot for the finish ( 5 days). I applied a thin coat of MinWax Wipe On Polyurethane ( I have liked a Poly finish vs CA for when I have lots of glue joints, a bit more flexibility for humidity and temperature; I may not adhere to this in the future).. Put the blanks on a slow spinning mandrel under a light to keep a bit of heat. 12 hrs later still tacky. 24 hrs later still tacky, 36 hrs still tacky. OK, this isn't working.

At the same time, I finished in similar fashion a set of Koa blanks - they cured within 2 hrs for each coat (4x). I Googled Polyurethanes, Rosewoods, etc, and was reminded (I did know this...) that many Jungle timbers (i.e., Rosewoods) have a high concentration of resins. The Mineral Spirits in WOP will interact and release/dissolve these resins, resulting in difficulties with finishes :eek: :mad:. The web sites indicated to wipe the wood with acetone (or other solvents) before applying a finish... I had done this!

So... I wiped the blanks 3-4x with acetone to remove the WOP. Then I put back on the lathe and with 0000 steel wool removed any remaining WOP. The condition of the blanks was fine, so I went directly to a Glu Boost CA finish. 3x/medium, 3x thin. I then went through the MM sequence, and finished with Meguiares Plastix.

The final finish is good... OK for many, but I'm still a bit fussy. Finishing eludes me for some reason????

I was happy with the final set of blanks. I am disappointed that I went for the Poly before CA, but hey, I'm a finishing newbie and will learn the lessons.

Cheers, Mark
 
If you want to try the poly again in the future, just wipe down with acetone and then apply a coat of dewaxed shellac. Make sure it is dewaxed. Then take a brown paper bag and sand it with that. Now you are sealed and set up for any top coat you want. Just some thoughts. :)
 
Outstanding Mark. It has just the right sheen... enough gloss to show you can do a good finish but not so much that it looks like plastic (which mine always do...) IMO it allows the wood and beautiful segments to command all the attention, rather than a high shine taking the spotlight. This is one of my favorites of yours, very nicely done!
 
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