Turning first Ebonite

[qquake]

I'll be turning my first Ebonite today. I got the blank from PSI. Any tips or tricks for finishing it? Should I just use my normal acrylic finishing regimen?

 

[duncsuss]

Not an easy question to answer without knowing what your normal acrylic routine is ...

My method of finishing ebonite has been to use Micromesh (wet) all the way to the top grit and then buff with White Diamond, blue compound, Caswell "Plas-Glo" compound, and then the Caswell compound which is even finer than Plas-Glo.

 

[qquake]

My normal routine is to wet sand to 600 grit, use the three grades of Dr. Kirk's, then finish with PlastX plastic polish. I used to wet sand with all nine grits of Micromesh instead of the Dr. Kirk's, but found Dr. Kirk's is easier and gives me the same results.

 

[duncsuss]

My experience has been that unless I buff it, ebonite does not shine the way I've seen other penmakers achieve. If you find another way that works for you please let us know, I'd love to knock twenty minutes off the finishing process!

 

[qquake]

I'll try my normal routine with Dr. Kirk's and let you know.

 

[EricRN]

I did my normal acrylic routine once—sand to p600, then the whole micro mesh sequence, then huts ultra gloss. Came out decent. Not as shiny as acrylic but I don't know that ebonite is. I've heard brasso works well on ebonite but haven't tried it.

 

[jick wu]

In order to achieve the best luster, ebonite first uses different wet sandpaper to polish to 2000 mesh, and then uses polishing cloth wheel and resin polishing wax to get the best effect。

 

[qquake]

Well, I've found that carbide cuts it much better than my HSS chisels. But the more I turn it, the less I like it. I'll finish it, though, and see how it looks.

 

[qquake]

Man this stuff stinks. It's chattering a bit, too. Don't know why. Overall, I'd say I'm not impressed with Ebonite.

 

[qquake]

Well, it polished up pretty good with my usual procedure, but not quite as good as most acrylics. I think it's ugly, but my sister likes it, so I'll probably assemble the pen with it.

I wet sanded with 100 grit, then 220-600 grits. Then the three grades of Dr. Kirk's, and finally PlastX.

 

[FGarbrecht]

The beauty of ebonite is def in the eye of the beholder! I personally am not a fan of 'raw' colored ebonite but I use black ebonite as a basis for lacquer finishes. I turn it on the metal lathe using carbide, and tool marks are a problem. It takes aggressive sanding in my experience (I use wet Abranet (120 up to at least 600, higher if I have it) and then the full run of micromesh pads (also wet). Since I cover with lacquer, that's as far as I go, but if I'm just shining it up I would use Novus 1,2,3 and then buffing wheel.

 

[qquake]

Just for fun, I ran it through all nine grades of Micro Mesh, then polished it again with PlastX. I don't see a difference. There are still visible micro scratches if you look close in bright light. Still, it polished better than I expected for an old bowling ball.

 

[peytonstreet]

I'm not sure of the quality of the ebonite you get from PSI ..... I really like the German ebonite made by SEM and NYH, sold by Vermont Freehand. And Nikko Japanese ebonite. It is expensive, but I like the shine better than alumilite.

I use Abranet to 1000, then a few levels of a polishing compound like Magic Juice, then buffing. Just got some Caswell buffing bricks so I'm anxious to try them.