Walnut, it had to be walnut....

[hilltopper46]

I feel a little bit like Indiana Jones trapped in the pit where he said "Snakes, it HAD to be snakes...."

I got an commission for 20 pens (yeah!) made from the woodwork taken out of a house that was demolished. The lady is a friend of my sister, and her grandfather built the house in 1897 or thereabouts.

Anyway, the bad news is that the woodwork is all walnut. Walnut is my least favorite wood to make pens out of, but a number of the people I know have requested pens made from it. I find I have difficulty getting an even finish on it.

I think the last time I went through this, I finally decided the best approach is to hit the bare walnut with a coat of BLO before I ever hit it with anything else, and then build the finish (CA) up from there. The trouble with this is it limits the ability to stabilize the wood with CA after the barrel is turned to size.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[GaryMGg]

Make your last cuts with a scarysharp skew, then use thin CA as a sanding sealer.
Sand til you create a sawdust slurry and re-seal with more thin CA. Once you've filled the grain with it's own dust, you'll get the finish you're looking for.

 

[hilltopper46]

Make your last cuts with a scarysharp skew, then use thin CA as a sanding sealer.
Sand til you create a sawdust slurry and re-seal with more thin CA. Once you've filled the grain with it's own dust, you'll get the finish you're looking for.

I've tried the sawdust slurry technique before and with walnut in particular that is part of the frustration. I don't get an even distribution of the CA/sawdust mix across the blank and I get an uneven appearance.

 

[tomahawk54]

Try a plexiglass finish.
It's relatively easy to apply and it'll fill the pores in the wood better than CA. I don't normally use it for most of my pens, but walnut takes it pretty well.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by tomahawk54
<br />Try a plexiglass finish.
It's relatively easy to apply and it'll fill the pores in the wood better than CA. I don't normally use it for most of my pens, but walnut takes it pretty well.

Can you explain a little further please? What brand names do you reccomend? Is it available in small quantities (e.g. pint, 1/2 pint)? Is it glass clear or does it impart a tinge (yellowish?)? Thanks.
BTW, walnut is also one of my least favorites for pens. I also offer the 'heritage' pen service for folks. If you explain, up front, that this wood may not allow a perfect finish, I'll betcha, they won't care. What they are interested in is a pen from their wood, which contains memories. If you make it to look like the original wood, that will, I'm sure, please them a whole bunch. Keep in mind, you are not making these pens to impress us here, you are preserving memories for your clients.

 

[GBusardo]

Originally posted by Rifleman1776
BTW, walnut is also one of my least favorites for pens. I also offer the 'heritage' pen service for folks. If you explain, up front, that this wood may not allow a perfect finish, I'll betcha, they won't care. What they are interested in is a pen from their wood, which contains memories. If you make it to look like the original wood, that will, I'm sure, please them a whole bunch. Keep in mind, you are not making these pens to impress us here, you are preserving memories for your clients.

I agree. They will love the pen for what it is, not for the finish.
Congrats on the order!

 

[GaryMGg]

Originally posted by hilltopper46
...I've tried the sawdust slurry technique before and with walnut in particular that is part of the frustration. I don't get an even distribution of the CA/sawdust mix across the blank and I get an uneven appearance.

Russ Fairfield has stuff on his website that's shows how.
However, if that doesn't work for you, you could do it the old fashion way -- buy Shellac Flakes, dissolve in Denatured Alcohol and use that as a sanding sealer. If you use super-blonde it'll leave the walnut looking just like walnut. After several layers of shellac, you can start the CA finish.

I do typically find Walnut harder, thus slower, to finish nicely than close-grained woods but when it's done and done right, I find it to be stunning.

 

[RussFairfield]

You might try a thicker CA glue and a coarser sandpaper, and wet sand until it has cured. I typically use a Medium CA and 150 grit when I an trying to fill an open grained wood.

Someone suggested shellac. You might try wet sanding with the shellac, and letting the slurry fill the wood. You can do the same thing with thinned lacquer. Or you can mix some sanding dust into the shellac or thinned lacquer and you will have created a "sanding sealer" that is better than anything that is stocked on the store shelves

I gave up trying to "pop" the grain on walnut a long time ago. No matter how beautiful the grain might be on a larger piece of wood, most Walnut becomes a piece of plain brown wood when reduced to the size of a pen