CraigyCraigo
Established Member
Hi All,
Finished a Pen and Pencil set in Pink Ivory at the weekend, as the other half wanted them for Valentines day. (I'll post some pic's tonight)
So as i'm a little rusty (hadn't used the lathe for around a year until about 2 weeks ago), the old arguement of what finish to use cropped up. I decided to give the BLO/CA a go as i'd never done it before and wanted a real shine on the pen that would hopefully last (I nicknamed her 'magee' (for magpie) for a reason!!!). Did a few hours of youtube and forum research and there is obviously alot of different methods out there......... so....... here's my take on it, hopefully taking the good and bad bits into account:- (i'm happy with how it 'turned' out (no pun intended ;-) ) it gave it a lovely deep shine
1. Finish the Pen
2. Sand with 150g, 240g, 320g, 400g - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off (sequentially) - Wiping between grades
3. Burnish the pen in its own shavings
4. Sand with 1500g W&D - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off
5. Sand through all the MicroMesh grades - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off (sequentially) - Wiping between grades
6. Small ammount of BLO worked quickly into the blank
7. 3 coats of BLO and CA worked quickly into the blank (BLO onto the paper first, then a small puddle of CA - Using WoodCare CA) - Going to take this upto 10/20 coats on more expensive pens - this is 'friction cured' by half wrapping the paper around it whilst spinning at 1600rpm-1800rpm until you can feel the heat and it makes your eyes water lol
8. 1 coat of CA neat worked quickly into the blank - this is 'friction cured' by half wrapping the paper around it whilst spinning at 1600rpm-1800rpm
9. Sand through all the last 5 MicroMesh grades (think its 3200MM to 12000MM) - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off (sequentially) - Wiping between grades
10. Apply a layer of bar wax and polish with max lathe speed.
11. Assemble Pen.
If anyone has any comments on this please let me know - wanting to perfect this so i can concentrate on the turning aspect and this becomes second nature!
My four key questions regarding the above are:-
5. I'll probably just stick with 1500g W&D instead of the MicroMesh for any pens i make to sell - Thoughts?
7. Is it worth knocking it back between coats with say 1500g W&D?
9. Is it worth investing in some Plastic Polish instead of using micromesh (maybe cheaper aswell)
9.Is it worth going through all the micromeshes, not just the last 5 grades?
Thanks for any advice in adavce all
Regards
Craig
Finished a Pen and Pencil set in Pink Ivory at the weekend, as the other half wanted them for Valentines day. (I'll post some pic's tonight)
So as i'm a little rusty (hadn't used the lathe for around a year until about 2 weeks ago), the old arguement of what finish to use cropped up. I decided to give the BLO/CA a go as i'd never done it before and wanted a real shine on the pen that would hopefully last (I nicknamed her 'magee' (for magpie) for a reason!!!). Did a few hours of youtube and forum research and there is obviously alot of different methods out there......... so....... here's my take on it, hopefully taking the good and bad bits into account:- (i'm happy with how it 'turned' out (no pun intended ;-) ) it gave it a lovely deep shine
1. Finish the Pen
2. Sand with 150g, 240g, 320g, 400g - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off (sequentially) - Wiping between grades
3. Burnish the pen in its own shavings
4. Sand with 1500g W&D - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off
5. Sand through all the MicroMesh grades - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off (sequentially) - Wiping between grades
6. Small ammount of BLO worked quickly into the blank
7. 3 coats of BLO and CA worked quickly into the blank (BLO onto the paper first, then a small puddle of CA - Using WoodCare CA) - Going to take this upto 10/20 coats on more expensive pens - this is 'friction cured' by half wrapping the paper around it whilst spinning at 1600rpm-1800rpm until you can feel the heat and it makes your eyes water lol
8. 1 coat of CA neat worked quickly into the blank - this is 'friction cured' by half wrapping the paper around it whilst spinning at 1600rpm-1800rpm
9. Sand through all the last 5 MicroMesh grades (think its 3200MM to 12000MM) - With the lathe on and with the grain afterwards with the lathe off (sequentially) - Wiping between grades
10. Apply a layer of bar wax and polish with max lathe speed.
11. Assemble Pen.
If anyone has any comments on this please let me know - wanting to perfect this so i can concentrate on the turning aspect and this becomes second nature!
My four key questions regarding the above are:-
5. I'll probably just stick with 1500g W&D instead of the MicroMesh for any pens i make to sell - Thoughts?
7. Is it worth knocking it back between coats with say 1500g W&D?
9. Is it worth investing in some Plastic Polish instead of using micromesh (maybe cheaper aswell)
9.Is it worth going through all the micromeshes, not just the last 5 grades?
Thanks for any advice in adavce all
Regards
Craig
