Cocobolo, Mallee Burl Cigar Pens with Corrected White Balance!

[Ben Gastfriend]

First is Cocobolo left over from the comissioned fountain pen I did a couple weeks back. Finished with Minwax Wipe on Poly. Why did this take so much longer to cure than anything else I've ever used minwax wipe on?

Second one is mallee burl left over from the platter I did a few days ago with diagonal stripes of dunnowood. Finished with EEE and friction shellac. You may remember the incorrect WB on the mallee burl platter. Thanks to a PM from Brian Brown, I was reminded to manually adjust my white balance, and...

[David Walser]

First is Cocobolo... Why did this take so much longer to cure than anything else I've ever used minwax wipe on?


Ben,

Cocobolo and other "oily woods" should be cleaned with acetone or mineral spirits before finishing. Otherwise, the natural oil may keep the finish from curing properly.

Both pens are very nice. Good job!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking pens. Yep David said it. The oil in the wood keeps poly from drying properly. Clean it with acetone and it does ok.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ben - very nice work on your pens! Great wood combinations, attractive designs and good looking finishes!

Not knowing what kind of lighting or background you are using makes it hard to give advice on your photos. Brian is the expert - but I wanted to throw my opinion out for consideration. All 4 of the photos appear to be slightly underexposed - meaning they are dark. You may want to adjust your colors through software a little and even add a touch of brightness. Nothing wrong with what you have - just wanted to give you something else to think about.

Here is the #3 photo with some red removed, brightness added and just a touch of sharpening.

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[alex carey]

Nice pens. Both have really nice colors. Good job.