Pen: Jr Statesman II with 50/50 Amboyna Burl

[Jim McFarland]

I loaned a very generous gentleman on another forum my Tormek jigs while I was out of town for my son's wedding. He returned them as soon as I returned home and included 5 beautiful pen blanks. I got the better end of this deal!

This is one of them -- 50/50 Amboyna burl on a Jr Statesman II kit, finished with CA:

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jim - outstanding! Amazing wood - excellent pen! Makes me real curious as to the other blanks! Hope to see more pens real soon!

[alex carey]

Thats a beauty, love the wood.

[David E Keller]

beautiful wood and one of my favorite kits... great combination. The finish looks very nice and the photos are great. Thanks for posting.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful pens. That was great of him.

[Steve Mawson]

You did get the better end of that deal. Really nice work.

[Jim McFarland]

Jim - outstanding! Amazing wood - excellent pen! Makes me real curious as to the other blanks! Hope to see more pens real soon!

Thanks, Steve -- here are 3 more from the gift group of blanks...cream color 1930s Bakelite on JS-II, Amboyna burl on gold titanium Baron and prairie rattlesnake on Jr Gent II. The Bakelite is really a unique gift -- very scarce material -- I'll keep this one for myself! Very generous gentleman, indeed!

[Billy Tallant]

Those pens look exceptional. Love the wood you used.

Question on your CA finish? After applying the CA finish, do you buff the CA finish out? I've been working on improving my CA/BLO finish, but I cannot get a gloss look like your pens show. That finish of yours really stands out!

[Jim McFarland]

<snip>
Question on your CA finish? <snip>

Thanks, Billy -- probably more CA procedures than penturners but I'm happy to share my take, too.

I sometimes buff out if small scratches in the finish but not too often. My main problem with CA is building a thick enough coat to stand up to my heavy handed sanding & polishing. I tried BLO/CA and could never get a thick CA coating -- way too many flat spots in the final finish. My current procedure takes almost 2 hours per pen but most of this is drying/curing time. I'm really pleased with the results but I would like to cut the time. Penmaking is just a hobby for me so I'll stick with it for now. So, warts and all, here's the way I apply CA:


Turn blank and I highly recommend using a skew for finishing cuts to get as smooth a finish as possible.
Sand blank through 1200 grit with lathe at high speed. Finish each grit by cross sanding by hand with the lathe off. I use 400/600/1200 grit abrasives.
Drip medium CA on the blank with lathe at slow speed while smoothing the CA lightly with a Viva paper towel.
Wait 10 minutes for previous coat to dry (source of long process time) and repeat step 3 until 7 or 8 coats of CA applied.
Wait 30-45 minutes after last coat to ensure CA is fully cured. Result will be a very rough, thick CA finish (assuming I didn't wipe off too much during application).
Dry sand CA finish with lathe at high speed starting at 600 grit. Turn off the lathe and cross sand by hand. You should see white CA powder only on the abrasive -- you've gone too far if you see wood powder. Wipe off any residue with a soft cloth.
Repeat step 6 using 1200 grit.
Wet (water) sand lightly with MicroMesh foam pads starting at 3200 and continuing through 12000 MM -- all with lathe at high speed. I don't bother cross sanding after each MM grit.
Lathe at high speed, wipe off residue with Viva paper towel. Polish with 2 applications of Novus #2 on yet another Viva paper towel and lathe at high speed. Final buffing with a clean spot on that (you guessed it!) Viva paper towel.
Examine finish under 100W incandescent light for visible scratches or flat spots in the finish. Beall buff sometimes removes small scratches. Repeat from step 6 if larger scratches. Unfortunately, start all over if flat spots (and -- yes -- I've had to start over a few times!).
Final tip is to buy Viva paper towels and medium CA in bulk!

BTW, I'm considering using CA accelerator to speed cure time but I tried a lot of different CA application methods before finding one I liked. I really don't want to argue with success right now.