newbie pen turner need advice.

[Kendall Stokke]

after my woodworking club had a pen turning night i ordered a pen kit and im hooked. all i have is a shopsmith but i guess it worked. i just turned my first pen and sanded to 600 and used eee polish. then i grabed the finish i just ordered and realized that it is for plastic not for wood.
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my question is.... can i take some of my lacquer and dip a cloth in it and rub in on the pen to finish it? it is the only thing i have in the shop that i can think of that might work. i dont really want to ruin the first pen i made as i think it turned out pretty good for the first time.

all help appreciated

thank

kendall

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Kendall,

I brush Deft brushing lacquer on my pens and other turnings on the lathe.

If you are talking about friction finishing on the lathe:


You could probably use a rag but it's very unsafe. If the rag gets stuck to the turning, you may find out how elastic your hand, fingers, wrist and arm are.

You can use a paper towel but keep in mind, the towel can get stuck and you will have to burnish little bits paper towel out of the finish .

What I use a very cheap paint brush. I took a jelly jar with a removeable lid. I punched a hole in the lid that would allow the handle of the paint brush to come up through the hole. Then I sealed the hole with some caulk.

I keep some Deft brushing lacquer in the jar and thin it as necessary from time to time with lacquer thinner. With the lathe running about 400 rpm I brush a light coat on. I let it spin at 400 rpm for a minute or two and then use a paper towel to burnish it. You can repeat this process until you get a nice coat. Keep in mind....unlike varnish or poly....when you put addtional coats of lacquer or shellac on a turning...they combine with the previous coat(s)...to make one coat. With varnish or poly you end up with multiple coats....not so with lacquer or shellac.


Now...if you are put the finish on off the lathe....have at it. It's not dangerous.

I buff my pens with the Beal buffing system too.

[Brian Greb]

Do you have any blo? or any oil finish? you can burnish those on. Shellac works good too... Bee's wax works well also. You could always do a CA finish.

I'm not sure about lacquer... I guess you could give it a coat let it dry sand coat again... then repeat until you get the finish you want. But a CA finish would be much faster.

[Kendall Stokke]

thanks for the info

i do have blo i guess i didnt think about using it.

should a guy just rub some on and let it dry or spin it on. (im new i dont know all the terminalogy yet)

kendall

[Brian Greb]

thanks for the info

i do have blo i guess i didnt think about using it.

should a guy just rub some on and let it dry or spin it on. (im new i dont know all the terminalogy yet)

kendall

I use a paper towel cut in half then folded into a 2" X 1" pad, apply a small amount of blo to the pad apply to pen at slow speed(or spinning lathe by hand) then friction dry(pinch towel around pen with two fingers).

to do a CA finish add a drop of thick(or med.) CA to the same pad and apply the same as the blo. repeat the steps to build up a good finish.

if the CA finish is flawed you can then use the plastic polish to bring out the shine.:D

[Matt Ranum]

Nothin wrong with a shopsmith. Its what I use, albeit an early model that I put a variable speed dc motor on to gain much more reasonable speeds.

I've only been turning pens since the first of the year and have hit or miss luck with CA finish but my fail safe finish for wood is spray lacquer. Super easy and very fast drying.

Welcome to the vortex!

[David E Keller]

You can use just about anything to finish a pen, but the durability of the finish will vary from product to product. The BLO, wax, and shellac finishes don't hold up very well IMO. Lacquer, polyurethane, and CA will give a much more durable finish I think. I use BLO/CA for nearly all of my wooden pens, and I've had good luck. Nothing wrong with any of them, but they will give you different looks and wear at different rates.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I use brushing lacquer and use a paper towel to apply it then friction it in.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I use the PPP 2 stage, then top off with Tung Oil (not pure, a blend) or Wipe on Poly. The PPP gives it that instant shine, and more importantly, IMO, will show any scratches. Since it's not a durable finish, as some have already said, it's easy to sand out that scratch and repeat. After the PPP use the oil or WOP, depending on the wood and what effect you want. I guess you could use BLO, since you have it.

[Kendall Stokke]

thanks to everyone for the help with my first pen.

i took some brushable lacquer on the shoprag paper towel and put on three coats and got a finish i like. if i could find my camera i would post a picture. it was made out of cherry scrap i had so it isnt spectatular but i like it.

thanks again for all the help this forum is the most valuable tool any woodworker can have

kendall