Question about keeping color clean while turning

[Barry Lyndon]

I'm trying to turn a pen made from mostly wenge with some strips of pink ivory incorporated in. The problem I'm having is when I get to the sanding, the dust from the wenge gets into the cracks and crevices of the pink ivory and turns it from the beautiful coppery look to a dirty dark red. Is there some trick of the trade I don't know about to avoid this? I'm trying to think of some way to seal it before I start sanding the wenge but don't see how that's possible. Any ideas?

[Michelle Rich]

sand & seal the pink ivory first...then mask it off with tape..sand around it very carefully

[Mike Cruz]

On a pen, you'd have to have tiny fingers and the patience of an angel to do it that way, Michelle. But I can't come up with anything better...

[jared herbert]

I have run into this before with really light maple glued to walnut. I used an air hose and blow gun and have been able to eliminate most of the discoloration. Also depending on the situation, I put on a coat of deft before I do any sanding to seal up the grain.

[Jim Burr]

This will sound funny Barry, but if you have your skew skills down pat and a razor sharp skew, you could go straight from cut to finish. I did a few pens at a demo Saturday and did just that. One fix would be to sand left to right with the lathe off, blow off the blank and clean your paper a lot!

[Barry Lyndon]

Thanks for the advice guys. I definitely don't have my skew skills down pat so I''ll just take a little more time and try keeping the paper clean and using a lot of air like you guys suggested. the pink ivory strips are just about 3/8" thick so I don't see myself being able to sand and seal those first - something I'll try when I'm dealing with a larger piece of lighter colored wood though!

I need to get some dust collection set up for the lathe too. That will probably help a little.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Jim. I rarely if ever sand my pens. I use a skew and the finish is better than sanding with 400 grit.

[Harry Robinette]

I use ether my skew ( which I am not happy with ) or allot of air or I'm trying something that I got from a friend that does segment work. I use my vac with the fuzzy brush, I move it with the sand paper and it vac the dust up as it creates it. I'm not as quick with it yet as my friend but I've only done it 2 or 3 times. It actually does work very well.

[Roy Turbett]

I had a similar problem with some Cherry and determined the problem was metal flakes from the bushing. Now I make sure to clean the bushing before I start sanding and make sure I don't sand it especially when using EEE.

[Barry Lyndon]

247198

Well, I took things a little slower with this one, cleaned off the sand paper a lot and sprayed it with air quite a bit. It's not my best work but the pink ivory kept most of its color. Definitely got some Wenge in the cracks but it turned out a lot better than my first attempt! Thanks again for the advice guys!

[Russell Eaton]

How about a thin coat of CA glue before sanding. Then blow it off after sanding.

[Peter Fabricius]

Barry;
If you turn your pen to just about finished diameter and then soak it with Bulls Eye, Shellac Sanding sealer and let it dry. The sanding sealer should soak in completely and protect the lighter wood so you can finish turn the pen. The Skew method is obviously the best but you should be able to sand it with the sealer protecting the light coloured wood. It is worth a try.
The pen turned out very nice. It is hard to tell if the pink ivory has any telltale Wenge dust in it.
Peter F.

[Barry Lyndon]

How about a thin coat of CA glue before sanding. Then blow it off after sanding.

Others suggested something similar Russell. I'll give that a try on the next pen and see what kind of results that gives me.

[Jim Burr]

Or I could run it through the stabilizer for you and that would solve the whole thing!

[Barry Lyndon]

Barry;
If you turn your pen to just about finished diameter and then soak it with Bulls Eye, Shellac Sanding sealer and let it dry. The sanding sealer should soak in completely and protect the lighter wood so you can finish turn the pen. The Skew method is obviously the best but you should be able to sand it with the sealer protecting the light coloured wood. It is worth a try.
The pen turned out very nice. It is hard to tell if the pink ivory has any telltale Wenge dust in it.
Peter F.

Thanks Peter. This doesn't sound like it would be too difficult to try out. After trying out a few of these methods I'll know for sure after a couple pens which one works best for me until I get better with the skew. I've been turning for about 2 weeks so I'm guessing that's something that will come with a little more time and practice :)