Oak pens

[Kurt Forbes]

Some oak pens I made for christmas.
Segment rings were from kingswood.
28379
Lesson learned from this is try to match density of wood and accent strips if possible.
Kingswood is ALOT harder than the oak and it took alot of very fine cust with a skew to get everything to blend togather.


I really did not like how the oak finished.
I had them shineing like glass when finished and then the next day at assembly time They looked alot rougher again.

[Lars Thomas]

An opened-grain wood like oak would be difficult to finish in something as small as a pen. So, I am sure it was NOT your technique, but rather the physical properties of the wood that are giving you a problem.

Pretty cool 'segmented' turning. I like the design of the inlayed kingwood. Lars


EDIT: Missed a key Word. 'NOT' inserted above.

[John Hart]

Yep...I agree...They are very fine looking Pens Kurt. Oak has a bad reputation but you have lifted it a bit. Nicely done!

[Gary DeWitt]

Really like the segment design. Know what you mean about densities, I just turned some christmas ornaments of paduk and cherry, there's a discernable difference in the diameters of the two woods.
The trick with oak finishing that I know from flatwork is to fill the grain early on, like after sealing and before final finishing. You can use commercial fillers (not the kind for filling big holes, the kind for filling grain) available at rockler and others. Or, you can generate your own by sanding with a coarse grit, say 80 or 100, with compatible finish as a lubricant. The sanded particles of wood will fill the grain as you go. Grain fillers may also be colored, like stain, so they accent the grain of the wood, depending on how dark you want the contrast.
For turning, I find all this a pita, and try to turn close grained woods when possible.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Nice job on the pens Kurt. I like the contrasting woods and the design you used.

Ernie

[Bernie Weishapl]

Excellent job on the pens. Love the design of them.