Some new pens

[Jason Hallowell]

I started turning a couple of months ago, but have not had time to make anything until last week. Here are my recent pens. After more than a dozen pens now, I'm finally starting to get the finish close to acceptable. Any comments or critiques are welcome.
Woods are-
Chakte Kok w/ kingwood accents
Bocote w/ purpleheart and maple accents
Mesquite (from the firewood pile)
Cocobolo
Red gum eucalyptus (also from the firewood pile)

[Jason Hallowell]

And a few more-
Red mallee pen & pencil set
Chakte Kok w/ mesquite and maple accents

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jason...........You've only been turning a couple of months?.........Great pens! Very well done and a lot of imagination............Very well done!

[Corey Hallagan]

Excellent pens Jason. Your finish looks very acceptable. CA? Nice work Jason!

Corey

[Jason Hallowell]

Yep, I had seen ca used for minor finish repairs on pool cues, so I thought it might work on a pen. Then I come here and find tutorials on how to do ca/blo finishes correctly. Now I need to go get some blo and try to do it like a real penturner.

[John Hart]

Well you certainly look to already be an accomplished penturner Jason. Those are some pretty awesome pens. If I had to pick a favorite...it would be #4 the cocobolo. I would have picked the mesquite, 'cept I don't care for the black kits. But really...they are all wonderful.:)

[Jon Shively]

If I can kindly interrupt here for an explanation. What are you guys talking about when saying ca/blo finishes? I went to the finish section, searched under ca and couldn't find anything. Currently I use the HUT wax on my pens after sanding through 24000. Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[John Hart]

CA tends to stick and is also water soluable. The BLO acts as a lubricant and also gives the ca more resistance to moisture. take your cloth and douse it with blo...then put ca on top of that. the ca will gel quickly when it comes in contact with the oil so apply it quickly to the pen blank building heat and polish bright.

[David Fried]

Very nice Jason ... I can see why John lokes the Cocobolo pen but I think I'll go with the Chakte Kok w/ kingwood accents (#1). I haven't tried making fancy blanks like that yet but you're really tempting me! Thanks for sharing.

[Jason Hallowell]

Very nice Jason ... I can see why John lokes the Cocobolo pen but I think I'll go with the Chakte Kok w/ kingwood accents (#1). I haven't tried making fancy blanks like that yet but you're really tempting me! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks-
I didn't realize how dull my ts blade was until those burn marks showed up on that pen. I now have a new blade, so the next one will be better.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Jason, you can be proud of the fit, style, and finish of those pens.

Bruce

[Alfred Clem]

I was pleased to see that you have used mesquite wood because it is hard, colorful, and free. Here in central Arizona (around Sedona), there is an abundant supply. My favorite is burnt mesquite, gathered where there has been a range fire, where the wood's bark has been blackened by flame and allowed to dry for a long time. I try to find pieces about the thickness of my wrist, maybe 3" or 4" in diameter.

Once the charred bark is stripped away or knocked off, the remaining wood is very useful and very stable. It's rather a messy job, working to get rid of the char. I cut the remaining wood on the bias using a band saw so that there is a mix of heart wood and sap wood (two colors). Takes a nice finish, too.

[Jason Hallowell]

I was pleased to see that you have used mesquite wood because it is hard, colorful, and free. Here in central Arizona (around Sedona), there is an abundant supply. My favorite is burnt mesquite, gathered where there has been a range fire, where the wood's bark has been blackened by flame and allowed to dry for a long time. I try to find pieces about the thickness of my wrist, maybe 3" or 4" in diameter.

Once the charred bark is stripped away or knocked off, the remaining wood is very useful and very stable. It's rather a messy job, working to get rid of the char. I cut the remaining wood on the bias using a band saw so that there is a mix of heart wood and sap wood (two colors). Takes a nice finish, too.

I decided the best place to get some blanks to practice when I started would be the local firewood place. I ended up finding a bunch of woods that I like as well as the expensive ones at the ww store, and for only $10/wheelbarrow load. They have all varieties of mesquite, red gum eucalyptus, pecan, pinion, palm, and every citrus you can imagine. My father owns a large piece of land on the N side of Mt Lemmon where there was a big fire was a couple years ago. I will have to go up there soon and try out what you describe with some of the charred mesquite.

[Bill Boehme]

CA tends to stick and is also water soluable.
Are you certain about that? I have used CA on kitchen knife handles that get soaked in the sink and dishwasher with no indication of being affected by the water or detergent. I think that the CA finish is equivalent to having a plastic finish.

Bill

[John Hart]

Are you certain about that? I have used CA on kitchen knife handles that get soaked in the sink and dishwasher with no indication of being affected by the water or detergent. I think that the CA finish is equivalent to having a plastic finish.

Bill

Yup. The reason why I say this is because water is the recommended solvent by the manufacturers for removing it from your eyes and stuff. I didn't believe it myself but then did some checking around. I oughta find those references again and post them here.

[John Hart]

Ok...I went to the Loctite site and checked out their FAQ on CA. They recommend warm water to remove CA from skin and other surfaces. To one question "Is CA heat and water resistant?" The answer was "No".

There are a lot of other forums out there asking the same question. I found a Surf Casting Fishing Forum that seems to be preoccupied with the question too. Something about tying knots in their fishing line and using glue to keep them tied. One guy just said..."Hey...forget the glue. Just learn how to tie your knots better!!"

[Bill Boehme]

The implication that I get from this is that getting water into the wood or your skin basically softens the wood or skin enough to cause movement along the glue line which will enable separation rather than water actually dissolving CA. I think that this situation is somewhat akin to getting penetrating oil underneath an epoxy that is bonded to metal to get them to separate. The epoxy is not dissolved, but it loses its "tooth".

Bill

[John Hart]

You could be right Bill. Dunno. Time for an experiment methinks! ;) :)