durable finish for the pens.

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Hi All,

This I guess has brought me out of the shadows, so to speak. I like to turn pens and I am real excited about this project. My question is are there any finishes that we need to use for durability, My favorite is a couple or three coats of thin CA glue followed up with triple x wax.

Is this durable enough or is there a better finish to put on these pens considering where they are going.

This is just a though I had and thought I would throw it out there for discussion.


Roger

[Chris Johnson]

Your finish should be fine. It is pretty durable. Far more so than the average friction finish.



Hi All,

This I guess has brought me out of the shadows, so to speak. I like to turn pens and I am real excited about this project. My question is are there any finishes that we need to use for durability, My favorite is a couple or three coats of thin CA glue followed up with triple x wax.

Is this durable enough or is there a better finish to put on these pens considering where they are going.

This is just a though I had and thought I would throw it out there for discussion.


Roger

[Julie Wright]

How do you use CA without gluing your pen to the bushings? I've used CA a little but am afraid to go all out.

[John Price]

How do you use CA without gluing your pen to the bushings? I've used CA a little but am afraid to go all out.

I've been using CA as a base for my finishes for about a year. It's a real simple process:

1. Sand real fine, REAL FINE (2400 to 4000)
2. Clean with Denatured Alcohol.
3. Hit with 3600 and 4000 again.
4. Use long expired pantyhose for a rag.
5. With lathe running at about 2400 RPM or better, buff with pantyhose while dropping couple of drops of CA between hose and blank.
6. Peel hose off of finger.
7. Buff with 4000 and up to finest that I have.
8. Burn in and buff two or three coats of Carnuba.
9. Ta Da! Good looking wood!

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

How do you use CA without gluing your pen to the bushings? I've used CA a little but am afraid to go all out.

Hi Julie,

The way I was shown how is as follows,

1 sand to 1200

2 wet sand to 3000

3 wipe with paper towel until the blank is dry.

4 take 1/2 of paper towell and fold up until it is about 1 and a half wide. then I fold it in half lengthwise.. At the fold I put a couple of drops of thin CA on the towel and rub the glue on the pen blank just until it is covered with the CA glue.

I then turn the paper towel over and repeat with the glue application.

I finish the pen off with some wax with a little bit of very gine grit in it. ( I dont remember the name but has 3 or 4 X's on the lable and has worked very well for me,)

This produced a higher gloss finish than I was getting with friction polish with sanding sealer, and taks just a couple of seconds.

Roger