PDA

View Full Version : Pen Buffing Tool



OGYT
4th March 2009, 02:11 PM
When buffing pen barrels I always wore rubber gloves, and they still got away from me on occasion. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/mad.gif
So I 'made' this tool. It is a rod that's just slightly smaller than 1/4" that came out of an old printer. It has an 'e' clip on one end, which keeps the pen barrel from sliding off. I hold it at an angle to the buffing wheel, and it's just a slow pass, and it's done.
It takes away the worry of catapulting a pen barrel around in the floor. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/biggrin.gif
(The dark streaks in the Tripoli wheel are just some dark material that went into the wheel when I made it.)
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->

Big Shed
4th March 2009, 03:35 PM
Good idea.

As I do all my turning on a mandrel held in a ER collet chuck, I actually take the whole collet chuck and mandrel out of the headstock and use that to hold it to the buffing wheel, which is held in a Jacobs chuck in the head stock.

pitbull
4th March 2009, 04:40 PM
Nice tip Al, thanks for sharing.:2tsup:

ElizaLeahy
4th March 2009, 07:23 PM
Not having made a pen as yet I'm confused. Don't you do your finishing on the lathe?

artme
4th March 2009, 08:13 PM
Glad to see you still have a bit to learn "Liza.:D:D:p

China
4th March 2009, 10:40 PM
Some people finnsh on the lathe and others prefer not to

Ed Reiss
4th March 2009, 11:31 PM
Glad to see you still have a bit to learn "Liza.:D:D:p

...at the rate she's goin' we''ll be learning from her:doh: :o :C :rolleyes: :D:D ...anxiously awaiting her turning book and DVD:q:cool:

good tip Al:2tsup:

Todd Glover
5th March 2009, 03:50 AM
Not having made a pen as yet I'm confused. Don't you do your finishing on the lathe?

Some folks finish on the lathe, others finish at the buffing wheel.

I put on 8 coats of CA then sand to 4000 MicroMesh, the rest is buffed with white diamond and then I'm done.

I used to finish on the lathe sanding to 12000 micromesh, I find my new sanding/buffing schedule faster and I don't sand through the finish anymore.

OGYT
5th March 2009, 11:16 AM
Eliza, I sand to 12000 micromesh, then several coats of CA on the lathe. Then I do the final buffing off the lathe.
I use two lathes when I'm turning pens. While one is getting the CA finish, the other is usually being turned, or inlaid, or something. I usually finish the barrels of 6 or 7pens, (they set on pegs to cure well), then buff all of them, then assemble them.
I can't do a CA finish like the tutorial showed us (can't remember who made the video), because my CA glue gets pitted by the accelerator, so I put on a coat of CA, and bring up a 100w light bulb on a stand to help it cure, while I'm doing something else on the other lathe. It takes about 5 minutes for the CA to set and be ready for the next coat.