Thread: Generally Too Hot to Work - but Here's One...

Nice work Shane the finish looks good from here

Nice burl and finish Shane.

My own opinion, I am not fussed with that style of kit,I have never had a good fit on it and it feels as if the parts would break over time with that plastic piece inside the cap.

But Shane , a well made pen.

Regards
Terry

Nicely executed pen Shane, I am in the same boat at Terry. I picked up a 5 pack of these from Carbatec but really don't like turning them. I think I still have a kit lying around somewhere that hasn't been finished yet. If you are looking for a step up but without it costing you too much, have a look at the gold or chrome Sierras from Addictive, or check out the Americana Classic or PRK-401 from Gary Pye/Carrolls. PRK's need a rebate cut to take a band so if still on the learning curve lean towards the other two first.

Corbs

Good looking pen, some of the Red Gum can be brilliant.

Have you tried CA? I find that Shellawax stays a bit soft, particularly over BLO.


Corbs, just looked up the Americana from Gary Pye (hadn't actually looked at his pens) almost fell off my chair!!!
Is that price correct, $34 for an Americana, whoa!!

Last week I had to order some acrylic blanks from CSUSA, and the Americanas were in close-out for $US4.03, even the normal price was only $US5.75. At $US14.00 for postage for quite a few kits, bushes, drills and blanks it pays to get them from there.

I have bought quite a few Sierras (Berea brand) from Bear Tooth Woods, some not stocked here in Oz, again for very good prices and reasonable postage. Last order had about 10 blanks, 10 kits, 3 drills and 2 sets of bushed, all for $US13.50 postage and it gets here in about 7-10 days.

Nice looking bit of timber. Made for a fine looking pen. You can send some of that heat our way if you're done with it. 22 degrees F (-6 C) this morning here. Too bloody cold, that's for sure. Hard to work with wood when you can't feel your fingers.

Nice Pen.
Mick

Looks great. Nice figuring in the wood, almost looks like the jarrah burl that I have. I might have to get some of this, too. It doesn't seem to have the holes in it that the jarrah had.

I know some of the kits can get pricey, but I haven't tried this one. But I did get an order recently from woodpenpro.com and the kits were priced lower than the other places I've been buying (about half the price) and they look good. Black titanium, gold or chrome cigar kits were $3.50 (US). I don't know if the coatings are as heavy as some, only time will tell. But the service seems good and postage shouldn't be too bad to AUS, especially in bulk.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

...
Is that price correct, $34 for an Americana, whoa!!
...

That price is for a pack of 5.

Corbs

Very nice looking pen and finish Looks like an Artisan kit?

Well, that's a trap! Just looked at the main page and it said $34! Couldn't see that an Americana could cost that much, that explains it.

Thanks for putting me straight, should read the fine print I suppose.

Edit:

Just read that again, and yes they are ONLY sold in packs of 5, not sure that I would want to buy a pack of 5 of a pen I da never tried before.
Not many different platings listed either.

Thanks all for the good advice - yep, definitely need a new style of kit that's a better quality than the carbatec one that I've been "practicing" on. So thanks for pointing me to the various kits around the place!

I've tried the CA finish with good results but its such a noxious process!

And y'all in the US can have our heat... the forecast here is for another week of above 35 degrees... I'm over it - too hot for the shed indeed.

That is a nice piece of work, Shane!
You should try to get onto better kits now to do your skills and timber justice.
As for finish, experiment with CA/BLO and see what you think.

That is an attractive pen, love the burl in it, I understand what you mean by mesmerizing, you just want to hold it and keep it with you! Amos

G'day smagrath,

Originally Posted by smagrath

Finish details: sanding tp 400. Then some BLO. Then a coat of sanding sealer. Then some magical Shellaway Ultra-shine... I'm still questing for that perfect finish...

Great looking pens but if you are not happy with the finish then I might have some comments there. Is the pen as dull in real life as it is in the photo? If so then it could be the BLO that is letting you down. Red Gum Burl normally comes up a treat to the Ubeaut products but in the instructions it does say:

"Shellawax is a finish in its own right and is not
designed to be used over any other finishes.

Shellawax can be used over a stain so long as it
is water based. It works brilliantly over our Non
Toxic Water Dyes because they soak into the
timber allowing Shellawax to bond to the wood.
DO NOT USE SHELLAWAX over oil or spirit based
stains or dyes."

On wood pens, for the greatest shine, I will:

• sand down to 1200 grit
• apply Ubueat's Sanding Sealer edit: this step may not be recommended. Will edit appropriatly when a definite answer is found
• sand again with 1200 grit
• apply Ubeaut's EEE Cream
• THEN apply Ubeaut's Shellawax or Shellawax Glow at 3000rpm

Also very important to handle the pen as LITTLE as possible for the next two to three weeks to let the Shellawax totally harden.

Longer process than what you described? You bet. Nice shiney shine that looks great on red gum? YOU BET!

Try it at least a few times without the BLO and see how you go.