Thread: Off to Maui

Originally Posted by Pariss

Hey guys. Well, Spanky239 (in Maui Hawaii) and I have completed the 'Australia Day Pen swap'. Just thought I'd post a few pic's of the Spring Blossom I just finished dressed in Red Malley Burl, that will be winging it's way accross the Pacific tomorrow. I have been doing my finishing a little bit differently lately, and getting even better results. 1st, turn the blank, & sand to 800, then wipe down with Metho to clean off the dirt & dust from blank. When dry, put some BLO on finger & rub into blank. WOW, really brings out the deep down color and grain. Let soak in for 10 minutes, then wipe off thoroughly with toilet paper. Apply the usual 20 coats of CA with Mitre-Fix using dunny paper pads. Also, another benefit to applying the BLO to the blank (and bushes) is that the BLO gets down into the gap between the blank and steel bushing, and makes the final release of the blank from bushing MUCH easier.

Hi,

That is impressive work. Love the glossy finish.

Todd

What Pariss ! No Glen 20

Cheers Ian

Got to be your best yet Pariss, in some ways probably a pity it's not staying home, but I'm sure the new owner will be over the moon

im sure he will be very happy with that oh and how many pens have you tried using your new method ????

Great finish. Will give your method a go.

Originally Posted by mkypenturner

im sure he will be very happy with that oh and how many pens have you tried using your new method ????

Hey Troy. I've done 8 with the new method.
I was a bit Suss about applying CA on top of BLO, but if you let it soak in for 10 minutes, then with the lathe running, wipe off all excess, then it goes on with no problems. The metho wipe-down I think, helps with the brightness of the timber, before sealing it up with CA. Stands to reason that if you apply CA over the top of a dusty, dirty bit of wood, that it won't look at it's best.

Thats a great looking pen Pariss. The finish looks top notch.

I was using acetone to wipe down my blanks before applying CA, but have gotten a bit lazy, and have been just blowing them clean with compressed air. I might go back to the wipe down method, after the blow down, as you are probably right.

Originally Posted by Pariss

Hey Troy. I've done 8 with the new method.
I was a bit Suss about applying CA on top of BLO, but if you let it soak in for 10 minutes, then with the lathe running, wipe off all excess, then it goes on with no problems. The metho wipe-down I think, helps with the brightness of the timber, before sealing it up with CA. Stands to reason that if you apply CA over the top of a dusty, dirty bit of wood, that it won't look at it's best.

That was my first thought, that the CA wouldn't sick to the BLO. Maybe wiping it with the lathe running sets it? I usually acetone down any oily woods such as BOW before I CA, so I've had trouble with the CA finish on those.

BLO certainly brings out the grain pattern nicely, and you certainly seem to have gotten a good result.

Russell.

Excellent finish and great photos. Really shows the quality of the finish.

nice work pariss spanky should be stoked with that!

Thanks fellers. Hope he likes it. Going to turn another Spring blossom using Rock Maple as soon as I get a bit of time. Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

Beautiful pen.

Absolutely beautiful pen Pariss. Its turned to perfection with the right choice of timber and pen kit. They go well together. I really like the Red Mallee burl and will be using it a bit more soon. I will try your BLO method when I an up and running again. The last time I tried it, I used too much BLO and ruined the blank. Great work

Spring Blossom-------Red Mallee looks the goods to me.

Pics 1 and 3 do justice distortion in 2 and 4 make the pen look like a telescope, however they show clearly the bling that the 1 and 3 Pics put in proportion.

Like the finish enjoyed the narrative.

It must be tough up there in the heat from time to time and finishing everywhere is a new days oportunity to regulate methods.

Take care mate look forward to pen progress such as your pen quality.

Kind regards Peter.