Thread: Today's Effort

Hehe! it's a slippery slope from here on the same folk who make the EEE and shellawax also make a product called Glow, this is a friction polish for pens and will give an even better finish while retaining the wood feel U-Beaut who are forum sponsors will have a stand at the working with wood show in brisbane coming up soon ,so any advice you might need you can get from the manufacturer themselves . What area of brisbane are you as I am sure there will be someone near enough to give you a hands on session in some of these things ,for instance I am near Beenleigh . Sometimes we make a pen that we don't value highly for one reason or another, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder ,and I am still surprised myself what some folk will take a shine to I have sold some ugly looking pens in my eyes ,but a treasure to others. I don't see any value in wet sanding wood at all ,but definately always wet sand acrylics ,and not fast either as any heat generated can melt the acrylics very quickly cheers ~ John

Thanks for the response John. I'm from over wynnum way. I was looking at glow before I decided on the shelawax. The main reason I decided on it was because the glow said it added a shade or two to the timber. As I prefer the darker timbers already, I reasoned It'd be better sticking with the standard shelawax, so I didn't make them too dark.

Cheers
Rhys

It's good to experiment with different finishes. CA is not hard to do, it just takes a little practice until you get the touch. Its so easy in the beginning to either rub it on a little too gently and get ripples or do the opposite and have the paper stick to the blank. Still after a while you get the feeling for it and it goes on well. Using MM to wet sand it back will give a brilliant finish. Again, go lightly on the heavier grades of MM as it can cut into the CA. I have tried Shellawax and while it goes on well and is easy to apply, I found it doesn't really protect the timber and it doesn't take long to get discolourations on the timber from handling the pen. There are a of other options for finishing. If you are going to the Wood show, call in and see Neil from UBeaut and get some ideas from him.

Hey Mate

Well done on ur efforts they look great ;-) I have to say BLO and CA work a treat for me when I do use it most of the time I use #### hot waxstick on my timber pens nice easy and convenient ;-) I have also use clear acrylic spray and PC too but I have become really addicted to plastic lol as HazzaB say I am a plastic turner atm

Thanks
Ian

Hi Rhys, good effort on those pens. You asked for feedback so here goes. I am not sure whether it is the photos or not but to me it looks like you may have some "out of round issues" there. The transition from blank to fitting seems to be slightly off to one side, its hard to tell exactly as the pics aren't really sharp. If this is the case there are a few causes and a few fixes to go with them.
Like John I live at Beenleigh and if you ever want to pop over for coffee and a chat (bring your pens) I would be more than happy to run over some of the finer points with you show you my set up, how I do things, some things to avoid etc. Alternatively get along to the up coming woodwork show (again bring your pens along), introduce yourself at the forum stand, find one of us pen nuts and take it from there. Talking to other people who have been where you are now is the fastest and best way to get to where they are now.

Hi Rhys. I'm not quite Wynnum but if you want to drop by on a Saturday morning (my home alone shed time) then just give a shout. More than happy to help show you the ropes with CA finishes.

cheers
WH

Thanks for the offer hacker. I'm on the wrong side of town this weekend so will have to decline. Hopefully I should be getting to the twww show in a few weeks (that's if I'm not working) so I might stop in there.

Cheers Rhys.

Originally Posted by RhysM

Thanks for the offer hacker. I'm on the wrong side of town this weekend so will have to decline. Hopefully I should be getting to the twww show in a few weeks (that's if I'm not working) so I might stop in there.

Cheers Rhys.

No worries Rhys. Might catch you at the show, otherwise the offer is open if you have a spare Sat morning some time.

cheers
WH

They are really good looking pens Rhys!!.Well done indeed!!