Thread: FINISH FOR PEN BLANKS

Originally Posted by plantagenon

Must have too much time on my hands because I want to experiment with a different finish for timber pen blanks.
I have tried the ones listed below and obtained varying results.

What I would like is a self levelling, fast drying, clear gloss finish. Deft Clear Wood Finish Brushing Lacquer is supposed to achieve this but I think it is Nitrocellulose under a brand name and is available only in the USA. If you have any ideas, please let me know



CA - A great gloss finish, with almost a plastic look, but very time consuming although it dries almost instantly.
MinWax wipe on poly - Another great clear finish but slow drying time and also very time consuming
Pure Tung oil - Easy and fast to apply and dries hard but darkens the timber and is extremely slow drying (a week is needed)
Shellac - Easy to apply but just doesn't give the finish on pen blanks
Nitrocellulose lacquer - Easy to apply, reasonably drying time, but gives off toxic fumes and a carbon gas mask and heavy gloves needed. Gives a brilliant shine along with a splitting headache if a mask is not used.
Shellawax Glow - Lacks the shine of CA but a better natural look. Easy to apply although the finish may be damaged with sweat and oils from hands over a period of time.
French Polish - Horrible to apply to pen blanks and if not done properly will remain sticky. The finish doesn't equal the effort.

I have yet to try MINWAX Clear Gloss Water based Oil Modified Polyurethane as used by Les Elm.

Plant,

Why are most pen turners so impatient and are always looking for an instant, perfect wood pen blank finish?
Is there such a thing as a instant, perfect wood pen blank finish?
I have tried many and haven't found one yet.
I have found that MINWAX Clear Gloss WBOM Polyurethane using my "Dipping Method" works best for me.
No odor, self leveling, fast drying (1 hour), resulting in a clear, durable, no maintenance finish.
Some patience required, but is well worth the time.

Les

Over the years I have worked in many forms of woodworking. To me there still is no better finish to show off the depth of wood than, Nitrocellulose lacquer. I still use it on occassion for smaller items where I can break out the rattle can. But for most projects that I use lacquer on I go to a waterbased lacquer and it looks and reacts just the same. It can be built upon because one layer melts into the last. When dried it has depth. It is safe and easy cleanup. But for pens my go to finish is still med CA.

Originally Posted by JTTHECLOCKMAN

Over the years I have worked in many forms of woodworking. To me there still is no better finish to show off the depth of wood than, Nitrocellulose lacquer. I still use it on occassion for smaller items where I can break out the rattle can. But for most projects that I use lacquer on I go to a waterbased lacquer and it looks and reacts just the same. It can be built upon because one layer melts into the last. When dried it has depth. It is safe and easy cleanup. But for pens my go to finish is still med CA.

You say that there still is no better finish to show off the depth of wood than Nitrocellulose lacquer then why is Med CA your go to finish for your wood pen blanks?

Les

Originally Posted by Les in Red Deer

You say that there still is no better finish to show off the depth of wood than Nitrocellulose lacquer then why is Med CA your go to finish for your wood pen blanks?

Les

Lacquer does not stand up to the everyday handling as well as CA in my opinion. I have tried them both. Some people have more acid in their bodys for a lack of a better term I guess so it will break down lacquer. I think alot of pen kits have lacquer covering the platings and this is the reason alot of times the platings break down. For things that do not get handled much I use lacquer. This has been my findings. Plus I also find CA does not give me that plastic look as poly does so I stay away from that. Poly maybe more durable but to me the depth of wood is accented with lacquer for sure. Like most things in the hobby these are subjective.

I just noticed some of the lettering was darker than others. Wonder why that happened. Must be those Gremlins again.

Originally Posted by JTTHECLOCKMAN

.....
I just noticed some of the lettering was darker than others. Wonder why that happened. Must be those Gremlins again.

Here I was thinking that you were being bold in your reply.

Originally Posted by JTTHECLOCKMAN

Over the years I have worked in many forms of woodworking. To me there still is no better finish to show off the depth of wood than, Nitrocellulose lacquer. I still use it on occassion for smaller items where I can break out the rattle can. But for most projects that I use lacquer on I go to a waterbased lacquer and it looks and reacts just the same. It can be built upon because one layer melts into the last. When dried it has depth. It is safe and easy cleanup. But for pens my go to finish is still med CA.

I'm curious - how does water based lacquer "melt into the last layer"? NC lacquer will, but I'm very interested to know how water based does.

For me I work on wood being a natural product I use waxes for finish. Its easy to re-apply and feels....right...to me and those that buy them at least. I don't bother with plastics/acrylic pens as they have a store feeling to them and so leave them to the stores. Bullet and horn is also a great medium. Just my 2c worth
Pete

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

I'm curious - how does water based lacquer "melt into the last layer"? NC lacquer will, but I'm very interested to know how water based does.

First I found out why some of the lettering was bolder than the rest. I copied and pasted the word nitrocelleous lacquer because I always just call it Nitro because I can not spell very well. From that point on all the words typed were bold. I did not notice till Less quoted my post.

As far as water based laquer goes, I am not a chemist so I can not properly explain the properties of each finish. Water is just an ingrediant or carrier of the product lacquer used. I am sure the ingredients of just the lacquer are not the same for Nitro and water. Just as there are oil based polys there are waterbased polys. Target Coatings--Emtech6000 is what I have used over the years. There are others too.

Here is a great forum if you really want to learn alot about finishings and the people there are very knowledgable. Finishing Talk




Emtech6000
EMTECH™ EM6000 Production Lacquer (EPLv8.0) is an ultra clear, water-based acrylic lacquer that utilizes advanced polymer resins and HAPS-Free solvent technologies to provide a unique, self-leveling wood finish designed for commercial and industrial applications. Formulated for use in furniture, cabinet, interior architectural and custom woodworking applications, EPL provides a fast drying lacquer system with exceptional clarity, outstanding adhesion qualities and a nitrocellulose-type appearance and performance in a Ultra-Low VOC (ULVOC), 100% water-based system. EMTECH™ EM6000 Production Lacquer features a unique adhesion characteristic that allows it to bond to a wide variety of properly prepared substrates such as synthetic wood panels, carbon-fibre, PVC, ferrous and non-ferrous metals. This feature gives great latitude of use for the finishing professional when working with EM6000 Production Lacquer.

In Aus, NCL is not made from nitro anymore due to the dangers, and on speaking with the Mirotone guy at the factory replaced with 3 different mixes (but still sold as NCL ). A couple of those are indeed described as water based

I still have a lot of the old style NC left. It is very flamable but then I dont light a match when I have used it in the past. The worst part about it was the smell and the headaches the fumes would give you. The finish is excellent - same stuff they used to use on fishing rods I am told and they are pretty flexible. Only other problem with it is that unless you get the right sized bushes for the bottom of the blank to allow excess NC to run off, it will pool and dry on the pen.

I have made a drying rack to try out the MinWax water based OM poly this weekend. Plasticine for tube ends instead of bushes so I can shape it for run off and just put a bit of wire through the other end to hang the blanks on my rack. After dipping I will move onto the next project while it dries or better still I might just open a beer, sit down with a stop watch and watch the poly dry for an hour Far too much time on my hands at the moment.

Originally Posted by plantagenon

I still have a lot of the old style NC left. It is very flamable but then I dont light a match when I have used it in the past. The worst part about it was the smell and the headaches the fumes would give you. The finish is excellent - same stuff they used to use on fishing rods I am told and they are pretty flexible. Only other problem with it is that unless you get the right sized bushes for the bottom of the blank to allow excess NC to run off, it will pool and dry on the pen.

I have made a drying rack to try out the MinWax water based OM poly this weekend. Plasticine for tube ends instead of bushes so I can shape it for run off and just put a bit of wire through the other end to hang the blanks on my rack. After dipping I will move onto the next project while it dries or better still I might just open a beer, sit down with a stop watch and watch the poly dry for an hour Far too much time on my hands at the moment.

That is all well and good but you better have a dust free area you can hang the pens as they dry because it will attract dust. I make a ton of birdhouse ornaments that I sell and for them I always spray with deft nitro lacquer. The more coats the deaper the look of the woods. No sanding after or dust spots because each coat dries quickly. Maybe you can make some of them and use that nitro stuff on them as you wait for the poly to dry. I do have to get back in the shop and get some of those done also. They are always big sellers for me. I just need clearance from my doctors to be able to use machinery again. This sucks because I just retired and was hoping for alot more shop time. When I use that finish I always do it outdoors.

Good luck with your finishing adventures.

What's the problem with machinery JT? I'm sure you put something up about that but my memory is a blank.

Originally Posted by artme

What's the problem with machinery JT? I'm sure you put something up about that but my memory is a blank.

I am going through some health issues right now. Sort of lucky to be typing this right now.

Mate, do yourself a favour and get good dust extraction systems in place. When using NC or another finish wear a carbon mask that absorbs fumes