Thread: Two Navigators

Beautiful pens!!!

I like the look of the navigator kit.

Wow nicely done mate love them both ;-)

Ian

Both very classy pens you have there Ed' I do like the top one especially Cheers ~ John

Both very nice pens, like that dipped lacquer finish, well done.

Wow, beautiful finish on both pens, tried some lacquer dipping myself today but it dont look nearly that good.

Very, very nice Ed. Are you using Nitro as the dip or something else?

Watco acrylic lacqure cut 1 part to one part with lacquer thinner.
The auto part store in my neighborhood sells new empty quart paint cans, so I fill the can half way with lacquer, half way with thinner.
I then put the other half of the thinner, (it comes in a quart) into the lacquer left over in the original can, and end up with two quarts of the mix.
I keep an old mason jar with a air tight screw on lid full of the mix, it is tall enough to dip the blanks and threaded rods in....as it empties, I fill it from one of the mixed cans, until I run out of that can, then start on the other can.
One quart of the mix seems to be lasting about a year, give or take.
I have used both Watco and Deft acrylic lacquer, both seem to work just as well as the other on such a small sufrace, both seem to be holding up equally well to wear, and both seem to dry at about the same rate.

Thanks Ed

It sounds very much like the Nitrocellulose lacquer dip. It comes out very nicely too but you need a face mask on. I have been researching different finishes - trying French polishing for a natural finish. The grains stand out in 3D. I have yet to find a finishing wax to harden it but I think Carnauba wax might do the trick. I am also now trying pure Tung Oil. It is expensive for the pure oil and a slow process in terms of drying but the initial results are brilliant.

Check out this website for information on finishes -
Russ's Corner: A WoodCentral Archive

Greg

Ed, Two very nice classy pens right there

Cheers & Thanks for sharing.

Tony.

I think both lacquers end up looking pretty much the same when the process is done, the nitro just about took my head off the time I tried it.
I wonder if you could rig up a double boiler type of thing and melt carnauba, apply while slightly liquid and let harden, then buff the stuffing of it.
Carnauba is the main wax in automobile waxes, it dried hard and is wear resistant, so….

Nicely done, Ed.

How many times do you usually dip? Does it depend on how oily the blank is?

Originally Posted by edblysard

Cross cut box elder around a Navigator Roller Ball, finish is lacquer dip.
Second one is Spalted Tamarind Navigator Fountain Pen, also lacquer dipped.

It depends on how porous the wood is…with the box elder, 4 dips and done, no sanding needed, with the tamarind it took 8 before the wood sealed up and the low spots filled in, I had to sand it back almost to the wood to get it smooth, after that, it “popped” smooth after 2 dips.
When I first started dipping in lacquer, I used straight lacquer, no thinner, under the assumption that the thicker it was, the better it would “fill” any defects, low spots or pores in the wood.
Instead, the lacquer simply followed the low and high spots, plus it took a long time to dry, and it built up really thick.
The thinned lacquer dries faster, and because I am building up thinner coats, I can dip it quite a few more times than with the raw lacquer before it begins to build up too thick…if there are a lot of low spots, I can dip it a few times, allow to dry overnight, then sand its perfectly smooth, dip once or twice, and it’s done.
I normally keep a really thin, 2 parts thinner to 1 part lacquer mix to seal any blank, followed by a few dips in the 1 to 1 mix this normally is all that is needed, no sanding or buffing needed but the tamarind was so porous it simply soaked the 2 to 1 up like nothing, I ended up dipping it in the 1 to 1 a few times to seal it, then kept dipping until a thick enough coat was there to allow me to sand it back.
I would imagine that with thin CA, it would easily drink ¼ of a small bottle before it even began to seal up.
If you try this, don’t get impatient after the first few dips, keep going and suddenly it will pop almost glass smooth…at this stage, depending on how thick the buildup is, you can dip it a few times more or sand it back with wet micromesh, then buff and polish.
The box elder pen is the raw finish, no polishing, sanding or buffing, it popped that smooth on the final dip, although I did let it dry overnight and put a coat of Minwax wood floor wax on it to protect it and buffed that on the lathe at high speed.
Again, a lot depends on the wood, but most dense hard woods don’t really require a lot of dipping.

Yep - Nitro will take your head off if your don't use a filtered mask indoors. The first time I tried it without a mask I had a hell of a headache. I went to a paint store and bought a proper filter mask - carbon based. The mask works perfectly with Nitro and with CA and cuts the smell and toxins to zero.

My Tung oil finish is on the last coat and it looks great, but still not up to a CA style finish, but I was trying to get away from that anyway.

I will post some photos soon.

Hi Ed,

Thank you for sharing your expertise with us.

Regards,

Branden

Originally Posted by edblysard

It depends on how porous the wood is…with the box elder, 4 dips and done, no sanding needed, with the tamarind it took 8 before the wood sealed up and the low spots filled in, I had to sand it back almost to the wood to get it smooth, after that, it “popped” smooth after 2 dips.
When I first started dipping in lacquer, I used straight lacquer, no thinner, under the assumption that the thicker it was, the better it would “fill” any defects, low spots or pores in the wood.
Instead, the lacquer simply followed the low and high spots, plus it took a long time to dry, and it built up really thick.
The thinned lacquer dries faster, and because I am building up thinner coats, I can dip it quite a few more times than with the raw lacquer before it begins to build up too thick…if there are a lot of low spots, I can dip it a few times, allow to dry overnight, then sand its perfectly smooth, dip once or twice, and it’s done.
I normally keep a really thin, 2 parts thinner to 1 part lacquer mix to seal any blank, followed by a few dips in the 1 to 1 mix this normally is all that is needed, no sanding or buffing needed but the tamarind was so porous it simply soaked the 2 to 1 up like nothing, I ended up dipping it in the 1 to 1 a few times to seal it, then kept dipping until a thick enough coat was there to allow me to sand it back.
I would imagine that with thin CA, it would easily drink ¼ of a small bottle before it even began to seal up.
If you try this, don’t get impatient after the first few dips, keep going and suddenly it will pop almost glass smooth…at this stage, depending on how thick the buildup is, you can dip it a few times more or sand it back with wet micromesh, then buff and polish.
The box elder pen is the raw finish, no polishing, sanding or buffing, it popped that smooth on the final dip, although I did let it dry overnight and put a coat of Minwax wood floor wax on it to protect it and buffed that on the lathe at high speed.
Again, a lot depends on the wood, but most dense hard woods don’t really require a lot of dipping.