Thread: Troublesome Day

Hi Derek,

I hear what you are saying mate !! but it will all get better with practice
As long as you are enjoying it that's what matters.

Cheers
Tony.

Derek,

Don't be put off of it mate, these things happen to keep us honest. Believe me it kept me honest for some time when I first started. Numbers 1,2 and 4 you can turn the timber away and save the tubes for other pens latter on. Number 3 a bit of a problem there mate, toss him in the bin, sadly that is a sacrifice to the pen gods. The last one if the blemish is on the surface then a light sand back and then finish again. If deeper, what I do is let it soak in acetone for a bit to make the CA removal a bit easier.

When you drill a blank, no matter how slow you drill, you will generate heat and cause what I call micro cracks inside the drilled hole. After drilling I squirt in some thin CA and allow it to soak in filling any of these micro cracks or other hidden cracks with in the timber. I then ream the hole out with the appropriate drill and then use a 2 part epoxy or Gorilla glue to secure the tubes.

Number 1 with the defect, if it wasn't too bad a defect you could mix a coloured powder with a 2 part epoxy or resin and fill the defect with a contrasting colour.

Number 2 I tend to cut from the bushes to the center of the blank, I found if I cut to the bushes I to get a chip out. I can't remember who told me but this was the wording he used, make sure your chisels are scary sharp for fine clean cutting.

Number 4 depending on the size of the crack you could fill the same as number 1 or also use coffee grounds and make a feature of the crack. After you have done this, if it looks good then, use it, if not then hide it under the clip. If it is too big to be hidden then turn it away and save the tube.

There will be days when you think wow I have got this sorted and then the next you wish you never turned the lathe on. Keep going and enjoy the ride, I hope to see some photos soon.

cheers
Darren

Ad bdr said, you can recover a lot;

[QUOTE=derekh;1593622]Still new to pen turning (all turning really) and have managed to produce a few nice looking Sierras and Slimlines in both timber and acrylic. Gave the pen intended for my fathers xmas pressie to my brother-in-law for his birthday because dad is away in New Zealand. Timber (Black Wattle) came from brother-in-law's property so it seemed an appropriate swap. Decided to do dads Sierra in Bull-Oke (Allocasuarina lehmanii) from timber off my property (it's a weed species to me).

To cut a long story short:

- 1st turning exposed a timber defect just before final sizing

Defects in the timber can look good when polished.

- 2nd turning chipped out near the bushing

Happens to all of us. Round the ends of the blank first and then turn the rest. Keep doing that all the way down and you shouldn't get a chip out at the end - unless it's burl Also only cut a little off at a time. Try and make it a short process by cutting off too much at a time and you will get a huge chip out. Could also be the tools not being sharp enough.

- 3rd try, I got distracted when cutting the blank and proceeded to cut the tube in half with the bandsaw

Lucky it was only a tube and not your finger. Bandsaws are dangerous toys.

- 4th try, noticed a huge crack in the blank just after gluing in the tube

It was probably in the timber all the time. Stop your lathe every so often and if you see a crack use thin CA to seal it before you turn again. Only takes a sec andcan actually give a good effect to the final product.

- 5th turning made it far enough to be fully assembled but I've just noticed a blemish in the CA finish

Is the blemish a ridge or a white spot? If it's a ridge - sand it off with some 150grit or 240 grit sandpaper, then a 600grit and some 0000 steel wool and start again with a few coats of CA. Ridges are caused by putting on too much CA at a time and not rubbing it down quickly and firmly enough with the paper towel (don't rub too much or the paper towel will stick). Paper towel can cause a blemish too if it begins to stick to the blank. If the blemish is white spot its either water (moisture) got into the CA or you didn't use the right accelerator for the CA,or didn't use any.

Just when I thought pens weren't too difficult, lesson learnt (still learning). Good thing I bought lots of Sierra tubes during a pre-xmas visit to Gary Pye.

Everyone goes through this Derek. It gets easier with practice - although a mistake can happen at any time. Turn slowly with very, very sharp tools. I use a Pen Pro turning tool that has a carbide tip that stays sharp for a very long time. 4 sides to it so you just rotate to the next one if one gets a little blunt. The Pen Pro and a parting tool are the only tools I use for any pen.

Keep up the good work and it will all come together.

Greg

The defect is a tiny white spot. I sanded longitudinally with 600 to remove any CA ridges (lesson learnt pre-xmas). Thanks all for the tip on recovering the tubes, they're cheap but still a waste if I can't recover them. Did touch-up the chisels on the grinder and strop prior to turning but still trying to improve my general sharpening techniques on chisels, blades, etc.

I've viewed DJs CA tutorial several times and must be doing something wrong, the CA sometimes weeps through the paper towel and sticks to the end of my finger. Burns like hell and now I've got a blister there, painfully funny

I'll try and post a pic tomorrow.

I think anyone who has turned for that 2 pens has experienced what you went through. Sometimes I just shut everything down & quit for the day when everything seems to go wrong.

My only advice is to keep the pieces you think are ruined & save them. There are lots of ways to fix things, and many of my "mistakes later became other projects. For example, my key chain is a barrel from a cigar that I messed up. And many others I just make an "OOOPS ring".

This pen below cracked at the top. I just turned off the cracke part, glued in a solid piece that matched the color. And it looks like I planned it. Of course it might have looked better if I'd done it on the other end too.

I think we have all had öne of those days" Bit dispiriting at times but all part of the learning curve.

Keep at it and good luck.

Derek

Couple of things I forgot to mention - memory failure

I use a higher grit sandpaper or 0000 steel wool to remove any scratch marks from the blanks then while the blank is turning I put metho on a paper towel and rub it over the pen. It dries almost instantly but removes any dust from the blank.

Having lost one fingerprint to a paper towel that glued to my finger and got a good CA burn into the bargain, I now wear disposable gloves when applying CA. A box of 100 can be bought at Coles or Aldi for less than $5. They stop the burns as the CA will not penetrate them and also stop your fingers gluing together or to something else.

Have a look at the CA demonstration on the Timberbits website How I apply 20 thin coats of CA as a finish « TimberBits Blog Its one of the better ones I have seen. There are a heap of instructional videos there that David has put on. Although I would not try using Glen 20 as an accelerator. Mitre Fix is by far the best.

Ah Derek, the joys early pen turning, you have brought back some memories

Originally Posted by plantagenon

...I now wear disposable gloves when applying CA... They stop the burns as the CA will not penetrate them and also stop your fingers gluing together or to something else...

The CA may not penetrate them initially, but they do melt with CA, so then you have melted rubber and CA on your work and fingers .

When using paper towels I always used a thick pen plastic kit packet underneath to help protect the fingers. These days I am using the closed end foam to apply the CA and I have even less issues with CA on the fingers. Unfortunately I have not come up with a solution to my clumsiness/stupidity, the main cause for CA on the fingers .

Off track, but will make others laugh - my latest trick was gluing up my steering wheel on the car I am selling due to a requirement of the safety certificate. I made small holes in the rubber and pumped some CA into them to glue the rubber back on the steel inner rim. Unfortunately one hole didn't go all the way to the steel, so after pumping in the CA and removing the small pressurised nozzle, the CA came spurting out again - all over my lap and legs under the wheel. Think of around 10mls of thin CA between your legs

I'm a pen turning newbie also, I also had a couple of pens chip out near the bushing over christmas, luckily they were no more than 3-4mm from the end, I salvaged mine by simply cutting the timber and tube shorter on the drop saw and removing the burr, just meant a slighly shorter pen

Bit of a sticky situation Neil. Did you have to penguin walk into the house with legs glued together.

You will have a hard spot on the steering wheel.

Here's the promised pic, it's a Dayacom Sienna Chrome Click kit from Gary Pye with a Bull-Oke turning. Not a bad looking blank for a tree I treat as a weed species.

Derekh

I started with pen turning and can related to some of the things you mention. As you have had these minor setbacks occur I can not see them happening again, something about Murphy Law?????

Keep at it as it does get better as you gain more knowledge.

Originally Posted by dai sensei

Ah Derek, the joys early pen turning, you have brought back some memories



The CA may not penetrate them initially, but they do melt with CA, so then you have melted rubber and CA on your work and fingers .

I use blue nitrile disposable gloves, they are more resistant to CA than the white latex gloves.

I can't really add anything here apart from agreeing we've all experienced the same or similar. Except CA between the legs.


Nice pen btw.