Thread: A wedding present

Looking good!!

Thats an awesome pair Greg, they should be well pleased, did you try out anything new on these two?

Neal.

Very nice ! they are a job well done

Cheers Ian

Very nicely made.

Well done. Rekon they will sign his death warrent easily. (lol)

Very nice
cookie it's only life

undies

That should top off there special day just nice. Well done

Wow! Two nice looking pens, you and the happy couple have to be happy with those ones

Thanks for your comments.

I think the pens were my best effort yet. Plenty of coats of CA followed by 6 coats of WOP and a lot of fine sanding. The quality of the pen kit helped a lot and being bigger tubes I thinked that helped too. It was a slow process but they collected them last night and are really happy with them. I won't be making too many of them as they are pretty expensive to buy and aren't practical to carry around due to their weight. However, for signing your life away at a wedding they are perfect.

Neal
I tried sanding on a lower speed on the lathe but it didn't cut the timber back at all. I think it might be the cheap quality of sandpaper I got from Bunnings so I will take your advice and order some from the Sandpaper man and see if that will help and it worked well on your lathe.

I was talking to a mate of mine today who is a boat builder and he recommended a two pack poly style grain sealer they use on timber in the boats to waterproof it. It seeps deeply into the timber and seals it totally - almost making it like a petrified wood while putting a basic shine on the timber. He reckons it will make the grain denser and never allow the timber to crack. It has to be used after the turning and initial sanding is done. You can get it from Bias or Whitworths boating supplies. CA and WOP will go over it without any problems. I will get some from Whitworths and give it a try on a pen to see how it works.

I blew out another blank at the final stages of turning. It was the last blank that I used CA on to glue the tube into the blank. I was annoyed as it was a Baron pen with two tubes so now I won't be able to match up the grains so it will be back to the beginning for both tubes. I think it was lack of preparation sanding the tube before I glued it. However, now I'm only using poly glue now to put the tubes in. A far slower process but the results have paid off for me so far.

Greg,

The difference between paper backed and cloth backed sandpapers is huge, the cloth have a longer life and as you saw cut well. It was a big change when i swapped over to em, haven't been able to fault the stuff yet. Kerry at The Sandpaper man is awesome to chat to if he has the time, knows his product (and us penturners) really well. Top bloke imho. Fielded my newbie questions without batting an eye.

I got about 1metre of each grade in the colour coded cloth backed, from 120 grit up to the 400 (thats all the colour coded go to) then i just use a wet and dry 600 then a wet and dry 800 by the sheet in paper backed.

The 2 part sealer sounds interesting, though i'm reluctant to add in another process when i haven't got the one i'm chasing down covered. Perhaps i'm being overly pedantic or critical of my own work, not sure. By all means give it a go and let us know how you get on with it.

I've not had a blank blow on me yet. touch wood (heh). I'm almost positive i will though one day. That's one part of my process i'm content with for now, so its open to change/modifying.

Neal.

Hi Neal

I just ordered the paper you suggested from Kerry. It should arrive early next week. Unfortunately, I can't get down there to pick it up so postage is the best way to go. I will try it out but it certainly worked well the other day and I might get a better, less scratchy finish with the paper lasting more than one sand.

I am not sure about the 2 pack poly sealer myself but I will give it a go once and see what happens. I have seen it used on timber in boats and as I said it almost turns it to petrified wood. There is no way it will ever crack or get moisture in but it might just be overkill. I will see if it expands the grain and allows a better finish. No way of telling until you try. If it doesn't work the rest will be a good sealer for the timber casing on the outside of the dust extractor box that I am going to have to build eventually (after I get a DE) .

Greg

At least with a blank blow out you don't end up in a ditch on the side of the road.

The wedding pens went over very well. The bride and groom used them to sign the register and as a result I managed to get a few more orders for my pens. It's just a matter now of finding the time to make them. I have quite a lot on the go at the moment in various stages of production as it seems easier just to do one phase at a time with multiple pens and then move onto the next stage.

Neal

I got the new sandpaper you recommended and its great I can now sand at 600rpm and cut the timber back much easier. Not only that - the higher grit sandpaper lasts for around 6 pens before I have to use new pieces; the lower grit paper hardly wears away. Great stuff from Kerry The Sandpaper Man.

Greg

Excellent stuff greg, glad to hear the tip is going good. When you were here i was slapping out the higher grits on the toolrest, every once in a while i'll fire up the air compressor and blow the higher grit numbers strips off of buildup, to get a little more longevity out of them. I'll bet it works out cheaper in the long run than the paper backed stuff.

Neal.