Thread: More Woodcraft Display Pens

Gotta love a good mango. Nice finish on them as well.

Neal.

Good work, really beautiful pens, Amos

nice i particuarlly like the ebony one

G day mate,

Like the effect of your new magic formula looks like another cut of French Polish whatever it works well giving a golden glow.

The Ebony gives you as much stick as it does me, extremely hard to both finish and photograph, also it is dynamite to drill and sand. Your pen is great and I agree about the girth however I am not used to thicker pens as these kits seem to require.

Mangoes are best consumed in a bath but agree they have magnificent grain at times with huge depth much like Aussie Blackwood.

Thanks for your pens, kits and pics.

Kind regards Peter.

Nice I do like mango.
David

Top pens there Ron!!

Great finishes on them too!

Hey Ron

Awesome pens love that mango one awesome stuff well done

Ian

Thanks all for your welcome comments ...

Peter said ... "Like the effect of your new magic formula looks like another cut of French Polish whatever it works well giving a golden glow."

To show my ignorance I don't know what 'French Polish' is but the base of this is a product called Defthane.

I took a 1" square piece of pine and dipped it in the mixture and there was 90% penetration. With the Mango there was 80% ... I need to find some Japan Drier here locally to speed up the drying time.

Hi Ron,

Shellac is sold as flakes that are purified secretions of the Lac beetle dissolved in Alcohol (Methylated Spirits) in different so called cuts ie amount of choice of coloured flakes to alcohol. Makes a lovely seaing coat initially. An altogether ancient and current method for fantastic finishes.

Sold for pen makers in differing names.

Kind regards Peter.

Originally Posted by Penpal

Hi Ron,

Shellac is sold as flakes that are purified secretions of the Lac beetle dissolved in Alcohol (Methylated Spirits) in different so called cuts ie amount of choice of coloured flakes to alcohol. Makes a lovely seaing coat initially. An altogether ancient and current method for fantastic finishes.

Sold for pen makers in differing names.

Thanks Peter ... I knew what shellac flakes are as I see them at Woodcraft but not how they are used.

When I did a pen turning demo at Woodcraft they didn't have any Sanding Sealer open so I used some Shellac and it did add a warm color to the timber.

I'm going to step out on a limb here and assume that 'Methylated Spirits' is what we on this side of the pond would refer to as Denatured Alcohol.

Ron,
Safe stepping it is indeed the same material, a known product from Ubeaut is Shellawax sold as a sanding sealer, a little Googling re sealing turnings with Shellac finishes should give months of reading. I am very aware that some finishes create havoc with light coloured timbers eg Huon Pine, it is hard to maintain the original colours, Shellac comes in colours ready mixed of differring cuts for that reason. Talking to furniture makers also can be revealing. I have a mate who makes beaut document boxes using up to 26 coats of French Polish also Bud Vases turned same 26 coats and same number or more basic timbers in them later today (off to church in a while) I will post some of his boxes and bud vases shown at a Working With Wood show one time the boxes sell for 10.000 dollars upwards and the small bud vases at6-7 hundred dollars plus. I will also show a piece of Huon Pine Burl about 7 feet tall 10 inches wide and 4 plus inches through complete Burl. This same mate had it for 25 yrs with others and sold it to another mate who was at an art show when I grabbed a quick pick, guarateed to make your mouth water. He the box maker uses rare and outstanding timbers only.

Kind regards Peter.

Nice pens, great finish. well done.

Ron,

Couple of pics as promised.

Regards Peter.

Originally Posted by Penpal

Ron,

Couple of pics as promised.

Regards Peter.

Thanks Peter ... awesome