6 Tips For a Perfect Pen Turning Finish

even the best turned pens don't sparkle without the perfect finish master these six tips and you'll be on your way to pens that shine sanding through the grits with the lathe running will result in circular sanding marks on the blank often not visible until you apply the first coat of finish to prevent this stop the lathe after each grit and hand sand back and forth or end-to-end with the grain to remove the circular marks sand the length of the blank and wipe off the fine sanding dust with a clean cloth before moving to the next grit for a superb shine on acrylics or wood blanks finish with cyanoacrylate wet sand using the 9 grit micro mesh pads that range from 1,500 to 12,000 grit sanding at a speed of 500 to 750 rpms soaking the pads in water with the drop of soap lubricates a sanded surface minimizing heat buildup and slowing the collection of residue on the pad rinse the pads often when sanding to keep them wet and clean if you're a fan of slow drying finishes like polyurethane brush on lacquers epoxies or tung oil but hate the drips that can occur consider a slow speed pen blank drying system simply mount the mandrel to the motor slide the blanks onto the mandrel and apply the finish running at only 20 rpms the finish dries evenly without drips or runs let the finish dry overnight and apply additional coats if needed no matter how careful you are it's possible to leave a small amount of wood fibers finish or cyanoacrylate that overhangs the turned blank onto the adjacent bushing unfortunately this can't always be cleaned up on the lathe to eliminate a overhang remove the blank from the mandrel hold the blank at a slight angle to a piece of 400 or finer grit sandpaper twirl the blank and press lightly against the sandpaper this superfine sanding will create a micro bevel on the end of the barrel and remove the overhang consider something other than paper towels to apply cyanoacrylate to your pen blank paper towels are designed to absorb liquid not spread it using paper toweling to apply cyanoacrylate may end up wasting the finish in creating an uneven application a simple solution is to cut thin craft foam into 1-inch wide strips by about 6 inches long apply a drop of cyanoacrylate to one end of the craft foam with the lathe speed of approximately 1000 rpms move the craft foam back and forth across the pen blank for even distribution using both sides in both ends of the foam you can get 4 applications then cut about a half inch off each end and repeat use a small amount of finish per coat in a slower speed to prevent splatter always wear face protection and nitrile gloves when working with cyanoacrylate go the extra mile and create a pen with a superfine finish with high luster using the acrylic pen buffing system this system works great on acrylics and cyanoacrylate finished wood pens after sanding the turned pen parts to 12,000 grit insert the mandrel onto the lathe and add the cotton and flannel buffing wheels with the lathe running at about 1500 rpms apply the buffing compound to the cotton wheel keeping a firm grip on the pen blank polish the finished barrel with the cotton wheel and buff it smooth with a flannel wheel use light pressure for a glossy smooth finish mastering the superb finish takes a little extra effort but is guaranteed to make your pens a cut above the rest

Channel: Penn State Industries

Views: 28,801

Rating: 4.9483871 out of 5

Keywords: pen turning, pen making, woodturning, wood turning, pen kits, woodturning finishes, wood turning finishing techniques, pen turning tricks, pen turning finishes, pen turning finishing techniques, penn state industries

Id: W0XgAeXC65I

Length: 4min 16sec (256 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 30 2019