How do you do it ?

[bradthenailer]

I have a question for you professional pen turners (Doug, Mannie).

When you put your CA finish on, are you spinning it between centers, or on a mandrel with bushings?

The reason I ask is...

I have no problem getting a nice finish either way, but I run into two problems.

With mandrel and bushes, I get nice clean sharp edges, but sometimes the CA chips when I remove the bushes that are usually glued to the pen. How do you avoid this?

I can avoid the chips by applying the CA finish between centers, but I don't get the nice clean sharp edge I get with I apply it between bushings.

So, is the trick to apply the CA finish between centers, and then sand it and polish it up between bushings so you end up with a crisp clean edge?

[woodmangler]

I'm not Doug or Mannie... but I will give ya my dos centavos anyhoo...

One thing that solved a lot of problems for me was to stop pouring CA on... once I switched to putting the CA on a paper towel and applying that way I ceased having problems with stuck bushings, chipping, etc.

I have a piece of 220 grit sitting on my bench... and when I take the blank off the lathe and remove the bushings I stand the blank on end and rub it in circles on the sandpaper....

Hope this helps...

[monty]

Nov 22, 2009 17:17:12 GMT -6 @bradthenailer said:

I have a question for you professional pen turners (Doug, Mannie).

When you put your CA finish on, are you spinning it between centers, or on a mandrel with bushings?

The reason I ask is...

I have no problem getting a nice finish either way, but I run into two problems.

With mandrel and bushes, I get nice clean sharp edges, but sometimes the CA chips when I remove the bushes that are usually glued to the pen. How do you avoid this?

You can somewhat avoid this by scoring between the bushing and the blank with a razor blade or an exacto knife. Do this with the lathe off ond turn the blank on the lathe by hand.

Nov 22, 2009 17:17:12 GMT -6 @bradthenailer said:

I can avoid the chips by applying the CA finish between centers, but I don't get the nice clean sharp edge I get with I apply it between bushings.

So, is the trick to apply the CA finish between centers, and then sand it and polish it up between bushings so you end up with a crisp clean edge?

The trick here is to take your barrel trimmer (I assume you have one) and a piece of sandpaper slightly larger than your trimmer. Reverse the trimmer on the shaft so the solid side is facing out. Punch a 1/4" hole in the center of your sandpaper and glue it to the face of your trimmer and trim off the edges to make it round. Now use this and sand the ends of the pen barrels flush with the tubes.

[Doug B]

Brad, I have eliminated the problem completely by using Delrin (plastic) bushings while applying the CA finish. You can turn your own bushings or buy them pre-made for you. IAP has a couple of guys who supply Delrin and/or the bushings.

But I don't have bushings for all my pen kits so I still have issues sometimes. I have had less problem with CA chipping out since I started using BLO immediately following applying the CA - I think that maybe the bushings get some BLO on them which helps prevent sticking.

I always apply CA/BLO on the mandrel, spinning at slowest speed, using a paper towel. Then increase the speed while still applying the towel - this is the tricky part - until just before the CA sticks to the towel. Then apply the BLO to the blank also using a paper towel, at the increased speed until the CA cures enough to handle increasing the speed to almost full speed. Again that takes some experience figuring out when the right time is to increase the speed. This all only takes about 20 - 30 seconds per coat of CA.

I usually apply 1 coat of thin CA as the first coat and sometimes I apply that coat from above the slowly spinning blank with the paper towel under the blank - this has to be done very quickly or the paper towel will stick. Then I apply 4 coats of medium CA with the CA placed on the paper towel and then wiped on the blank.

And of course there are always exceptions - you have to get a feel for how the CA is reacting.

I know that was kinda long winded, and it is really just to make sure you know how I am doing it in case there is something in that process that is helping to keep the bushings from sticking. But, what I think is the most important thing I do to keep from getting chipped CA on the ends when removing from the mandrel is this: betweeen each and every coat of CA I stop the lathe and loosen the mandel nut just enough to break the bushings loose from the barrels. If I can't do that easily by hand, then I will do like Monty and use a very sharp exacto knife or box cutter to score the CA at the bushings turning by hand. Then, I usually can break the bushing loose without the CA chipping.

So, I think the short and sweet answer for you may be to break the bushings loose after each coat of CA

[bradthenailer]

It almost sounds like the trick to doing this is the same trick for putting on a CA finish. " Keep trying different ways until you find what works best for you".

Thanks for the replies!

[Joe Lyddon]

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