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Post by maverick31 on Dec 22, 2009 22:29:15 GMT -6
well tonight I went to make a majestic jr pen, started out with a red maple burl blank and when I was drilling it out the bottom 1/2 blew out, rendering it useless. I bought one red/one blue. So I figured I would try the blue one. I was going ok until it was fully round and then I noticed it had some major tear out. I switched tools and finished it up. as I was removing the bushings the cap end cracked about 3/4 inch long. Anyone else have any problems with these. They are reall pretty except they break all apart. I am likely doing something wrong but this has not ever happened before. I guess this is not the first time I have chunked 15 bucks in the trash
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Doug B
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Post by Doug B on Dec 22, 2009 23:10:09 GMT -6
Wood being wood, it sometimes does stuff like that. However, 2 of them doing that...I think you got a bad batch of dyed Maple burl. Was it stabilized too? or just dyed?
I really can't think of any Maple I've had that problem with whether burl, spalted or natural.
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Post by maverick31 on Dec 22, 2009 23:34:44 GMT -6
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Doug B
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Post by Doug B on Dec 22, 2009 23:50:24 GMT -6
Man oh man, that was some kinda good looking wood...too bad it blew up on ya. Stabilized wood has been some of my favorite to turn and it has always been very...well...stable. That is what stabilizing it is supposed to do, ain't it?
I'm thinking you got a bad batch of stabilized blanks. It might be worth calling to see if they will make good on them...can't hurt to ask.
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Post by maverick31 on Dec 22, 2009 23:55:37 GMT -6
I might, the red one was warped pretty bad and it was more of a diamond shape vs square. If I have time at work, I will call them tomorrow to see what they say. I guess it cant hurt.
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Post by sachbvn on Dec 23, 2009 7:41:43 GMT -6
I would call, 'cept - they are likely to tell you that you were doing something wrong, the tools weren't sharp enough, yatta yatta.... I'd honestly guess it was something wrong with that batch. I agree - this sucks because that blue was beautiful!! Probably the red too, but it didn't make it out of the drilling stage  I've used two amboyna burl blanks....one turned totally fine - the other had all sorts of nasty tear out and blew while on the lathe..... I treated them the same on the lathe.... I think sometimes the wood is just of the PITA variety. When drilling.... what type of bit are you using? I use all brad point, except when drilling holes for a flashlight blank - the bit that goes with the kit was back ordered so I just used the regular twist bit for it.... the first blank I split right in half (top to bottom) when I tried to exit the hole. The second attempt - I cut the blank extra long, drilled all but the bottom tid bit - took the blank back and trimmed the non-drilled end off to size. That method oughtta take care of any problems you have if you are splitting stuff as you are finishing up drilling the hole. Zac |
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Post by triplefreak on Dec 23, 2009 10:04:34 GMT -6
I'd call them & complain. I ordered some tool rests from them a few months back. They looked like some kid in a 3rd world country welded them up. I sent them right back & demanded a full refund, including s&h.
I got it, but only after 3 more phone calls.
The only way I'll order from them now is if I'm desperate, or no one else sells it.
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Joe Lyddon
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Post by Joe Lyddon on Dec 23, 2009 13:06:30 GMT -6
Yep... at least call them to let them know what happened...
... bad batch of wood... = No Sale...
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Post by maxwellsmart007 on Dec 23, 2009 15:11:06 GMT -6
Honestly, I would say that tearout at the bushings like that is almost always caused by a catch, usually due to tools being duller than they should be...
Stabilized wood is not really wood - it's acrylic filling in the pores, so it results in it acting more like any acrylic than wood - that blowout at the bushing is symptomatic of acrylic turning with less than extremely sharp tools...
Looked great otherwise, though!
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rhull
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Post by rhull on Dec 23, 2009 17:16:59 GMT -6
Honestly, I would say that tearout at the bushings like that is almost always caused by a catch, usually due to tools being duller than they should be... I've had similar problems when my tools were dull, particularly in cases where I didn't have enough glue on the tube (particularly the leading end of the tube). Without good glue coverage holding the edge tight to the tube, once you get the edge that thin, it doesn't take but a tiny bit of grain going in the wrong direction to take a chip right off. |
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Post by maverick31 on Dec 23, 2009 19:15:18 GMT -6
lets see,
When drilling.... what type of bit are you using? ----the ones that came with the majestic jr starter kit, one is a brad point the other is not.
----
I'd call them & complain. I ordered some tool rests from them a few months back. They looked like some kid in a 3rd world country welded them up. I sent them right back & demanded a full refund, including s&h.
I got it, but only after 3 more phone calls.
The only way I'll order from them now is if I'm desperate, or no one else sells it.----I have not had any problems with them before. I was super busy today at work and did not call them. I am on vacation next week so I will call then
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Honestly, I would say that tearout at the bushings like that is almost always caused by a catch, usually due to tools being duller than they should be...
Stabilized wood is not really wood - it's acrylic filling in the pores, so it results in it acting more like any acrylic than wood - that blowout at the bushing is symptomatic of acrylic turning with less than extremely sharp tools...
Looked great otherwise, though! ---no catches, I sharped tool before I started turning(I am not that great at sharpening to be honest with you though. I used a thompson gouge)
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I've had similar problems when my tools were dull, particularly in cases where I didn't have enough glue on the tube (particularly the leading end of the tube). Without good glue coverage holding the edge tight to the tube, once you get the edge that thin, it doesn't take but a tiny bit of grain going in the wrong direction to take a chip right off. ---I think this is my culprit too. tubes were tough to push in and a lot of the glue came out the top
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Doug B
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Post by Doug B on Dec 23, 2009 21:28:36 GMT -6
Clay, this may seem a bit anal, but, I hate losing a blank so much that I am almost superstitious about my blank prep before turning. It is probably a bunch of crap and luck is probably the most important thing in blank prep, but here are some of the things I do: I only use 15 minute 2 part epoxy to glue the tubes in the pen blanks After drilling a pen blank, I blow all the dust out of the tube - just a quick puff like shooting a pea shooter - you will see the dust come blowing out I use 220 or 240 sandpaper to rough up the brass tubes sanding by rotating the tube with one hand while folding the sandpaper over the tube - this makes circular grooves on the brass tube for the glue to hang onto I always apply the epoxy directly to and completely covering the entire brass tube I insert the tube into the pen blank using a twisting motion I extend the brass tube about a quarter inch past the end of the blank and apply more epoxy on that exposed quarter inch of tube before pushing the tube back into the blank After using a barrel trimmer to square the ends of a blank there will be a shallow well into which I pour a little thin CA glue to stabilize the wood right at the end of the tube On difficult materials I will round off the corners of the blank using a Band Saw before placing the blank on the lathe I use an adjustable mandrel and only turn one barrel at a time - a short mandrel will flex a lot less than a long one I use a chamfer tool to remove any burrs on the inside of the tube and to put a slight bevel on the tube to aid in pressing in the pen kit hardware I use a round file to remove any glue that may have gotten into the inside of the tube during glue up Before assembling the pen, I say a short penturners prayer and cross myself 3 times (even though I am not Catholic - I saw Tuco do that in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" so I figure it can't hurt for me to do it  ) Now with all that said...stabilized blanks should not need to have all that done, only very unstable ones. I usually do it just out of habit, and for superstitious reasons But, if you are concerned about the glue up, then maybe some of that will be helpful. P.S. Even after doing all of that, I still get blow ups sometimes...wood is such a fickle thing to work with And you lost one blank while drilling - I still think you got a bad batch of stabilized wood, or had really, really bad luck. I'd still call to see how they react...sometimes you will get "Yes, that has been happening to other people as well and we will refund/replace those defective blanks for you". You just never know unless you try. |
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Post by maverick31 on Dec 24, 2009 7:09:11 GMT -6
thanks doug, I think gluing the blue one up is were I went wrong. I ran out of epoxy glue and just used thick ca on this one. I was in a hurry since christmas is almost here. The red blank is actually in a diamond shape and it was bowed in the middle. I am going to call them one day next week. I am gonig to play the question angle. like Im wondering how I can prevent this in the future. I will see what they say. Really I am not out any personal money on these blanks so its not that big of a deal if they don't send out any freebies. I think the red one was crap and the blue one was my fault. so we will see what they say
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Post by maverick31 on Dec 25, 2009 22:56:18 GMT -6
well i did some experimenting with glueing up pen blanks yesterday. did 2 part epoxy and gorilla glue, both worked succesfully. No problems with blanks cracking or coming apart. Although The few times I used thick ca I only had this blank and 1 other one blow up/crack on me.
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