# Two Twisted Afzelia Burls On Jr Black Ti Retro!



## CharlesH (Jun 14, 2011)

Hey guys,

Here is two turned today!

Afzelia is AWESOME! I had two slabs eaten by worms which I made blanks with, very voidy, cracked everywhere, soft but really rewarding when turned right! I prefer non-stabilized wood because the CA glue gets deeper in the wood pores.

Thanks for looking and clicky the thumbnails!

Charles


----------



## JeffT (Jun 14, 2011)

Beautiful pen! Love that wod.


----------



## 76winger (Jun 14, 2011)

Great looking Pens!
I love Afzelia Burl too. Reminds me I gotta get some more ordered...


----------



## thewishman (Jun 14, 2011)

Beautiful! Your finish is awesome!


----------



## Drstrangefart (Jun 14, 2011)

Yeah. I aspire to finishes like that. One day.... It takes an awesome finish to steal focus from a burl like that.


----------



## Ruby pen turning (Jun 14, 2011)

Beautiful wood, picture and LauLau Retro my favorite pen of all pens.
I tried to do in Gimp, a picture like you have but have no idea what I was doing


----------



## patmurris (Jun 14, 2011)

Outstanding wood, curves, fit and finish! Really beautiful pens!

I must absolutely find some afzelia burl blanks!


----------



## el_d (Jun 14, 2011)

Excellent Charles!


----------



## CharlesH (Jun 14, 2011)

Hey guys,

Once again I had a few PMs regarding my finish. So I will post here what works for me in case it is useful for others.

When I am done  turning, at  least when I think I am done, I use a spare pair of new  bushings to check the  size, the one on the lathe are always a bit worn  up. The wood before finishing finishing is dry sanded through: 240, 400, 600, 1000 at 4000 RPM on the lathe johnnycnc's delrin  bushings. I usually take down the the blanks to just a hair under the new bushing size because my finish will take some thickness.

I highly suggest  that you guys get www.exoticblanks.com  sand papers and  you cut it in strips for dry sanding. I usually use a  1" strip of each grit  for a single barrel pen. When blank is properly  sanded, I clean the sanding dust  excess by rubbing a shop towel on the  blank from side to side while turning the  lathe by hand clock wise and counter clock wise. Sometimes I blow the blanks with a air compressor, this is important, you want to see the grain of your wood when finished.

Then I set my lathe to something around 1000 RPM, then I apply many coats of medium viscosity CA by turning by hand. I use shop towels which I cut in strips of   1 inch, I usually cut 3 pieces of it for a two barrel pen and I rub side to side without stopping and I do this for a few seconds. When you done a few pens you know when to stop before the shop towel sticks to the blank. After each coat I apply 2 push of accelerator on each barrel and I spray from  12-15" in the  direction of the blank while blowing  at my blank and I place my other  hand behind the blank so I feel if the  accelerator mist is hitting the  blank. Dark woods get cloudy really easily with  accelerator (for me) so  the less you use the better.

It is really important to check the blank after each coat to make sure nothing is trapped under, like a dust or something. After 4-5 coats of  CA glue I usually wet sand with black MM  of 3000 or finer, it really depends on  how I feel about the wood. With a dry shop towel you wipe off the water from sanding and make sure you  don't have any white fine dust in the  wood grain after sanding.

So I apply usually 15 to 30 coats by sanding and at some point you have a nice finish build up. I usually sand the ends of my blanks at about 8-10 coats to make sure it is square. I have good  lighting in  my shop, when I have a uniform finish and the ends of my blanks are   well coated I proceed to go with the next MM's and I finish with plastic  polish. I usually start sanding side to side when I am at grit 6000 and up then I apply the plastic polish with shop towels and I buff the  plastic polish with  paper towel.

I think I covered everything but if you have a question, ask away.

Charles


----------



## Drstrangefart (Jun 14, 2011)

CharlesH said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> Once again I had a few PMs regarding my finish. So I will post here what works for me in case it is useful for others.
> 
> ...



So, it looks like the main difference worth noting between your finish and mine is I just do 3 coats thin, 3 coats medium and stop unless there's a huge ****-up I gotta fix. But, that's a me problem. Good work on the dedication to finish.


----------



## boxerman (Jun 14, 2011)

Wow nice pen. You always turn some really nice pens.


----------



## PaulDoug (Jun 14, 2011)

Beautifully done.


----------



## Ironwood (Jun 14, 2011)

Thats an amazing looking pen, I love everything about it .

The finish is probably the best I have ever seen.


----------



## Dan26 (Jun 14, 2011)

I like everything about it. Great pen Charles!


----------



## OKLAHOMAN (Jun 14, 2011)

Charles as always great finish and Photos.....and your logo on your nail , nice touch.


----------



## Padre (Jun 14, 2011)

Really nice pens.  Amboyna and Afzelia..........my favorites.


----------



## burgerman (Jun 14, 2011)

Absolutely stunning pens!  Your CA finish is incredible!  Nice job.


----------



## Bellsy (Jun 14, 2011)

Hi Charles.............The finish is awesome and the fit is just as good. Now if only I could get the quality of photos your getting.

Dave


----------



## patmurris (Jun 15, 2011)

Thanks for sharing detailed explanations about your finish. One question if i may: as i understand you apply medium CA with the lath off, three coats, and then you wet sand with a rather fine grain before applying another round. In my rather short experience, medium CA leaves a lot of grooves that require thorough sanding after each layer. How do you manage three coats before sanding?


----------



## Ligget (Jun 15, 2011)

Love the wood figure and CA finish, the hand is a little distracting, just my 2 cents worth!


----------



## Tage (Jun 16, 2011)

All I can say is....Wow!  You nailed it.  Beautiful wood selection, compliments the kit perfectly.  Perfect proportions and finish.  Nice work!


----------



## wizard (Jun 16, 2011)

Charles, Stunning pens and photographs!!! Love the complex figuring of the wood and your finish is your usual outstanding trademark! Like Mark mentioned, IMHO the hand is a little distracting. Nevertheless, its your usual stellar work!! Regards, Doc


----------



## rizaydog (Jun 16, 2011)

Those pens are fantastic.  Great job on them.


----------

