# Will it crack?



## CharlesH (Apr 9, 2012)

Hey guys,

For your viewing pleasure here is a snakewood Duke pen, coated with medium CA in 25 something coats.

In my experience, some of the Gent. Jr. pens I made cracked over time. I think it is related to the fact the amount of meat left on the tubes. On the other hand I never had a cigar pen crack with this wood.

I have sealed the end of the tubes with CA before doing my final finishing it, we'll see if it helps. 

As always clicky the thumbnails and enjoy the deepness of the wood!

Charles


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## ZanderPommo (Apr 9, 2012)

I love it, and I wish you luck my friend


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## Robert Sherlock (Apr 9, 2012)

Another Beauty!


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## MartinPens (Apr 9, 2012)

Would like to see it up close - and I hope it doesn't crack. That would certainly be the exception for that wood!
When I try to look at your photos on my iPad, they are alway really blurry. Not sure why that is - most other photo posts are just fine.

Great looking pen! Congrats and thanks for sharing it.

Martin

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner


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## renowb (Apr 9, 2012)

Dang that's nice!


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## hkstrongside (Apr 9, 2012)

CharlesH said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> For your viewing pleasure here is a snakewood Duke pen, coated with medium CA in 25 something coats.
> 
> ...


Do you use thin CA first before the Medium?  I used to run into cracking every now and then but I started beginning my CA coats with the thinnest stuff I could find so that it would soak into the wood as deep as possible, then I follow up with the medium to smooth it all out.


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## 76winger (Apr 9, 2012)

MartinPens said:


> Would like to see it up close - and I hope it doesn't crack. That would certainly be the exception for that wood!
> When I try to look at your photos on my iPad, they are alway really blurry. Not sure why that is - most other photo posts are just fine.
> 
> Great looking pen! Congrats and thanks for sharing it.
> ...



I've noticed many of my own photos look blurry when using Forum Runner on my iPad but fine through the Safari browser or other windows browsers. Not sure if it's related to my posting in Members photos then including those versus using the attach links, or just what.


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## bitshird (Apr 9, 2012)

Charles, I wish you the very best of luck with this pen, come to think of it all the cracking complaints do seem to have come from Jr's and such, I guess doing the cap for an El Grande or Harvest from Timberbits would be out of the question wouldn't it??
As usual your finish is spectacular, and I do enjoy seeing your work!!


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## CharlesH (Apr 9, 2012)

MartinPens said:


> Would like to see it up close - and I hope it doesn't crack. That would certainly be the exception for that wood!
> When I try to look at your photos on my iPad, they are alway really blurry. Not sure why that is - most other photo posts are just fine.
> 
> Great looking pen! Congrats and thanks for sharing it.
> ...



I have the same problem with forum runner. If you look on the desktop they should be fine. I think it is related to the way my pictures are linked to my site.

Charles


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## Texatdurango (Apr 9, 2012)

*Will it crack?

*Probably, but there is always the first time for anything.* 

*I made several over the years and they all finally cracked, some after a few weeks, some after a few months.  The last was a full size Emperor kit and it took almost a year and a half plus moving from humid Texas to low humid Arizona to finally force a crack... but it did.

I thought sealing the ends would stop condensation from entering around the component joints, maybe it worked, maybe that's what bought me the year and a half!
Post a photo again in 2013 and let us know how it's doing.* :wink:

*That's one wood I'll never use for a pen again, it's just not worth the aggravation as there are other woods and burls far more beautiful, like amboyna burl, without any of the headaches.


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## robutacion (Apr 9, 2012)

I don't have ant experience with that wood species, I have a few pen blanks in my collection but I never done anything with them and  I wonder, what would the wood do if was put through the 5.000 PSI commercial stabilization process...!

Would the wood cell structure change to the point that it would stop cracking...???  Possibly...!

Cheers
George


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## PenMan1 (Apr 9, 2012)

Sorry to say, Charles, but the question is not "will it crack?", but rather "when WILL it crack?". AND, the answer to "when will it crack?" is the day after you think you've finally made a successful snakewood pen.

Now, with all that whining, you just showed the prettiest finish on snakewood that I've seen. But, in my book, snakewood is the original "worthless wood"

Nice job, I hope yours is the exception!


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## thewishman (Apr 9, 2012)

Your pen looks GREAT! Snakewood cracks are very easy to repair. I save the dust from drilling and turning and pack it into the crack with thin CA. Then I use 320 grit sandpaper and get some dust to make a slurry, add a couple of drops of thin CA and the cracks disappear. Only after cracking and repair will I assemble and add a finish.

Good luck.


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## Robert111 (Apr 9, 2012)

A real beauty Charles!


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## johncrane (Apr 10, 2012)

Looks really nice Charles! just wondering is the wall thickness on the Duke like the cigar,or the the same as JR Series.


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## CharlesH (Apr 10, 2012)

Your probably right about the cracking, we can't stop the structural properties of a natural material.

Burls are awesome for sure but most of them are punky, voidy and uneven in term of density. I have a amboyna pen here and all the small little eyes in the burl started crackling. 

My point being every wood has it's character and this is why I turn, I like them all! 

To me, it's not only about look but the feel you get when you turn the pen. Turning is a therapy for me, snakewood is oily and so dense, it turns like butter. The experience is on par with lignum vitae which has a really nice vanilla scent.

I made tool handles out of snakewood 1-1/2" thick and it never moved and they were left in the garage. I shall make a peppermill in the near future, now that should be a more interesting project. 

C



Texatdurango said:


> *Will it crack?
> 
> *Probably, but there is always the first time for anything.*
> 
> ...


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## CharlesH (Apr 10, 2012)

Hey George,

Snakewood is quite popular as knife scale material.

I have read little but I do know they stabilize the scale, they are thin, I am not sure how possible it is to stabilize a thicker piece.

If we consider than Hard Maple is at 1450 on the janka scale and the snakewood is at 3800 ahead of jatoba, ipe, cumaru, african blackwood, ebony, cocobolo, it is REALLY dense. Not sure how it would be penetrated.

Charles



robutacion said:


> I don't have ant experience with that wood species, I have a few pen blanks in my collection but I never done anything with them and  I wonder, what would the wood do if was put through the 5.000 PSI commercial stabilization process...!
> 
> Would the wood cell structure change to the point that it would stop cracking...???  Possibly...!
> 
> ...


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## CharlesH (Apr 10, 2012)

johncrane said:


> Looks really nice Charles! just wondering is the wall thickness on the Duke like the cigar,or the the same as JR Series.



Exactly the same tubes are Jr. 

Yes I know, I am looking for trouble. 

C


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## flippedcracker (Apr 18, 2012)

How the heck do you get it so glossy?!?


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## Gilrock (Apr 19, 2012)

flippedcracker said:


> How the heck do you get it so glossy?!?


 
I once saw Charles document his finishing process...I dug up the post below.  There should be a warning label before attempting this process...you may go insane.   Seriously Charles...200-300 pictures to find one in focus?  I salute your patience.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f13...y-cocobolo-burl-89582/index3.html#post1317198


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## BRobbins629 (Apr 19, 2012)

That is a nice pen. Not sure if anyone has run this experiment, but in my opinion the reason most (not all) snakewood pens and other crack prone materials crack is due to the shrinkage of the material after drilling and the significant pressure applied to the blank when fittings are pressed in. It would be interesting to take several pieces of snakewood, drill and turn. I do know that if you turn the without tubes, they will shrink for a while until they stablize. I would like to see one made into a pen, and let it sit next to one where it is just drilled and turned without gluing to a tube. I'll bet the latter will not crack.  

Sucess rates with snakewood and other crack prone material can be greatly improved if you
1) Dill and turn the blank without gluing to tube.  Let sit for a few days.  Test to see if tube still fits. Likely it will be tight.  File it to where it is loose again.  Repeat until stable.

2) If using press-in fitttings, either file/sand them down or ream out the brass tube such that thay are a slip fit and glue them in rather then press them in.


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## stolicky (Apr 19, 2012)

Pretty sure there are two type of snakewood.  One that has cracked and one that will crack...

Nice finish.


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## Donovan's Corner (Apr 19, 2012)

I stopped using snakewood.  I lost too many pens.  It bothers me to have to scrap something so beautiful so I use snakewood for decorative finials or hair sticks.  I hope yours doesn't crack...


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