A "Secret Sauce" blank takes it's turn

[DaveO]

From the mad chemistry lab of Jeff.. to the lathe o' experimentation went one of the blanks ala "Secret Sauce". This thing had the most wild spalting I've ever seen in something that was solid. And it had bug holes in it bigger than my shop. I filled the bug holes with a dark purple plastic casting resin. Let it set over night, and proceeded to turn it. A few punky spots were found as I got deeper into the blank along with an additional worm hole, both were stabilized with CA and a little lathe dust.
And here is the result - Extreme Spalted Wormy Curly Sycamore black enamel modified slimline.

Another view

Another pen squeaked it's way out of my shop today, got to love snow days :eusa_danc :eusa_danc :eusa_danc

African Blackwood with my attempt at the Marines scarlet and gold colors out of Pau Amarillo and Bloodwood. Finished in a satin lacquer for a soft sheen. Black enamel modified slimline.

Thanks for looking. Comments/critiques welcomed.

Dave

 

[yellofins]

Cool Pen Dave.
That came out excellent. Jeff's mad scientist blanks look great.
I like the finish on the second pen also.
Ron

 

[jeff...]

So it worked 8-O? Both those pens are awesome :icon_thum

 

[clowman]

Nice work Dave. I got my expermental blank the other day. I can't wait to turn it. Just got to get a little warmer for me to venuture out in the cold garags.

 

[MikeH]

Nice pens Dave! :eusa_clap Now can you tell us more about the sauce Jeff? :drunken_s

 

[DaveO]

So it worked 8-O?

The proof is in the puddin' or in this case the "sauce". I don't know how soft they were before being marinaded, but after, they turned like any of the other Sycamore I've turned. I did find that the sauce didn't penetrate the entire blank, and found some unstable areas near the center...but they were easily fixed with some thin CA.
You done good Jeff...


Dave

 

[DaveO]

Nice work Dave. I got my expermental blank the other day. I can't wait to turn it. Just got to get a little warmer for me to venuture out in the cold garags.

Wimp, where's your devotion, have you started to slide back uphill 8-O 8-O :lol: :lol: :lol:
72° and slightly humid in my shop. Wait a few days it will be back in the 70's again :lol: :lol: :icon_thum

Dave

 

[jeff...]

I did find that the sauce didn't penetrate the entire blank, and found some unstable areas near the center...but they were easily fixed with some thin CA.

Dave

Ready to test the 2nd batch? I sauced them under pressure. I'm shooting for sauce penetration of the entire blank. I still don't know what to do about the bug holes. I think some folks might like em like swiss cheeze; they could be creative how they fill them, like you were.

This part of the sycamore is pretty punky like a soft sponge. I could compress it with my fingers. But, I couldn't bring myself to toss the chunks because the wood was so cool looking.


I still can't believe it didn't fly apart on the lathe. Thanks very much for taking the time and turning the blank; this has built a little more confidence in making blanks out of some real punky wood. Punky wood like this is where the most interesting colors and figure is, least in my opinion.

Still having a hard time believing it worked.

 

[DaveO]

Jeff...90% of it was as solid as could be. I have become very good at repairing catches, gouges, flying chunks and general F-ups with CA and the shavings off the bed of the lathe. I place a clean cloth underneath the turning to catch all my repair stock (thanks Nick for the tip).
If this stock was as punky as you say then you did an excellent job in stabilizing it. It will only get better once applied under pressure.
I would leave the worm holes, but let folks know how extensive they are. There is a lot of room to add decorative inlay material like Inlace, crushed stone, certain metal, plastics ... Oh, the fun that could be had.
When you next batch is ready, I will be more than willing to give it a spin test. It's some outstanding wood, and makes some of the most unique pens I've ever turned.
Thanks for letting me share in your alchemy:-D :-D

Dave

 

[jeff...]

The way you segment your pens amazes me. I know it's more than just gluing some small chucks of wood together. Because you gotta have the foresight to imagine what it will look like once its round, then talent to make it happen. The Marines scarlet and gold pen looks like it's a Marines pen, great job :icon_thum

Have you be secretly been taking lessons from Eagle? :-D

I have the next batch ready - I'll get a few in the mail to you - see if these are better stablized

 

[ChrisMathes]

Yah, Dave, that's gorgeous. The black spalting is so striking against the creamy brown wood. That, coupled with the figure/chatoyance makes for some beautiful wood. I can't wait to get mine. I think I will 'try' to make a thicker pen...I think that will show off the wood a little more. I guess it depends on how 'holey' the blank is. Anyway, nice pen, nice fit, nice finish..well done!

OK..so lacquer!?!? Wow...trying some new things..cool... What did you think? I have not tried lacquer except on some bottle stoppers. Did it go on evenly? did you sand/mm between coats? How many coats?...etc...etc...

...oh...I like the background, too. Eagle was right...showing off the pen now...nice job!

Chris

From the mad chemistry lab of Jeff.. to the lathe o' experimentation went one of the blanks ala "Secret Sauce". This thing had the most wild spalting I've ever seen in something that was solid. And it had bug holes in it bigger than my shop. I filled the bug holes with a dark purple plastic casting resin. Let it set over night, and proceeded to turn it. A few punky spots were found as I got deeper into the blank along with an additional worm hole, both were stabilized with CA and a little lathe dust.
And here is the result - Extreme Spalted Wormy Curly Sycamore black enamel modified slimline.

Another view

Another pen squeaked it's way out of my shop today, got to love snow days :eusa_danc :eusa_danc :eusa_danc

African Blackwood with my attempt at the Marines scarlet and gold colors out of Pau Amarillo and Bloodwood. Finished in a satin lacquer for a soft sheen. Black enamel modified slimline.

Thanks for looking. Comments/critiques welcomed.

Dave

 

[cskipper]

Great looking pensQ I'm curious about how many coats, sanding... about the lacquer too.

 

[b4man]

Dave,
I'm always excited to see your creations. I love the art in your work and the science always impresses me. You are one talented dude!

 

[Eaglesc]

Great Job on both the pens and the photography.
What I really appreciate is you did not go overboard filling the occlusions.
At one time it would drive me crazy to fill every little speck and void(not including sanding marks) the same thing with antler(the punky part).
One day it struck me.The reason I don't like cheap paneling is because it is made to look"perfect" each panel looks the same in the same spot.
Nature isn't that way and God didn't make each piece of wood the same.
Who am I to add plastic colors, tourquoise, and sawdust into what mother nature already made?
Yes I do dye woods,but I usually do that that with plain drab pieces using them as a pallet.
Sticking a chunk of tourquoise in an otherwise brown piece of wood turns me off as far as the finished piece is concerned.
I can still admire the workamnship and the finish but adding something just because someone knows how to do it sometimes doesn't look right to me.
Excellent! :eusa_clap

 

[DavidF]

Those are wonderful Dave. When I grow up I want to be as good as good as that:lol:

 

[NZAPP1]

Nice work Dave :icon_thum I hope to turn the one I have today more to follow:eusa_danc

 

[DaveO]

OK..so lacquer!?!? Wow...trying some new things..cool... What did you think? I have not tried lacquer except on some bottle stoppers. Did it go on evenly? did you sand/mm between coats? How many coats?...etc...etc...



Chris

Chris, I tried the lacquer because I wanted a low gloss finish, something I didn't think that I could get using my normal CA schedule. It's Satin Deff rattle can lacquer, I applied about 6 coats while spinning at a high speed on the lathe. It layed down really well, I smoothed it out with the last 3 MM grits and some brown paper bag. I would have like to rub it out more, but I was afraid to bring on a higher gloss by doing that. I still think that I like a CA finish because it builds faster, applies faster and can be sanded down to a glass like surface. I think that it would have taken me a very long time to build a lacquer coat that I could sand out like the CA.
I have done one other pen in lacquer (gloss) before I started using CA, and just didn't get the grain fill that I would like to see. Possibly if I used a sanding sealer before hand, I might have?

Dave

 

[ChrisMathes]

Interesting... I know Eagle really likes the lacquer finish and prefers that over CA on his high end pens. I have played VERY LITTLE with it, but did prefer the CA over the lacquer....maybe that is just my neophyte eye...unable to appreciate the difference...but probably more than likely that I just didn't 'finish the finish' correctly with the lacquer.

Chris

 

[sapwood]

Great penmanship Dave! :eusa_clap

Roger

 

[jeff...]

Dave, I dropped another blank in the mail today. This one is from batch two, sauce under pressure. It has just a few small bug holes and was the most solid one I had, although it was just as punky as the others. I figure if this one stabilized then the rest should be good. I'm mainly interested if there are still punky spots in near the center of the blank. I'm trying to stabilize the wood, but still have it soft enough to work and be hard as a rock. Thanks for taking time to give it a spin test.