Finishing Stabilized Pen Blanks

[matt999]

I am a new turner, and have been making some pens. I got my first batch of stabilized blanks and am ready to craft some pens with them. What should I do as far as sandpaper grits, etc. I want as shiny a finish as possible. On non-stabilized wood I have been sanding to 600 grit, then burnishing with shavings. Hut Crystal Coat next and then some wax. A satisfactory finish I believe. I bought the Hut PPP satin/gloss bars, but haven't gotten good results with that yet.

 

[Andrew]

Those stabilized blanks are as much resins as they are wood. They'll benefit from higher grits (the sky is the limit) without a doubt. I go to 2,000+ on stabilized, acrylic, corian and other plastics blanks and then start the buffing process with abrasive compounds ... whitening toothpaste. It not only polishes your teeth. And it comes in handy travel sizes too!


After the polishing, I just do a little carnauba wax buff and I'm done. Every once in awhile for these types of projects and materials, I'll do a lacquer based friction polish instead of the wax though. I do that more for the higher-end stuff and for the actual wooden materials.

 

[matt999]

Are those little squares of abrasive http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=084-1000 worth the money? I have a set of the non-woven pads (green, white, maroon, and gray)--how do they play in the abrasive/sanding/polishing process?

 

[oldgriz]

Yes they are definately worth it as is the MicroMesh kit ... both are great for finishing pens... especially the wetsanding that really gives a smooth glassy finish to stabilized blanks or CA finished blanks....