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Newbie Q: finish for stabilized junk wood pens?

1440 Views 2 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Snowbeast
I have some sentimental "junk wood" that I would like to turn into a dozen or so pens.
I cut the wood into somewhat oversized pen blanks, and sent a few samples to a professional stabilizing company (K&G Finishing Supplies in AZ).

When I say junk, I REALLY mean junk. I expect a better description of what I get back will be some of the wood embedded in a plastic like compound.
The blanks took still more in the second round.

K&G says on their website the "Stabilizing is the process of impregnating wood/material with a chemical formula made up of monomers and acrylics"

I have never turned acrylic blanks of any type.

MY QUESTION: How should I finish these pens. I would like to end up with a hard durable surface with a fairly high gloss. I have no idea if they will turn out looking nice: I hope so but the sentimental issue is the point of all this. If the answer is "just finish it like one does for regular acrylic blanks" I can find plenty of info on that online. But is there something different I need to do (or avoid) for this sort of stablized junk wood.

Thanks, and be gentle to this newbie
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If you need a finish I would use super glue, Cyanoacrylates. Use the medium thick type for a bit slower drying and apply while the piece is still on the lathe. There also are "polishes" for acrylics if you want a shinier look without adding a top finish coat.
Go over to www.penturners.org and look through the Finishing forum. LOTS of great info over there.

Been quite a while since I've done any serious pen turning or I would make more specific suggestions.
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