What a fantastic pen this kit turned out to be. The pen blank is Burl Tasmanian Myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii). I didn't think much of the blank but decided to make it because there was a defect in the blank which meant that I didn't want to sell it. As I approached the final cuts with the gouge, I stopped the lathe to check to see if was worthy of proceeding to the sanding phase. When the blank finally stopped spinning, what was revealed was spectacular. I filled a few of the crack and voids with thick CA glue mixed with some saw dust, put the last few cuts with a skew chisel before I started sanding process.
I sanded the blank to 800 grit sand paper then applied the CA finish. When the first few drops of the CA hit the blank, it magically changed colour from a very pale pink colour to this dark rich pink/purplish colour. Needless to say I was extremely impressed with the colour.
Again I applied my 20 thin coats of CA as a finish, then started to sand the blank down from 800 grit micro mesh to 12,000 grit. Buffed it down with Brasso then applied a layer of automotive wax.
I am very happy with this pen. It will probably be a permanent part of my personal collection of pen and pen kits.
Hope you like as much as I do.
