these look great, thank you for showing them and posting the link
Both very nice. I've got one GW's blanks to do for the wife but I keep putting it off as I hate doing a CA finish. I've done 2 this week just because of cracks in the wood after turning and on both occasions it lifted away from the blank when I assembled the pen. Unless anyone has any tips on something else I can use to finish a GW blank?
what grit are you sanding to? when CA lifts its usually a sign of old CA or too fine a grit so it cant adhere well, i stop at 600grit then apply CA.
you can use a number of different finish's, acrylic lacquer works well as does melamine let them cure then gently buff to a satin or very high gloss shine, another option is just buffing which i use 3 mops for then ren wax.