Cracked Blanks

[Jim]

If you recall a short time ago i posted up that a pen i made a while ago had cracked, it was a Brown Mallee blank. Today the D.I.L asked me if i had a pen in a wood with some nice grain for a work colleague of hers. I scrounged round the lean-to as it is full of all my stuff from the shed, i managed to pull out a case with some pens in it. She pulled out another Brown Mallee pen from the same batch of blanks and pointed out a split .. I never thought that this wood was prone to cracking like this, i have a few more of these blanks but i won't be putting them on any more pen kits that is for sure. Both pens were finished friction polish.

Here are both the pens showing the cracks ..

 

[Kardav]

Maybe that's the problem Jim, getting too warm applying the Friction Polish? Just a thought.

 

[Jim]

Maybe that's the problem Jim, getting too warm applying the Friction Polish? Just a thought.

I thought the same Dave, but it is the same process that i use on all pens when giving them a friction finish ..

 

[stevenw1963]

take them apart & fill with brass or copper powder Jim??

 

[Terry]

I have been busy making up a Pristina in Brown Mallee. I only hope it is not from the same batch as yours Jim !!!! lol

 

[Woody]

I agree with Steven brass powder it will look like veins of gold with that dark wood more so the first two photos

 

[Neil Lawton]

I haven't checked but I don't think that Mallee is native to a lean to in Yorkshire!

Could be due to expansion as well as contraction? Keep the finished pens in the house.

As Steven says, powder may be the answer. I have some sintered Aluminium that would go with the chrome kit, if you want some Jim.

 

[Woody]

Even Iron powder it will look like a natural marking in the wood or charcoal both will finish black

 

[brody2123]

Blimey Jim, that's some severe cracking going on. Never had that with Mallee, and I finish them the same as you have definitely would look at fillers though

 

[billyb_imp]

Two cracking pens there Jim

But seriously ive never had this problem as bad as that, interesting to see what some of our more experienced members make of it

 

[Jim]

To be honest i had doubts that it was actually Brown Mallee, still am ..

 

[Buckeye]

I have got quite a few mallee pens and none have cracked so far, but they are all with CA, just throw all your Mallee blanks over to me, I will buy them if they came from timberbits.

Peter

 

[paulm]

I've had a few pens that have moved once they've been brought indoors Jim and had to take them apart and re-finish but not had a split like that. With the blanks you have left it would probably be worth bringing them indoors for a while to ensure all the moisture has gone before turning them.

 

[chas_41_uk]

That's a real shame Jim, but I think the idea of brass powder in the crack would be an excellent rescue

 

[donwatson]

That's not a nice thing to happen but I think the Brass filling should recover it.

 

[Penpal]

Jim I am very sad you have suffered with that so called Brown Mallee I have handled thousands of Brown Mallee would still have many many years old blanks I have never had a split in my entire handling of this Mallee it is so stable and dead easy to work with. sometimes tough. I have often wondered since I have not spent extended time in the UK what conditions are really like as far as storage and use of our timbers. A policy I have though is I cull almost 100% of doubtful blanks and never work with damp or wet blanks mostly they are cut and dried naturally and stored for quite a while before use. My biggest single problems coming from burl timber is inclusions of bark etc endemic in Huon Pine Burl and others. My Burl mate down the road has cut hundreds of thousands of blanks over the years and wholesales around the world nevr heard a comeback on Brown Mallee. I am finding in my older collection split blanks occassionally of different timbers they all go in the bin.

Peter.

 

[wm460]

If you have more of these blanks finish them with CA.

 

[Jimjam66]

If you have more of these blanks finish them with CA.

Not to sound like a CA fanboy but I think Mark hit the nail on the head there. The CA will bind the timber and reduce the possibility of a post-finishing split to just about zero.

 

[Woody]

Sorry Dave but if a bit of wood is going to split a ca finish wont stop it from happening as you all know I only ever use a polish finish on my pens and I have never had a Mallee pen split on me but I have seen large Mallee burrs with splits in them I thing Jim it is just down to bad luck mate we have all had the odd dodge bit of wood that misbehaves

 

[silver]

What a bu@@er. sas to see them split.

Only ever turned brown male one and never had it do any splitting.

I agree with Grandad on the one, ca won't stop it cracking.

I have had kingwood split on me and that had a million coats of ca..

I like the brass filling idea Jim.