Thought I would share this with you guys.
I have heard and seen Les Elm method of dipping and I was interested in the fact of getting away from CA as a finish,.
See the link here of the method. http://content.penturners.org/library/techniques/minwaxfinish.pdf
Just for your info this is not the fast drying finish, that Les recommends as they wouldn't post that overseas.
So I purchased some and after around 3 weeks of waiting for it to arrive my grandson had made a couple of pens he wasn't happy with and said he would rip them off and start again, so rather than waste an opportunity I used one as a dipping method trial.
Results are below.
I am impressed by the quality and the look, its looks as good as CA finish in my opinion.
The Pros are its water based and doesn't seem to have any effect on me and doesn't really smell that bad either.
The finish looks as good and I sure the durability should be as good.
The only cons on this is the time and fiddly to get the finish, waiting for them to dry. in the UK temps I found that I had put the first couple of coats and it dried fairly quickly , but to do this in my opinion would need an overnight dry-out.
All in all if you have the time in my opinion its worth a try and I will use it again when I have a few pens to do to see how it goes on and if I can get a method together to speed it up or make it simpler.
Again, the big Pro on this is you don't have to put up with the smell and fumes of CA.
All in all thanks Les.
I have heard and seen Les Elm method of dipping and I was interested in the fact of getting away from CA as a finish,.
See the link here of the method. http://content.penturners.org/library/techniques/minwaxfinish.pdf
Just for your info this is not the fast drying finish, that Les recommends as they wouldn't post that overseas.
So I purchased some and after around 3 weeks of waiting for it to arrive my grandson had made a couple of pens he wasn't happy with and said he would rip them off and start again, so rather than waste an opportunity I used one as a dipping method trial.
Results are below.
I am impressed by the quality and the look, its looks as good as CA finish in my opinion.
The Pros are its water based and doesn't seem to have any effect on me and doesn't really smell that bad either.
The finish looks as good and I sure the durability should be as good.
The only cons on this is the time and fiddly to get the finish, waiting for them to dry. in the UK temps I found that I had put the first couple of coats and it dried fairly quickly , but to do this in my opinion would need an overnight dry-out.
All in all if you have the time in my opinion its worth a try and I will use it again when I have a few pens to do to see how it goes on and if I can get a method together to speed it up or make it simpler.
Again, the big Pro on this is you don't have to put up with the smell and fumes of CA.
All in all thanks Les.
