Leadwood problems.

[Chriscb]

Evening ladies and gentlemen,

Doki oki, here I was turning some leadwood for the omega's attached and all was well. Process to get me there was pretty normal.
Drilled out to the correct diameter, very slowly and with great care. Tubes fitted well, not too tight but snug. Glued with 5 minute epoxy and began turning.

Got to the sanding stage and noticed the odd marks on the surface - pitting of some kind. Went through the sanding again and they cleared up to a degree, but were still just visible. Finished off with sealer, melamine lacquer and wax.

Then I made up the pen - not horrendous pressure applied to press home the bits. But then an audible crack when the bottom was pressed home, was followed by others resulting in the fine hairline cracks just visible in the picture. So, thinking I had use the wrong drills i prepared a second blank. I repeated the turning again, but this time didn't glue in the tubes and left them overnight in the workshop.

In the morning I found that the tubes had become very tight, and under high magnification I could see very fine hairline cracks at the open ends. Moisture reader showed 12% average across all of the leadwood blanks I have.

So, can I have some observations from the experts please. I've turned lead wood before without issue, so I have no idea what happened here. I used abranet sanding papers, going through the grades, so could that be the source of the pitting?

I haven't turned an Omega with leadwood before, and I'm using the pens as I really like the gunmetal/leadwood combination, but would like to sell them with out the cracks and pitting!

Thanks,

Chriscb

 

[Penpal]

Leadwood is unknown to me. For so much attention it is a pity this resulted in failure. What is it you really like about Leadwood?

Peter.

 

[flexi]

Wood blanks move once you remove the center so you should alway fix the tubes ASAP not next day...that might be why they went tight....As to cracking that normaly happens to me if i have not cleaned the ends of the tubes thoroughly prior to assembly....as to the pitting...leadwood can be a little opengrained and you don't notice till its sanded and it shows more with the dust....
These are just my observations but others may have better idea's and will be along soon
Dont give up

 

[Phil Dart]

Some questions Chris...
What drill sizes did you use?
Are your blanks stored in the same environment as where you drill and glue up?
Was the environment in which you left your second batch overnight the same environment in which they were stored before drilling?
If you have any blanks remaining, what is their moisture content straight from storage and do they have any wax or similar on them..if so, just the end grain or all surfaces?

 

[Chriscb]

Leadwood is unknown to me. For so much attention it is a pity this resulted in failure. What is it you really like about Leadwood?

Peter.

Evening Peter,

Thanks for your reply. I saw a pen, a Mistral made with Leadwood and I was very impressed. Although a dark wood, it has a wonderful red grain running through it. It really made the pen stand out. I don't think I failed as such, although I can't sell the set of pens I made up, I have had a request to make an Omega in Leadwood, so that's a positive!

Regards,

Chriscb

 

[Chriscb]

Wood blanks move once you remove the center so you should alway fix the tubes ASAP not next day...that might be why they went tight....As to cracking that normaly happens to me if i have not cleaned the ends of the tubes thoroughly prior to assembly....as to the pitting...leadwood can be a little opengrained and you don't notice till its sanded and it shows more with the dust....
These are just my observations but others may have better idea's and will be along soon
Dont give up

Evening Mark,

Thanks for your comments. Ticked all of the box's so I think you nailed it. I'll need to start using spuds to block up the tube ends again, and perhaps a burnishing brush prior to sealing the wood to clear out the pores.

Regards,

Chriscb

 

[Chriscb]

Some questions Chris...
What drill sizes did you use?
Are your blanks stored in the same environment as where you drill and glue up?
Was the environment in which you left your second batch overnight the same environment in which they were stored before drilling?
If you have any blanks remaining, what is their moisture content straight from storage and do they have any wax or similar on them..if so, just the end grain or all surfaces?

Evening Phil,

Thanks for your reply.

I used the correct imperial drills as per the destructions, drilling a pilot hole, then a 7 mm straight through, followed by the relevant drill.

Blanks are kept in the workshop, where I turn and make up the pens. The only difference is that they are stored in sealed bags inside a plastic storage container ( 25l from Ikea), that's not air tight.

Second batch were left out overnight in the workshop.

Moisture readings on remaining blanks ranged from 11% to 13%, average of 12% over 7 blanks, which are not sealed on end grain.

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

Regards,

Chriscb