For several years I have donated a wooden hand made item for a charity auction that benefits our local child abuse prevention center.  Since I have been on a turning kick lately I made a couple pens. 

 

The first is Gmali Burl on a Jr Gent.  The finish is 5 coats of thin CA, 5 coats of medium CA and 2 coats of Kiwi nutral shoe polish.

Next is an Olympian Elite using a custom poured Polyester Resin in the local college colors.  Buffed to 12,000 with micro mesh and Kiwi polish.

I love em both Greg, but I sure love that Gmali Burl, that's some pretty stuff, very nice sir, well done indeed. If you don't mind me asking, how much are your pens fetching for the charity auction?

Nice look work Greg. They are sure to please.

Greg, those are two beautiful pens and should bring a nice contribution to the auction. Man I love that burl it has some beautiful swirling grain. Outstanding job on the finish. Is the neutral show polish a new addition to the finish process?

 

By the way, how did the deal go with the college on you doing a bunch of those pens for them?

 

Great job and a great jester on your part to help out with the Child Abuse program.

 

Thanks all for the nice comments. Most of the items I donate have done well.  I hope these do.

John Morris,

I have the burl pen valued at $75.00 for the auction, and the polyester resin at $50.00.  The burl takes so much longer to finish with the CA and all.  The PR is all in the micro mesh.  The kits are on the higher end dollars wise.  From what I understand the purple and gold one is going to be in the live auction.  In my opinion the burl should be. 

John Moody,

The pens for the college book store are going well.  I have four finished so far and not one has made it to the display.  All were sold to the manager and her friends.  I guess I need to get turning or raise my prices a bit. 

The Kiwi shoe polish is not really anything new.  There was a heated discussion over at IAP awhile back debating the difference between Kiwi and Renaissance Wax.  I think the consensus was the KIWi is Not Ren wax, but it is close.  I like it because the price is right and it is real easy to get.  Heck, Wal-Mart has a whole rack of it.  The purpose of it is to prevent fingerprints on the finished pen. 

Thanks for that info, that is good to know. especially the part about the finger prints and the full rack at Wally World.

 

Glad the others are going well for you also.

 

Greg Coleman said:

The Kiwi shoe polish is not really anything new.  There was a heated discussion over at IAP awhile back debating the difference between Kiwi and Renaissance Wax.  I think the consensus was the KIWi is Not Ren wax, but it is close.  I like it because the price is right and it is real easy to get.  Heck, Wal-Mart has a whole rack of it.  The purpose of it is to prevent fingerprints on the finished pen.

The auction was Friday.  It didn't yield what I had hoped, but all in all it was a good night.  The Gmali pen brought $43.00 and the Polyester resin $41.00.  I did sell another Polyester Resin to a losing bidder.  I will donate everything above my cost to the center.  The most fun was convincing folks that the Gmali was real wood.

Thanks for the update Greg. They brought a good price, but I know it is now what you were hoping they would bring. I thought you had them at a good price for the auction. Boy it is just one of those things you never know where the bidding will go.

 

Many thanks for what you were doing and helping a worthy cause.

Charles,

Check this thread. http://www.theamericanwoodworker.com/forum/topics/pen-finishing-with-ca-and-blo

It is William Young's method for a CA/BLO finish.  It is the easiest and best finish I have found.