Jump to content

Wooden Pens: How To Make Them Shine?


TassoBarbasso

Recommended Posts

Hi All!

 

I have a Pilot Custom made of maple wood with a really nice grain. However, I would really like to make the wood surface a bit more shiny. I don't want to apply any paint or chemicals, I was just wondering if there's a way to polish it till it looks a bit less dull.

 

thanks,

Fabio

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 5
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • TassoBarbasso

    2

  • varmas

    1

  • Algester

    1

  • 69Boss302

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

custom Kaede huh... Mineral Oil... just dab it on a piece of cloth and lightly rub it in

some people prefer to use mineral oil with a little bee's wax combined... but take it with a grain of salt since I'm using some knowledge from wood working videos we can get mineral oil from drug stores in our country not sure if it would be the same as yours

Edited by Algester
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Fabio,

there are commercial wood polishes you could use, eg. Lemon Pledge.

 

However I prefer to make my own wood polish. 3 parts mineral oil (Ikea has food safe mineral oil for about $4 for half a litre - item name SKYDD) and 1 part bee wax. Heat wax in a jar in a water bath till wax melts, add in oil and stir till combined. As the combination does not turn rancid you can use the mixture over a long period of time. Wood grain stands out and the finish is shiny but not slippery. Also seals the wood. It may darken light wood so you might want to test it on scrap wood first.

 

Best of all the wax and oil are safe in case you have a habit of sucking on the pen end like I do.

 

 

Stay well,

Solomon

 

Oops, didn't realise Algester posted on similar lines.

Edited by varmas

WTB: Unusual and prototype Sheaffer Connaisseurs, Grande Connaisseurs and Parker Premiers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks both for the ideas! I have the possibility to get some mineral oil from IKEA quite easily whereas for bee wax it may be a bit more difficult. Maybe I'll first give it a try with mineral oil only, and if it doesn't work, I'll try the oil+wax mix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Find a bee keeper, almost guaranteed they'll have some stored. Any place that sells handmade lotions, soaps, salts may also have local honey. From there you could find a beekeeper. A good place to start would be certain antique stores that run on consignment because they may have a vendor that does handmade soaps and the like.

There are beekeeper clubs on Facebook too.

Farmers markets are great too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a pear wood Faber Castell Ambition, where the wood on the barrel feels very slightly rough and grainy, and I find it much more tactile than a shiny surface - are you sure you want to lose that grainy finish?

 

Also, the wood is probably sealed in the manufacturing process, and you may just build up layers of polish on the surface, without it penetrating the wood. Then the built up layers will chip and come off!

 

Personally I would (!) leave it unchanged.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26626
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...