Titebond mixture question for Russ

Re: Titebond mixture question for Russ

Russ Fairfield

>Soaking in the glue works for all pen blanks cut from soft and punky wood, regardless of the grain direction. It works particularly well for cross-grain blanks because it also holds the wood together and keeps it from coming off in flakes and chunks.

I prefer to use either Titebond, but T-2 will leave the wood with a slightly yellow cast.

The original Titebond will be a clearer color. Elmers will clearer yet, but it doesn't seem to get as hard in the wood as the Titebond glues.

I turn the blanks to round between centers if possible, or at least saw the corners off to make an octagonal shaped blank. I put them into a widemouth quart Mason jar, fill it to the brim with a 50/50 to 40/60 glue/water mixture, making a little more than needed to add later to compensate for absorbtion. I screw on the lid, leave it in a warm place for a couple weeks, turning the jar over every day. Then they are removed, wiped dry, and set aside for another couple weeks for the glue to dry all the way through the wood. I have no idea how long it really takes to soak or dry, but I use the 2-weeks time just to make sure.

Some folks will prefer to keep the wood saturated with CA as they turn the blanks into a pen, and that works. I still give the pens the normal saturation with thin CA glue after they have been turned. But, the wood soaked with glue doesn't require as much CA to fill the turned pen, and it is a less expensive way to get the wood turned down to that point. The disadvantage is the waiting time.

It isn't a substitute for the stabilization process that uses plastic resins to impregnate the wood, but it is something that I can do with little effort and cost. It gives me some very nice wood without adding $10 to the cost of making the pen.