Wooden Pens: How To Make Them Shine?

[TassoBarbasso]

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

[Algester]

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 October 4, 2014 by Algester

[varmas]

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 October 4, 2014 by varmas

[TassoBarbasso]

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.

[69Boss302]

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

[owend]

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.