Thank you for purchasing from Powers Custom Creations! I hope you enjoy your purchase. In order to make sure you keep enjoying it, I’m going to share some hints, tips and tricks to maintain it long into the future.
General Notes:
Anything made from wood. Wood is by definition a natural product. That means it should not be surprising to see “defects” in the wood due to natural grain patterns, knots and other common anomalies. Many times it’s these “defects” that make an item beautiful and unique. This also means that the look of the wood may change over time. This is normal. After a number of years, it is likely the wood may appear slightly greyish or generally just not be as colorful as it was when new. This brings up the number one care tip for wood items…keep them out of the sun! Ultraviolet radiation from the sun will destroy wood. If you leave an item in a windowsill, for example, I guarantee it will be dull and grey in a year or two (depending on your climate). That isn’t to say you can’t use it normally, even in the sun. Just don’t leave it there. Speaking of climate, wood also reacts to moisture. The obvious preventative measure being - do not immerse it in water. It will most likely be damaged or destroyed. If it is something like an ice cream scoop or pizza cutter, be careful cleaning it. A little splash of water should be fine for the coatings I use so don’t worry too much. Also, humidity may cause wood to swell a bit. This is normal and shouldn’t damage anything.
Anything made from a synthetic such as acrylic. This will be a very short section. Acrylics are very durable and about the only real issue they have is chipping. If the item is dropped on a hard surface or something hard is dropped on it, there’s a decent chance you will see a chip in the surface. You can think of it as a character mark or attempt to fill it in with some epoxy or even super glue. If you try the latter, please be very careful….getting your fingers glued to something is not fun…ask me how I know.
Specific Notes:
Pens. All of the pens I sell will have refillable ink cartridges. Usually it will either need a standard Parker® or Cross® pen refill available at any major office supply store and all over the place online. The way to get to the refill varies but usually involves pulling the top section off of the pen.
Other small items (pizza cutters, ice cream scoops, letter openers, etc). These have no special instructions other than the usual warning that if there is a sharp edge or point then please remember that sharp things are sharp and use appropriate care to avoid injury. One note on the coating, for softer woods I typically use a sealing mixture of denatured alcohol, boiled linseed oil and shellac known colloquially in the wood turning community as “shine juice.” This brings out any natural grain pattern while adding only a mildly glossy sheen to the wood. Over that I apply a few layers of Cyanoacrylate or CA. It’s basically over glorified super glue but different from what you would typically buy in a store. Anyway, this coating is incredibly durable and will resist the natural oils in your hands to protect the wood under normal use. For the harder exotics I may only use wax, polish or oils as a finish. These woods are naturally extremely durable and resistant to moisture. In fact, other coatings won't permeate them, either, so there's no point in using them!
Bowls, platters, vases and similar items. The finishes on these will vary widely based on the intended use. Anything that will potentially touch food will, of course, have a food safe coating of some kind. For ornamental items, it will really depend on what seems to best meet the need at the time I am making it. I tend to prefer more natural coatings but will use poly and lacquer if something needs to be really shiny or to protect paints, stains or other embellishments. Otherwise, please read the section about wood and the need to keep it out of direct sunlight. If you display something in direct sun, I guarantee it will fade and turn grey.