My FIRST GOOD CA FINISH!!! - Thanks Manny!

[candy1land]

What a day I had in the shop today! I was turning a bloodwood blank and was just completing my last few passes to get down to the bushings and of course my skew caught an edge and ripped an entire chunk of wood off the tube and off the blank. And when I say chunk I mean one end to the other ripped off piece of wood.

I was devastated because the blank was coming out so beautifully and I truly did not believe I could fix it. But I was determined because this was the first time I was going to get a GOOD CA finish done on a nice pen.

So after a LOT of glue, shavings and dust I managed to get the piece glued back onto the pen. I realized I had more room to go down just below the bushings to help get rid of the jagged edges and man am I glad I saved this pen.

Thanks to Manny he walked me through a way to do CA finish that blew my socks off and is truly the best one I've done so far. I can't thank him enough because I was skeptical the throughout the whole process until I saw the shine at the end. And I wish you could see it in real life! The picture just doesn't do it justice.

Comments welcome!

Thanks,

Candy

 

[wdcav1952]

Sorry, I can't help it!

Candy that pen is sweet!!

 

[TheRealSmith]

I hate when everything is going good and then bam!! It Looks like you fixed it and finished it to Perfection...Nice picture too...:biggrin:

 

[Billman]

Very nice job. Glad you were able to get the CA finish. It just makes such a nice end product.

 

[just_call_me_dusty]

Congrats!! nice job

 

[hilltopper46]

That's a beautiful pen!!

 

[ldb2000]

That is a beautiful pen Candy . Your finish is awesome .

 

[rjwolfe3]

That's a sweet pen!

 

[CSue]

Great 'save' Candy! Its a beauty of a pen with a great finish. Congrats!

 

[Buzzzz4]

Excellent job! Congrats. I have been having an awful time with CA on bloodwood for some reason. Did you do anything special to prep it for the CA?

 

[altaciii]

Very nice pen, and a great pic. Is the save on the this side or the other? If this is the saved side, you did one heck of a job. It shall not stay in your collection for long.

 

[candy1land]

Excellent job! Congrats. I have been having an awful time with CA on bloodwood for some reason. Did you do anything special to prep it for the CA?

Ha! Is there something you are supposed to do to prep a blank for CA? :rotfl:

No I just sanded the blank down and MM to 12K. That was all I did before applying the CA.

 

[candy1land]

Very nice pen, and a great pic. Is the save on the this side or the other? If this is the saved side, you did one heck of a job. It shall not stay in your collection for long.

From the picture I would say the save is on the other side of the pen. There was no way to get a blown up picture of it enough to see the crack. Fortunately CA will hide MUCH more than I thought. I can find the cracks because I know where they are. Oh ya...and a gouge too. I really tried to destroy it a few times at the end. Good thing you can do so much with wood.

 

[Manny]

Wow awesome Candy! Funny thing is almost exactly 1 year ago I started lurking this forum. Never turned a pen in my life.

The people here all the wonderful IAP people patiently answered my questions and gave me advice. Everything I have learned (and am still learning) about pen turning either started here or ended up here. Amazing group.

I am glad that I can give back a smidgen of the massive amounts of information I have taken.

Thank you everyone.

Manny

 

[areaman]

great save and nice finish

 

[WildcatHollow]

CA Finishing Process

Hi, Candy...

Your worked turned out beautifully. I'm new to penturning and working on presents for all my kids and my friends.

I've not progressed past PSI friction lacquer for a finish. So far I'm satisfied with the results, but after the holidays I'd like to experiment with a CA finish.

I'm hesitant to try it with the Christmas presents since I can afford experimenting with anything that has to be packed and shipped this week.

Can you share which of the CA finishing processes you decided to use? I've seen videos on several, and I just wondered which is the most effective - meaning, what's the best time vs. end result ratio?

Thank you.

Regards,

t.

 

[candy1land]

Hi, Candy...

Your worked turned out beautifully. I'm new to penturning and working on presents for all my kids and my friends.

I've not progressed past PSI friction lacquer for a finish. So far I'm satisfied with the results, but after the holidays I'd like to experiment with a CA finish.

I'm hesitant to try it with the Christmas presents since I can afford experimenting with anything that has to be packed and shipped this week.

Can you share which of the CA finishing processes you decided to use? I've seen videos on several, and I just wondered which is the most effective - meaning, what's the best time vs. end result ratio?

Thank you.

Regards,

t.

Well I can tell you my CA journey has been an interesting one. It's basically been me and Youtube and the videos in the library here for awhile now. I take extensive notes and I go out and get all the supplies I need and I try the methods step by step each time.

What I found is that I was always ending up with dull spots in my finish. I would have lots of trouble with my paper towels getting stuck in the glue due to too much heat, or spinning the lathe too quickly, or you name it.

I was very frustrated because I want to sell my pens and there was no way I could do that with what I was getting. Especially when the glue would dry on the paper towel while I was spinning and once it got hard it would scratch the pen. I tried all kinds of work arounds for this issue alone.

And then Manny sent me what he does and I had heard of others using this method too but I still had questions. He was kind enough to send me his method step by step and answer all of my questions and I went out this weekend and put this method to the test. To my surprise it was MUCH easier, much less MESS and it created the finish I've seen on other people's work that I wanted so badly on mine.

I'll forward you the email so you can see what I did and then try it out when you get time. I was brave enough to practice on a real blank that I was going to use for a Sedona. Thankfully it came out even though I tried my hardest to destroy the wood with my skew while finishing the shaping of it. LOL :angry:

Good luck. When it works it's the best finish out there in my opinion. But not if you don't find a method that really works. This one just happened to work for me.

Candy

 

[Manny]

Toby feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any additional questions.

Like all things in pen turning
It's A way
Not THE way

I would reccomend trying to finish a straight spindle before you try a pen. Sanding on contour shapes adds a level of complexity that you just don't need when you are starting out.


GL

Manny


Manny

 

[Stick Rounder]

Good looking pen.