Oops question...

[MatthewZS]

I've got a small segmented blank that came together quite by accident but I'm downright tickled with it. When I cut it down I was doing so by caliper since I don't have the bushings for it and I took it down a teeny bit too far. It's a cigar pen and in comparison to the whole pen it would look fine. But butted against the center band which is larger it looks strange. Anyone ever had luck building up a tiny bit of diameter using layers of CA?

Thanks.

 

[gketell]

Absolutely. I have a Sierra pen that is completely made up of nothing but CA and embedded paint, ribbon, etc. 7 layers of stuff all wrapped in thick CA.

 

[Parson]

I do this from time to time myself. Taking a little plastic baggie from a pen kit, putting some thick CA glue on it, and slowly turning the lathe by hand and applying a thick layer to the pen will work well... as long as you give it 24 hours to cure before you touch it with sand paper.

I then sand down the ridges with wet 600 paper as long as it takes, even if I have to get three or four new pieces of 600 for the task. Taking off too much leaves a bald spot and you have to sand it down and start all over, so I avoid this.

Best of luck on this project, and remember that the tips of a caliper (especially the digital ones) are sharp and will easily scratch a CA finish!

 

[ldb2000]

You could also replace the Center band with a contrasting wood center band of your own making .

 

[Robert Taylor]

yes, i've added as much as .020"

 

[Rangertrek]

Yep, do it all the time to build up diameter, fill voids, etc. I use both thin and medium CA.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Every one of my CA finishes are a minimum of .005. Either by oops or on purpose I have had finishes over .010. It is really no big deal and gives the blank depth when highly polished. So your oops can actually be a new learned trick that you will purposely do from time to time.

 

[Dudley Young]

I agree with Butch. Make a new center band.

 

[gr8danish]

MLK - sorry to go off topic, but how do you build up .010 thick CA finish? I haven't had too much luck with it, and thus gave up. I'm now on to using an Epoxy clear coat OVER a CA sealer coat to get that thick, DEEP look...

 

[gketell]

This pen is made using CA only.

It started by painting the tube blue then splattering with silver paint. 4 coats of thick CA later I added some gold leaf (smudged); then I added 4 coats of thick CA; that was followed by a piece of red ribbon followed by 6 coats of thick CA (I had to add extra CA because the ribbon curled); then some more gold leaf; then lots of coats of thick CA until it reached final thickness.

I would apply one coat of thick CA, let it start setting for 30 seconds to a minute then use aerosol CA accelerator then the next coat of thick CA. That second coat is now hardening from the bottom up; add a little spritz of accelerator then another coat of CA. Repeat until you have applied the last coat of CA.

Works great.