Rant

[alamocdc]

I love wood, but I hate finishing pens. Applying finishes on my other turnings and flatwork doesn't bother me. Just pens. I think it's because the small size magnifies any flaws. That and I guess I got more rusty in this area than any other. It'll come back. But it needs to HURRY! :biggrin:

This last week has proven challenging once again. I was asked to make 2 pens in Peach Rootball and resin. No biggy, I've done it before. Did you know that PR won't survive 4 years in a hot garage. Lost 2 gallons of the stuff! Oh, crap, I need resin... NOW! Then I remembered that I had an Alumilite sample. Cool! I've been wanting to try that anyway. So I mixing I go. Poured them up, but didn't have my pressure pot set up and didn't have time to fool with it. Besides, I've casted for years with no pressure. Surely one little pour in some nice open voids won't be an issue.

So I get the blanks cut, drilled and glued, and they look good. This Alumilite stuff might be okay afterall. Start turning the first barrel. Bubbles, bubbles, who's got the bubbles? This guy! Right here! Tons of the little darlings! Tiny, almost microscopic! No problem, CA will make short work of these in the prefinish. So I get it turned down and ready to sand. Fill bubbles, sand. Find MORE bubbles. Fill bubbles, sand. More bubbles. Holy crap! When will this end? Finally got it. So lets just finish this barrel while it is on the lathe.

Have I mentioned why I no longer do CA finishes? 1) They are inconsistent. 2) I've actually had one fail within 60 days of delivery - and it was beautiful. Apparently the owner's body chemistry ate the CA. When I got it back it was almost all bare wood and gray and dingy. Well, it used to be figured Cherry! 3) I've yet to get a consistent result... thin, medium, thick, no matter. Sometimes it looks amazing. Other times it is bloomy or blotchy, or both. Sometimes it works with BLO and sometimes it doesn't. And I've tried every technique I've seen posted. Sorry, had to chase a rabbit. I have a t-shirt that says, "I may have ADD, but at least I don't... hey look, a bunny!"

Okay, so since I need to use CA for the bubbles, I might as well go with it for the finish, right? Wrong! It looks like crap. So I sand it off and guess what? Yep! More bubbles! Get them filled and ready for a different finish. I just happen to have some dissolved plexi ready because I have had good luck with it in the past. Not this time. Same result as the CA. Crap! I sanded it back down and coated it in thick CA spining the spindle slowly until it set up enough not to run and came inside.

Okay, so lets examined the lessons learned. 1) When using Alumilite, ALWAYS use pressure! 2) Order some Silmar! 3) Get the pressure pot set up. And 4) in spite of any pressure or excitement you may feel (as was my case because I'm turning again) DON'T get in a hurry!

Class dismissed! And sorry if PTLDR (or whatever that acronumn is)! :biggrin:

 

[OOPS]

Oh, I feel your pain, my friend. I have not had problems with Alumilite specifically, although I haven't used clear (which pretty much requires pressure to get the bubbles out) but CA continues to be a real adventure each time I get that little bottle out. A friend suggested once suggested that I should get a couple of long dowels from the hardware store, and just practice sanding and applying CA on the dowels until I got it down perfectly. That friend was Russ Fairfield. Your post just reminded me of his excellent advice, which helped me learn sanding, using micro mesh and applying polyurethane. Thanks for helping me "remember" this technique, which could provide you with positive results as well.

 

[alamocdc]

Bill, Russ has been a great help to many of us. No doubt or question about it. But it doesn't negate the fact that CA can bloom or cloud down the road. My best success with applying it was using Russ' technique. I don't avoid it solely because of application inconsistencies. The other issues play a large role in that decision.

 

[OOPS]

Russ also demonstrated his technique for dipping pens in polyurethane to our club. I have now done that many times and have had impressive success using water based polys. The oil-based polys have been more of a problem. However, I am now going to try wipe-on poly to see if that cures my problems when using an oil-based finish. I still want to learn CA, because of the fact that you can get something done so quickly. It takes a couple days for water-based polyurethane, and even longer for the oil based to properly cure--although a friend of mine uses a light bulb to dry each coat more rapidly. (He's not much on patience.) I let each coat dry for a day.

 

[skiprat]

LOL, I feel your pain too Billy.

What was the name of the song??

'Momma said there'd be days like this' or something

 

[bitshird]

Billy sounds like my luck on the last few pens I've tried