Dull areas in CA finish

[paulwmichael]

I'm having a problem getting a consistent CA finish on Redwood burl. Here's my process: Before the tube is installed I coat the inside and ends with thin CA. The wood is sanded to 12000 micro mesh; then 2 coats of thin CA, then about 8 coats of medium; then sanded to 12000 micro mesh again; then use Meguiares Scratch X2.0; then One-Step plastic polish. The problem is that there is a spot or two, mostly near the ends of the barrel, that are lighter colored and lack the gloss of the rest of it. The wood seems to be dry, so I'm doubtful it's moisture. Why is the finish inconsistent? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[BSea]

Usually the dull spots are because the CA has been sanded off. With little or no CA, then you won't have the gloss.

 

[its_virgil]

Living in Miami the wood is not dry...it will be in equilibrium with your ambient relative humidity. Just saying.

I really don't think it is a moisture problem but sanding through as mentioned. Check out that possibility.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

I'm having a problem getting a consistent CA finish on Redwood burl. ... The wood seems to be dry, so I'm doubtful it's moisture. Why is the finish inconsistent? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[RKB]

Hi Paul. Sorry to hear you are having problems with your CA finish, I've had that issue before too. I found that my initial method of applying CA seemed to be causing the dull spots. I was not getting a uniform CA thickness over the entire blank. I would start in the middle and move to each end with the CA applied with a paper towel but the CA in the middle of the blank was thicker than the CA on the ends of the blank. I now coat both middle out and end to middle, and take my blank off and turn it end for end and apply my second coats of CA. I also noticed that when I was "applying" my CA I was taking off most of it back off with the paper towel by going over the blank too many times, so I was not getting a good depth of CA. Keep trying and you will get your system down. Hope this post helps you.

Rod

 

[paulwmichael]

over-sanding

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I had another idea. I've got the lathe turning pretty fast. If the blank heats up too much could the CA crystallize causing dulling? Since the wood is thinner near the ends I thought that might heat up quicker. What do you think? Also, the humidity is high here in Tallahassee, Florida. Should I keep my blanks inside the house so the A/C will keep the humidity lower?

 

[JimB]

Lathe speed shouldn't be an issue. I run mine fast when applying the CA. If you are running it fast when sanding or using micro mesh then that would be a problem because you are probably sanding to much.

 

[wwneko]

Paul, I think Don and Bob have it. The higher speed on your lathe is going to sand off a lot of ca and very fast on those lower grits, especially at the ends where it's easier to apply uneven pressure sanding.

Unrelated to the issue but there is also no need to ever go over about 800 grit (usually 320 or 400) on wood before applying CA, just using up expensive micro mesh.

 

[its_virgil]

In the house the blanks will be in equilibrium with the house humidity and when back in the shop in equilibrium with the humidity in the shop(it will take a little time, of course). Dry them in an oven to 0% and take them out and leave them and they will intake moisture to once again to get in equilibrium with the surrounding humidity. It is a never ending dynamic.

I think the dull spots are where you sanded through but we could discuss and theorize all day. On good thing is you can sand off the finish, lower the rpm and try again. You've gotten some excellent advice in just a few replies.

We could discuss the brand of CA you are using. Make a difference? Yes!But, you did not ask and I will not go there.

There are enough articles and you tube videos to keep you reading and watching for days. Pick one and perfect it.

Best wishes for the finish you like.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I had another idea. I've got the lathe turning pretty fast. If the blank heats up too much could the CA crystallize causing dulling? Since the wood is thinner near the ends I thought that might heat up quicker. What do you think? Also, the humidity is high here in Tallahassee, Florida. Should I keep my blanks inside the house so the A/C will keep the humidity lower?

 

[paulwmichael]

CA Brand

The consensus here is convincing. I've already sanded it down again so I'll lay on another 7 coats or so & try to minimize the finish sanding.

Don, I can't leave that laying. The CA I use is Handibond. I'm very new to all this & Handibond was locally available. What brands work well for you guys?

 

[its_virgil]

I only use Satellite City Hot Stuff. I've tried others but keep coming back to Hot Stuff. Others work OK. I've probably used most of them over the years. I'm not a fan of Stick Fast for finishing.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

The consensus here is convincing. I've already sanded it down again so I'll lay on another 7 coats or so & try to minimize the finish sanding.

Don, I can't leave that laying. The CA I use is Handibond. I'm very new to all this & Handibond was locally available. What brands work well for you guys?

 

[paulwmichael]

Rod, Thanks for the guidance on proper sanding technique. I reapplied as you directed, minimized the sanding, & finished a pretty nice pen.

Thanks for all the suggestions from you and everyone els.

 

[paulwmichael]

You were correct - Problem Solved

I sanded the blank down, reapplied CA, but was careful to minimize sanding. This time the gloss was consistent. Looks like the consensus diagnosis was spot on. Thanks. Also, thanks for the suggestion on CA brand.

 

[Souths1der]

One thing I'll do when using CA as a finish is change directions of coat application. If I went from left to right on coat one, then I'll go from right to left on coat two, and so on. I've had good results in making sure the CA finish is even with this method.

 

[farmer]

Micro mesh

I'm having a problem getting a consistent CA finish on Redwood burl. Here's my process: Before the tube is installed I coat the inside and ends with thin CA. The wood is sanded to 12000 micro mesh; then 2 coats of thin CA, then about 8 coats of medium; then sanded to 12000 micro mesh again; then use Meguiares Scratch X2.0; then One-Step plastic polish. The problem is that there is a spot or two, mostly near the ends of the barrel, that are lighter colored and lack the gloss of the rest of it. The wood seems to be dry, so I'm doubtful it's moisture. Why is the finish inconsistent? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Buy a new bottle of CA just in case the CA you are using now is might of gotten hot and the CA is no longer good.
It would be better if you started of with fresh CA and a new technic.

Buy the stick fast Medium and the thin CA.
Newly turned Red wood burl ( wood ) will soak up allot of thin CA .
Put on a couple coats .

Then I apply the medium CA 4 to 8 coats .

I do not use the accelerator , I wait for each coat to dry by itself.

I have my lathe turning slow so the ca will level its self out.............
I use a Epoxy finish on pool cues and its nothing new to have one of my lathes on for a 3 or 4 days.
I have ac/dc motors and they run extremely cool.
I have one lathe that has a 110 AC motor that will over heat if left on for more the 5 or 6 hrs of operating.

My point is can you leave your lathe on for a hour or two so the CA doesn't sag on one side of the pen.

You might think of storing you Ca in a cooler or refer.



Micro mesh , I don't like using it, rather use nothing but 220 grit paper and Then the Meguiar's polishing creams starting with the heavy cut # 4 then # 2 the fine cut then # 9 the swirl remover then the show glaze .

Before I apply the show glaze and every thing looks really good I will turn off my lathe and polish the finish with the # 9 swirl remover.
It seems when you sand or polish the pen there will be micro lines in the finish going around the pen.
So I will do a finish polishing from end to end of the pen with the #9
then the show glaze.

Personally I used the micro mesh for a couple of years and never got the finish that I can get by using polishing creams.

Micro mesh gets hot, some times it melts to the finish.
Sorry but I am not a fan of Mirco mesh compared to the polishing creams.

 

[paulwmichael]

I've changed my CA application technique alternating from each end as Souths1der suggested and also take the blank off & flip it end for end as Rod suggested. This seems to help, though my finish still requires too much sanding to get it all even again.

I wasn't aware of the variety in Maguires polishing grits that Farmer detailed. Thanks to Farmer for the effort to go over that. I, too, have a difficult time getting rid of all the micro scratches, even though I use plastic polish and other micro scratch removers. After the pen is finished it's too often I later see tiny scratches that probably occurred several grits before the final polishing. I'll locate the Maguires products and see how that works for me. It's amazing how difficult it is to produce a perfect pen. Thanks for all the help guys.