How Long Should Your CA Finishes Last?

[islandturner]

I'm finding that pens that have had even a month or two of steady use, are turning dull where the user's fingers grasp the barrel.

As an example, this is a Cigar in Yellow Cedar Burl -- it's a year or more old, and one that I used at work. You can see the worn areas -- it looks thrashed. I've had a number of people tell me that their finishes have faded like this.

This pen would have had between five and ten coats of CA, then buffed and hut polished. It had the usual CA glossy finish look ...

How long should a CA finish last? That is to say, how long should it stay uniformly glossy -- even where their fingers wrap around the barrel?

Thanks
Steve

 

[Drstrangefart]

They DO haze out, and a lot of things can affect it. I normally do 3 or 4 coats of thin and 4 or 5 coats of medium CA and don't have that problem because the CA is really quite thick on there by the time I'm done. Minor hazing from handling will reduce the shine. My pens with just a handful of coats of thin are a whole different story. They wear FAST. If you just used thin CA, what you're looking at seems pretty normal. If it's surface hazing on Medium, you should be able to get a lot of shine back with liquid Turtle Wax without even taking the pen apart. It does look like just thin CA was used on the subject of the photo, and under those circumstances I'd say it was pretty normal.

 

[Dan26]

I have a pen that I've carried in my pants pocket everyday since June. I take it to shows as an example of how durable the CA finish is. It's still very shiny. The cheap plating on the pen is wearing out but not the CA finish. I put 12 to 20 coats of medium CA on them.

 

[76winger]

My daily user has been in my pocket for well over a year now. It started out a rollerball and I've since converted it a fountain pen to get used to over the next year. So far, the CA finish is as glossy as it ever was and still impress people when I show it. It *does* have some knicks where my glasses have slipped over and bumped it, but the shine is still there.

What I see in your picture looks like my first couple of attempts at CA, where I didn't get the coating heavy enough and most of it got sanded off going through the polishing process. I learned to put a little heavier coat on and not press so hard as I smoothed and polished it, and since then everything has been fine.

I kind-of wonder if this is what happened on that pen, and the HUT finish on top of the CA just hid that fact until it got worn down by the user.

 

[Texatdurango]

I'm finding that pens that have had even a month or two of steady use, are turning dull where the user's fingers grasp the barrel.

As an example, this is a Cigar in Yellow Cedar Burl -- it's a year or more old, and one that I used at work. You can see the worn areas -- it looks thrashed. I've had a number of people tell me that their finishes have faded like this.

This pen would have had between five and ten coats of CA, then buffed and hut polished. It had the usual CA glossy finish look ...

How long should a CA finish last? That is to say, how long should it stay uniformly glossy -- even where their fingers wrap around the barrel?

Thanks
Steve

Well, I still have some of my personal pens I made with CA finishes in early 2007 that show no wear whatsoever and the gloss is just the way it was then. My wife has carried the same Sierra pen in her purse also since early 2007 with no signs of wear either. Based on that, I would guess a CA finish is good for several years if treated half way decent.

I would like to add this and it is meant to have you think about possibilities rather than criticize so please take it in the spirit it is meant...............

This is based on meeting face to face with fellow turners during local chapter meetings and actually seeing how some apply finishes and how some buff.

To me a COAT of CA means absolutely nothing! We read all the time where Joe puts on 8 coats of CA, Timmy puts on 12 coats of CA and Fred applies 25 coats. All these descriptions are meaningless because it's the final thickness that counts not the number of times one wipes on a drop of CA and while "rubbing it in" is actually wiping 95% of it back off and soaking it into the rag, cloth, paper towel or whatever he is using.

So let's say you managed to apply one ot two thousandths of an inch of CA film after all the COATS then take it to the buffer and while "Polishing" the blank you manage to buff of half the finish you had.

So what have you got, a blank with just enough CA to produce a marginal shine which may or may not have 100% coverage then it starts wearing off as your body oils and acids start eating away at it.

Your photos look like they may never have had a thick coating of CA to begin with so I might suggest a little experiment.

Sand a blank down and take very accurate measurements at certain points before you start applying your CA finish THEN apply as you normally would. When you think you have a good finish measure the blank again and see what you added. It might surprise you how little you actually managed to build up. THEN take it to the buffer and buff as usual THEN measure again, you may find that you hardly have .001" or .002" of a finish onor may have actualy buffed through the CA entirely and didn't notice. If I had to guess I would say most of my CA finishes are at least .005" thick with most running closer to .007". Not saying that's good, but I haven't had any finishes dull on me.

 

[soligen]

I'll second what George says. I intentianally turn AT LEAST .005 smaller than the bushings often .01 then I build the CA up so it is fatter than the bushings, then take it back down to the "perfect" size. I don't worry about the accuracy when turning the wood - just be sure I an enough under dimension for the thick finish. Once the CA is on, then I pay very close attention to final dimension and roundness - sometimes using turning tools on the CA - at that point it is like doing an acrylic blank. It can easily take 20 - 30 coats of CA to get up to the desired dimension. I've occasionally had some tear out issues and turned the blank even father nnormal under diameter - no big deal, just takes more coats of CA. Once done you cant tell it was over turned. I dont count CA coats - I just put in on and use calipers to be sure I have put enough on.

I dont think there is any issue with building up a really thick coat of CA, I have done a few label pens on sierras where instead of casting in resin, I just put on CA until I had a thick enough pen to turn - they looked great. If you put it on heavy, might want to wait a copuple days before sanding and finishing to be sure the CA is fully cured.

 

[PenMan1]

Yep, what George and Dennis said.

 

[IPD_Mr]

George and Dennis have nailed it. We turn to .005 below the fittings of the pen. We put on enough coats of CA to bring it .005 above the fittings if I am finishing and .003 if it is Linda. Yes I know I am heavy handed. Anyway this gives us, at least where the fittings slide onto the blank, a finish that is .005 thick. We have had a customer put his FP in his pocket and the cap unscrewed sometime during the day. Then all the ink wicked out of the pen into the pocket. The pants were now work pants put his pen wiped right off and was good as new. The same customer left the pen in his pocket and washed it. The last time I saw the pen it looked good as new. I also have one that sits on my desk and was made in 2008. It looks good as new and it gets banged around and is in a room with a Cockatoo. It knows what feather dust is! :redface:

So Steve I would say take a real close look at your finish. What I mean by that is 20-40 times magnification. I would suspect that your CA finish is no longer there. That would be my hypothesis anyway. :smile-big:

 

[islandturner]

Sand a blank down and take very accurate measurements at certain points before you start applying your CA finish THEN apply as you normally would. When you think you have a good finish measure the blank again and see what you added. It might surprise you how little you actually managed to build up. THEN take it to the buffer and buff as usual THEN measure again, you may find that you hardly have .001" or .002" of a finish onor may have actualy buffed through the CA entirely and didn't notice. If I had to guess I would say most of my CA finishes are at least .005" thick with most running closer to .007". Not saying that's good, but I haven't had any finishes dull on me.

Hey George,

Many thanks to you and all the others who have posted great info here -- and trust me, absolutely no offence taken at your comments. We need more honest constructive criticism like this.

Thinking back, you are probably spot on re the thickness of the original coat. I've asked a number of folks with my pens how they are holding up, and most of them say they are fine. But there have been some bad ones, like the one in the photo. I've used the BLO/CA high-speed application process; it stands to reason that it doesn't build up as heavy as a layer of the pure CA and accellerator methods.

I'll try precisely as you suggest and let you know how I make out.

Thanks again, all....

Cheers
Steve