I Give Up on CA Finishes

[george]

Thanks Butch,

2 more questions then I'll start practicing...

1. Is there any particular ca I should use? Seems like medium would be a good start, and just let it dry and build it up with a few coats--no accelerator--just patience...then sand progressively.

2. Is micromesh and water to develop a slurry good enough to get the shine or do I also need to use a plastic polish to get that last scratchless shine?

Thanks,
Steve

I do not like thin CA ... medium and thick works better for me. I use accelator every second coat ... the key is to make thick CA layer, but as smooth as possbile. You can put on 15 layers, but if you end up with rough surface that needs lot of sanding, you did not make much .... you will come through the CA at least on one spot and then you must go from start.

 

[DurocShark]

Another alternative is melted acrylic. The application techniques are similar, but the acrylic is more forgiving. (And a bit less durable maybe.)

I'm still in the experimentation phase of using it, but I've not yet gotten a finish I felt I would want to tear it down and start over. This is on 20 or so walnut scraps. I believe there's a walkthrough somewhere here, either as a post or in the library.

The reason I'm trying to move away from CA is my garage gets below freezing in the winter and CA just plain won't work. At least not with the techniques I've found that work for me. I can get close with the blo on the paper towel technique, but that's it.

 

[GouletPens]

Another alternative is melted acrylic. The application techniques are similar, but the acrylic is more forgiving. (And a bit less durable maybe.)

I'm still in the experimentation phase of using it, but I've not yet gotten a finish I felt I would want to tear it down and start over. This is on 20 or so walnut scraps. I believe there's a walkthrough somewhere here, either as a post or in the library.

The reason I'm trying to move away from CA is my garage gets below freezing in the winter and CA just plain won't work. At least not with the techniques I've found that work for me. I can get close with the blo on the paper towel technique, but that's it.

I have CA down but I tried liquid acrylic and trust me, that's not easier than CA!!!!! You think CA is finicky and mysterious, boy liquid acrylic is 10 times worse IMHO. There's a reason CA is the most popular, and that's because it's all around the best (at least for now). Pay your dues like the rest of us and it'll be worth it.

 

[writestuff]

New guy here!

Been turning pens for about four years, and started using CA within the last year. I watched a tutorial on the Woodturner Russ website, Tried it and love it. I polish with a 1 in strip of paper towel, using auto body polish. A higher shine can be achieved by using micro mesh.
I had an issue for a short time and was getting rough finish until I remembered to rub the newly applied CA/BLO down with grocery sack paper. follow the link below.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=54VkKcFRSWQ

Writestuff!

 

[clthayer]

I found my problem was a lathe that didn't turn quite round. I made a lot of nice pens, but when it came to sanding and polishing ca the out of round caused me to sand heavier on one side than the other. The result was spots that were sanded down to bare wood.

I bought a Rikon and have gotten back into ca finishes recently and am quite happy with the results that I am seeing now.

Christian

 

[chriselle]

I found my problem was a lathe that didn't turn quite round. I made a lot of nice pens, but when it came to sanding and polishing ca the out of round caused me to sand heavier on one side than the other. The result was spots that were sanded down to bare wood.

I bought a Rikon and have gotten back into ca finishes recently and am quite happy with the results that I am seeing now.

Christian

Whether it's CA or urushi lacquer....I sand with the lathe at rest. It takes a little longer but I find I get the best finish this way. Remember we are not penmakers.....we are "polishers".

 

[PaulSF]

Kind of a newbie question...When you use a sanding dust/CA slurry, do you do that prior to sanding? It seems like if you sand all the way to 12,000, then do a sanding slurry, you are just having to do another full round of sanding before applying the CA finish, so it seems logical to me to do the sanding dust/CA slurry right after trimming down the blanks. Am I way off, dead on, high on CA fumes?

 

[Rick_G]

Kind of a newbie question...When you use a sanding dust/CA slurry, do you do that prior to sanding? It seems like if you sand all the way to 12,000, then do a sanding slurry, you are just having to do another full round of sanding before applying the CA finish, so it seems logical to me to do the sanding dust/CA slurry right after trimming down the blanks. Am I way off, dead on, high on CA fumes?

I do this when I get to 600 grit if needed.