It amazes me the degree to which many people on this forum swear by CA glue to finish a pen. The only real problem with CA is its plasticky feel. I like my pens to feel like the wood that makes them. There must be another way to go. Here in the UK one of our great pen makers, Phil Dart has put together his method in a short 4 page PDF. This is how he achieves his outstanding finishes, and I agree with him. It is well worth a read.
It is here:
http://www.beaufortink.co.uk/achieving succes with melamine as a finish.pdf
Take care
Ray
PS. this may help people allergic to CA.
Thanks Ray for this post.
Using CA, or having the wood "feel" is not as simple as two choices.
1. Those who sell to the general consumer public find that the highly polished CA sells 2 to 1, or 10 to 1 or in some cases 100 to 1 for a highly "CA shine" over "Wood feel".
So does one forsake sales - for the pen makers own preferences? There have been a few people here who felt strongly that wood should feel like wood and they didn't care if they sold many or not, they would not cover the wood with a plastic shine. Recently a fellow said that he had good sales with wood only finish. Most people do not have this kind of success with wood only feel.
2. One of this forum's first members, highly respected (and he past away a few years ago) used to comment on this subject occasionally - it is not about the finish as much as it is the "tactile feel". After reading his post on this subject, I made two pen identical, both highly polished. Then I sanded one back from 10,000 MicroMesh to about 3600 MicroMesh, and there was no shine to it. It was smooth, dull, wood highly visible and it had a tactile "feel" like real wood. He was right. With this tactile feel of wood, and looking like wood, it had a great protection from hand grime.
3. I have been making things (tables, book cases, shelves and other things) out of wood for more than 50 years and I love the feel of wood. I also grew up watching my mom polish the wood furniture in our home almost every week. The purpose was to wipe finger prints and grime off of the furniture that was not touched but a few times a day.
A pen is touched and held several/many times a day, and hand grime builds up. CA (and some other finishes) prevent this. For People who are like my mom and probably like you and Phil Dart, you will take care of your pen and wipe it off daily like my mom did. HOWEVER, most people are not like this. AND believe me, when they pay a few hundred dollars and a few hundred pounds for a pen, they WILL be back when their pen gets grimy, dirty and loses its appeal due to changing color from the dirt and grime. You and Phil (and some others) probably include some instructions on the need to keep the pen clean. High end users will do this, but the masses will not.
I am all for the wood look and feel on some woods, but the wood look and feel come with a price - daily cleaning that most people will not do.
4. Back to the shine - I spent 26 years in Japan and knew some master craftsmen over there. In spite of what an aged master craftsman might make, the culture of Japan LOVES shine.
Wood or CA like shine is not a "Which is best" but rather a choice, with each having its purpose and advantages along with some disadvantages. In some cases wood preference or shine preference is a cultural difference.
