Sticky cocobolo

[bensoelberg]

I made a cocobolo stylus for my brother-in-law for Christmas. I've never tried putting a CA finish on cocobolo before, but I know that it is risky. Considering my time limit, I decided to just use wipe on poly. After I finished turning and sanding, I wiped down the blank with accelerator, then applied about 5 coats of WOP, waiting at least 4 hours between applications. I gave it to him Christmas morning and he is super happy with it, but it's sticky. I don't like that. Has this happened to anybody else? Is sanding off and refinishing my only option?

 

[Carl Fisher]

Poly takes a long time to completely cure. How long between when you put the finish on and when you wrapped it up for him?

If you can still smell it, it's not cured.

 

[jlord]

A CA finish would have been much faster than the time you spent on applying the poly. For a CA finish on Cocobolo I wipe the blank with denatured alcohol to remove any oils that are on the surface. For the first coat I use thin then move to med. for the remaining coats. I then wet sand starting with 600 & move to the mm pads to 12000.

Being that your finish is sticky it probably has finger prints in the finish. If so I would remount it back on the lathe & take the finish off & put a new finish on. One way at being good at something is being good at fixing mistakes & damages.

 

[ghostrider]

A CA finish would have been much faster than the time you spent on applying the poly. For a CA finish on Cocobolo I wipe the blank with denatured alcohol to remove any oils that are on the surface. For the first coat I use thin then move to med. for the remaining coats. I then wet sand starting with 600 & move to the mm pads to 12000.

Being that your finish is sticky it probably has finger prints in the finish. If so I would remount it back on the lathe & take the finish off & put a new finish on. One way at being good at something is being good at fixing mistakes & damages.

QTF.

 

[bitshird]

Ben, I just finished the Panache from Hell some OLD Cocobolo I swear it was some of the most beautiful wood I've ever worked, I know no pictures, but I finished it with the customer waiting. I drenched it twice the night before finishing it with Accelerator, then wiped it down twice more with Accelerator, 3 coats of Thin CA and 4 coats of Medium let it sit over night sanded with 600 through 2000 then polished it with Novus and OMG I didn't want to let it go. I've never seen that many colors in one piece of wood, DNA is good on some woods, but does contain WATER which doesn't play well with Oil, and good Cocobolo is going to be oily.

 

[Ted iin Michigan]

Ben - Cocobolo is one of those "exotic" woods that have high oil content. The oil in the wood actually prevents the polyurethane from curing, so it can remain "sticky" or uncured for a very long time (read it'll never fully "dry out"). If you're still searching for a way out, about the only way to get a good finish is to remove the poly and refinish. Good advice above to wipe down with DNA before applying CA. That's what I use on oily woods and I've had good success doing that (I don't use BLO, either). I've also read that others think Acetone is a better wash.