A question about CA finishing

[Jeff Walters]

Hi all,

I am a new member here and have been turnign pens for about a yesr. I am now working with CA as a finish and have a coupel fo questions.

I use a medium CA with multiple coats and have has a few pens come out looking wonderful but the CA ends up being a little bit wider then the fittings. If I sand down so it is even then I loose the finish. Any ideas?

Also, what is the best way to get the CA glue off the bushings without damaging them. I tried debonder but that does not work, most likely because of the thickness of the CA on teh bushings.

Any ehlp woudl be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[JimMc7]

I use johnnycnc's Eliminator bushings for finishing, then clean off the excess CA with a sanding mill (IIRC, some advertised in the classifieds). John's finishing bushings can be found here:
http://penturnersproducts.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_15

BTW, I use John's steel bushings for "between centers" turning but still apply CA using a mandrel/Eliminator bushings because much easier for me than trying to keep CA off bushings.

Edit to add -- here's link to the sanding mills:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=62831&highlight=sanding+mill

 

[ThomJ]

I use Johnnys delrin cones between centers, works for me, I have pretty much designated my mandrel to collect dust

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Look into getting come calipers. Turn your blanks to about .004 below the diameter of the fittings. So if the fitting is .500 turn the blank to .496. Find out how much you take off when you sand and complete you finishing process. For example if the blank diameter is .500 when you are done adding your CA finish and it is .495 once you are finished, then you will want to build your CA up to above the fittings by .005. So for this example you will put about .009 of a CA coating on the blank making the diameter .505 before you start the finishing on the CA. Once you have sanded, buffed and polished you should be at .500 the same as your fittings.

This of course is an example and will need to be adjusted to how heavy of a hand you have when you finish and how deep of a finish you want.

Good luck and keep plugging away. There are no definite answers and most everyone develops their own style on CA finishes.

 

[JimB]

To remove the CA from the bushings just soak them in acetone. I have a very small jar of acetone and I just drop them in there. Wait a minute or tow and the remove and wipe them off with a cloth (not paper towel). Depending on how thick the CA is you may need to do it more than once.

You can also eliminate the whole problem by not using bushings when applying your finish. Just mount the blank between centers to apply the CA finish. Just don't tighten it too much as you do not want to damage the brass tube.

 

[soligen]

HI Jeff. People have already said what I would have said, I'll just say "Welcome to the IAP". We have a local chapter meeting in about 2 weeks. Check out the other threads in the Michigan forum for more info.

 

[Andrew Arndts]

Again I will take the "if your not cheating, your not trying" philosophy with my treatment of my bushings. Well slimline bushings at least. I get them lined up on the mandrel and go with eased purpose and my 1/16" parting tool and nibble the CA off. Mind you I hit them with my propane torch for a few moments to heat them up because CA hates the heat.... I maybe way off base doing this. but the job gets done.

 

[MarkHix]

If you have too much CA on your pens, you can sand them a little and buff them back to shiny.

 

[jttheclockman]

One thing I have not seen mentioned here and that is do not throw away those old bushings. If you take a set of old worn out bushings and turn them down even further so that they are now below your blank material, when you go to apply your CA you will not overlap onto the bushings thus sticking them to the blank. Works quite well.