I am new to using CA as I have used the traditional Hut wax bar in the past. I have just completed a few pens using the "I Can't Believe This Finish" set from Penn State Industries. I followed their video exactly. I tried it on Maple Burl, Kingwood and African Blackwood and all three were beautiful. The finish appeared very wet looking and had a lot of depth to it.
I then tried using the following method (with BLO) on an African Blackwood blank:
1. I Applied about 8-10 drops of CA on my towel (after sanding up to 12000 and then wiping the blank with a clean towel to remove the dust) and applied to the pen blank using two strokes with the lathe running at appx 500 RPM.
2. I then applied a decent puddle of BLO on a clean spot on the paper towel and applied with a fast motion back and forth. Once it seemed to be dry, I held the paper towel between my tumb and index finger so that heat would build up.
3. I then repeated steps 1 & 2 nine more times.
4. At this point I wet sanded the blank with 1000 up to 12000 (very lightly).
5. I then applied several coate of the One-Step polish and buffed it.
After I finished, this blank was not as shiny as the one that I did using just CA by itself. Any suggestions as to why? How do I achieve a "Wet Looking" blank using the CA/BLO combination.
Thanks for any help!
Tom
I then tried using the following method (with BLO) on an African Blackwood blank:
1. I Applied about 8-10 drops of CA on my towel (after sanding up to 12000 and then wiping the blank with a clean towel to remove the dust) and applied to the pen blank using two strokes with the lathe running at appx 500 RPM.
2. I then applied a decent puddle of BLO on a clean spot on the paper towel and applied with a fast motion back and forth. Once it seemed to be dry, I held the paper towel between my tumb and index finger so that heat would build up.
3. I then repeated steps 1 & 2 nine more times.
4. At this point I wet sanded the blank with 1000 up to 12000 (very lightly).
5. I then applied several coate of the One-Step polish and buffed it.
After I finished, this blank was not as shiny as the one that I did using just CA by itself. Any suggestions as to why? How do I achieve a "Wet Looking" blank using the CA/BLO combination.
Thanks for any help!
Tom