CA problem

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reddwil

reddwil

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Joined
Feb 28, 2008
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Loganville, Georgia, USA.
I made a couple pens a few weeks back, a palm and amboyna both in Jr. gents. I finished them as I always have with CA. Both pens looked great the first couple days then they both turned cloudy. The finish is still smooth, the problem seems to be between the wood and CA. The amboyna in a few small places but the palm was solid. The both were polished and CA applied, no other waxes or polish was used. Never had this happen before, is it common on some woods, bad CA, Whats the problem?
 
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I have herd but not tried
On timbers that do not take CA to well you can spray them with a CA Accelerator first and let it dry and then apply your CA this operantly acts like a degreaser and helps the CA adhere to the blank.
As I said I have not tried this.
If you try this please let me know how it goes:)
 
I agree with Manny , it sounds like your blanks were not completely dry and now the moisture has tried to escape but is caught under the CA . If you did these finishes on a very humid day the surface of the blanks might have picked up the extra moisture then and the CA sealed it in .

Justin, you have heard right . On blanks that have natural oils in them , CA accelerator will clean the oils from the surface of the wood . It's also handy for cleaning sanding dust from open grained woods . Unlike Denatured Alcohol the accelerator has no water in it so it will clean without adding any moisture to the wood .
 
There are 2 Facts of Life for finishing wood.

1. Cloudy finishes are caused by moisture.

2. Dull finishes are caused by oils.

Like all things there are exceptions, and one of them is that residual accelerators in the wood can be still active and can be the cause of a cloudy CA finish.
 
Just a little frankenthread, but how does one use CA to do the finish on a wood pen? Do you just smear the CA on the blank and start buffing with a cloth right away? And does it require multiple coats to get the right finish, or is one coat sufficient?
 
PaulSF said:
Just a little frankenthread, but how does one use CA to do the finish on a wood pen? Do you just smear the CA on the blank and start buffing with a cloth right away? And does it require multiple coats to get the right finish, or is one coat sufficient?
Click to expand...

Have a look in the "finishing" section of the forum. There is loads of discussion and advice on CA finishing. There are also a few videos on youtube :wink:
 
I don't know if everyone will agree. But I have gotten into the habit of wiping, washing almost soaking (depending on oil content) every blank with acetone just before I apply my CA. It solved almost all my problems Ebony, Cocobolo, Blackwood just a couple of the oily woods I used to have problems with.


.
 
bruce119 said:
I don't know if everyone will agree. But I have gotten into the habit of wiping, washing almost soaking (depending on oil content) every blank with acetone just before I apply my CA. It solved almost all my problems Ebony, Cocobolo, Blackwood just a couple of the oily woods I used to have problems with.


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Bruce,
The problem with using acetone or DNA is that thay can caontain a small amount of water, thus you do not get rid of all the moisture. Try using CA accelerator.
 
Monty said:
Bruce,
The problem with using acetone or DNA is that thay can caontain a small amount of water, thus you do not get rid of all the moisture. Try using CA accelerator.
Click to expand...

That's even true if you get what is sold as "100%" alcohol. Once you open
the bottle, it starts sucking in moisture from the air. So it might work well
the first time, but after that ... :eek:
 
NewLondon88 said:
That's even true if you get what is sold as "100%" alcohol. Once you open
the bottle, it starts sucking in moisture from the air. So it might work well
the first time, but after that ... :eek:
Click to expand...

I know that is true with alcohol it will absorb and does contain water. But didn't realize acetone did.

Manny doesn't accelerator have an acetone base or something like that.
 
I have never heard of spraying the oily woods with CA first ... thanks for this idea. Will try it this week ; is there some sanding nessesery before aplaying first CA ?

Thanks again !
 
When I first started turning I had quite a few lost pens due to unstabilized wood that was not yet quite dry enough. One of the problems is that wood that is still to wet for pens, does not feel wet at all. I had them crack and shrink. I came up with two solutions. First I only use stabilized blanks whenever possible (some woods cannot be stabilized) I will not use a blank even if it feels dry for at least a month after I get it. I have had far fewer problems.
 
Wood is a tricky material to use sometimes. No matter how much caution you take it still has the possibilities to crack and shrink and do other things. I would turn the blank to near completion stage and then pull it off and either nuke it or let mother nature take it's course and let it sit for awhile. You can also soak it in some denatured alcohol ( not rubbing alcohol or even Jack Daniels)to draw the water out. Now if you are talking oils then that will not happen. There you just need to wipe with acetone before applying the first seal coat of CA. Just my thoughts.
 
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george said:
I have never heard of spraying the oily woods with CA first ... thanks for this idea. Will try it this week ; is there some sanding nessesery before aplaying first CA ?

Thanks again !
Click to expand...

As for sanding, different schools of thought on this subject. I will always sand/MM to at least 6000. Some only sand to 4-600 then begin finishing. I just want to insure there is no sanding swirls at all.
 
I know this thread is about cloudy CA, but prevention of moisture from wet/green wood is related and that is where I am headed with this:

There are many ways to dry wood (blanks), and the outcome will depend on method, temp, speed and your observation and control.

Several put blanks into a microwave and run them from 15 second intervals to 1 minute intervals and lower settings with a few minutes between runs. Or 5 minutes on defrost or something different.

Be careful, you can burn some wood and you can crack it. Some will distort, twist and bend. Still some of us use the Microwave. :rolleyes:

One way to tell if a 3/4 blank is green/wet, or not, is to put it in the microwave for 10 seconds on high. If it is fairly hot after 10 seconds in a place or two, it has plenty of moisture in it for sure and needs to be dried. If it is warm only, it will have some which may or may not be a problem.

For single blanks, or two or three that we want to use quickly, microwaves and watchful eyes are helpful. "Defrost" or "warm" for 3 to 5 minutes or so will be helpful.

A box with a 15 - 20 watt bulb under it or putting blanks in the attic in the summer or an oven on 120°F for a couple of hours. There are several ways to dry the blanks. IF you cut your own, cut them oversize to allow for shrinkage and allow for some twist/bend/cracking. The slower the better.
 
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Another way to test for moisture- a cheapie moisture meter. I got one a bit ago,a nd tested some blanks I wanted to use- kinda scary how wet they were... Definitely worth the investment, especially if you're going to do WWing in general, or bowls, or you just want a quick and easy way to tell.
 
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