Cocabolo & CA Finish

[LL Woodworks]

I have some beautiful cocobolo but am hesitant to make pens and finish with CA (my pen finish of choice). I know it is an oily wood by nature and was wondering has anyone had an issue- short or long term - finishing cococbolo with CA?

Thanks for the feedback

 

[lucky13]

I have done several cocobolo pens and I only do CA finishes, I have had no issues what so ever with any of the CA finishes on them. One thing I do before applying a CA finish is, I apply a light rubbing of Mylars cellulose sanding sealer.

 

[jcm71]

I have had no issues finishing Cocobolo with CA. Just clean with acetone first.

 

[Jim Burr]

^^ these.
You can use alcohol to clean the blank too. I'd start with 10 coats then wet sand...see where you are and more forward.

 

[edicehouse]

I have had no issues finishing Cocobolo with CA. Just clean with acetone first.

This and let it set for a few hours, the Acetone may react bad with the CA (had this until I talked to PTown)

 

[Scruffy]

Cocobolo finish

I have had some interesting results with finishing Cocobol. Attached are 3 pictures showing what I have experienced.

When I got the cocobolo blanks they were dark. See outside of of wood pieces.

When I cut the blank, the wood was quite lite see picture 12.

After a couple weeks, the wood turns orangy. See picture 13.

A comparison is in picture 16. (The other part of the segmented piece is teak.)

 

[seamus7227]

This is what i call the Cocobolo Transitions. The pen on top was turned a year prior to the pen below it. The bottom pen was recently turned when photo was taken. They both took an excellent CA finish.

 

[Scruffy]

Is there any way to halt the color change?

While both pens are good looking, I like the color of the latter a bit better.

 

[EricJS]

Yes, Cocobolo will darken. Usually losing all the yellow tones to a dark red color - but they're still just as beautiful.

I've had success using CA on Cocobolo after after making the following two changes: I started wiping down the blank with acetone immediately prior to the first coat of CA and I made sure the ends of the blank were sealed with CA before wet sanding.

 

[mmoncur]

I find Cocobolo to be very easy to finish with CA. I clean with isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel and let dry 10 minutes before applying the first coat of CA.

 

[mikespenturningz]

I have finished Cocobolo using the method in my tutorial in this forum many times and I always get a great finish. Take a look at it and see what you think.