Micro mesh
I'm having a problem getting a consistent CA finish on Redwood burl. Here's my process: Before the tube is installed I coat the inside and ends with thin CA. The wood is sanded to 12000 micro mesh; then 2 coats of thin CA, then about 8 coats of medium; then sanded to 12000 micro mesh again; then use Meguiares Scratch X2.0; then One-Step plastic polish. The problem is that there is a spot or two, mostly near the ends of the barrel, that are lighter colored and lack the gloss of the rest of it. The wood seems to be dry, so I'm doubtful it's moisture. Why is the finish inconsistent? Any thoughts are appreciated.
Buy a new bottle of CA just in case the CA you are using now is might of gotten hot and the CA is no longer good.
It would be better if you started of with fresh CA and a new technic.
Buy the stick fast Medium and the thin CA.
Newly turned Red wood burl ( wood ) will soak up allot of thin CA .
Put on a couple coats .
Then I apply the medium CA 4 to 8 coats .
I do not use the accelerator , I wait for each coat to dry by itself.
I have my lathe turning slow so the ca will level its self out.............
I use a Epoxy finish on pool cues and its nothing new to have one of my lathes on for a 3 or 4 days.
I have ac/dc motors and they run extremely cool.
I have one lathe that has a 110 AC motor that will over heat if left on for more the 5 or 6 hrs of operating.
My point is can you leave your lathe on for a hour or two so the CA doesn't sag on one side of the pen.
You might think of storing you Ca in a cooler or refer.
Micro mesh , I don't like using it, rather use nothing but 220 grit paper and Then the Meguiar's polishing creams starting with the heavy cut # 4 then # 2 the fine cut then # 9 the swirl remover then the show glaze .
Before I apply the show glaze and every thing looks really good I will turn off my lathe and polish the finish with the # 9 swirl remover.
It seems when you sand or polish the pen there will be micro lines in the finish going around the pen.
So I will do a finish polishing from end to end of the pen with the #9
then the show glaze.
Personally I used the micro mesh for a couple of years and never got the finish that I can get by using polishing creams.
Micro mesh gets hot, some times it melts to the finish.
Sorry but I am not a fan of Mirco mesh compared to the polishing creams.