Having the worst time with CA glue finish- help?

[sbwertz]

I use William Young's technique, but with one change. I keep a little 1 1/2" end off a used folded paper towel and use it as a pad under the towel I am applying the CA/BLO with. It protects my finger from sticking and burning through the paper towel.

 

[LeeR]

I read with fascination about all the concerns of fingers sticking, or incidents of fingers getting stuck, when applying a CA finish. Please do yourself a huge favor and go buy a box of 100 nitrile gloves at Harbor Freight (often on sale for $5-6), Home Depot, or your favorite hardware store. I re-use nitrile gloves numerous times, until they get worn out. You also want to use them with epoxies, which can be very toxic, and absorbing them into the skin over has caused plenty of illnesses. I am a model builder, and amazed at the stories I hear of illnesses from direct contact with various solvents and glues.

 

[its_virgil]

Here is the link to my website and CA glue and boiled linseed oil finish.
http://www.RedRiverPens.com/articles scroll down the list and you'll find it.

Russ Fairfield and I visited often about using CA glue and boiled linseed oil. Russ put the oil on top of the CA glue and I put the CA glue on top of the boiled linseed oil He introduced me at the Utah Symposium last year, where we were both demonstrations, as the guy who did the CA glue and boiled linseed oil finish backwards.


Do a good turn daily!
Don

Could you post a link to redriver ?????????

I cannot find the site. Thanks, okiebugg errrr Jim

 

[sbwertz]

I read with fascination about all the concerns of fingers sticking, or incidents of fingers getting stuck, when applying a CA finish. Please do yourself a huge favor and go buy a box of 100 nitrile gloves at Harbor Freight (often on sale for $5-6), Home Depot, or your favorite hardware store. I re-use nitrile gloves numerous times, until they get worn out. You also want to use them with epoxies, which can be very toxic, and absorbing them into the skin over has caused plenty of illnesses. I am a model builder, and amazed at the stories I hear of illnesses from direct contact with various solvents and glues.

You want a heap of hurt, let that CA go through the paper towel, stick to the glove, and kick. You can't get that glove off fast enough DAMHIKT.

I have also had the glove stick to the rotating work and almost tear my finger off. (Not glued to the work, just the natural stickiness of the glove adhered to the smooth spinning wood. I just held a gloved finger against the work to see if it was smooth, and the glove caught.) And those nitrile gloves are TOUGH. Now if I use a glove, I use the latex that will tear away in an emergency.

 

[its_virgil]

I must agree. I don't like anything except paper towels coming close to a spinning piece of wood with CA glue. That's a recipe for an accident. I have tried the glove route and wasn't happy with my experience. Although I don't use anything except the folded paper towel some use the little baggies in which our pen parts are packaged. Slip the little baggie over the finger and under the applicator of choice and no glue gets on the finger.

Actually, CA glue on my fingers comes off easily in the shower with a pumice stone.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[robutacion]

Well, while the OP poster was requesting help with his CA finish, he certainly had plenty of that and no point in me adding my CA applying system to the already large list of possibilities, mine is a straight CA with accelerator between every coat but no BLO...!

Anyway, the other very important issue that keeps coming back in this thread and so many others of identical nature, is the fact that, the burn from the CA, or should I say, getting the applicator stuck to you finger to setting stages, is a lot more than painful, it is indeed, agonizing.

I have had it pretty bad with nasty burns and loss of skin, taking days to settle and stop aching...! I have tried lots of stuff but nothing did work as what I use now and as far as I believe, anyone will be able to find this product to try it out...!

So what is it...??? well, is something that sticks to your glue finger, feels like nothing is there but, is insulates the heat from the curing CA, and stops the glue to go thought.

So, what is this "magic" product...??? now think, what do you know that has the properties I just mention...??? got it....????





























That's right, is that silver coated, heat resistant tape that you buy to repair mufflers. Absolutely efficient, very inexpensive, considering that you only need to cut about 1 square inch to cover your finger tip, doesn't affect the holding of the applicator nor the way the CA is applied and felt on application, stays in the finger until you're ready to take it out and most importantly, you don't have to be loosing your finger-prints skin impressions, all of the time...!!!:wink:

Have a go, you will be glad you read this post...!:biggrin:

PS: I have just added the pic of what I meant, I never though in taking a pic of it before but now that the issue come out, here it is...!
Cheers
George

 

[jfoh]

You can take a piece of scotch tape and put it on your finger under the paper towel. Then if the towel becomes saturated, it glues to the tape instead of your finger. You can peel the tape off your finger in a second if you have to. Less chance of getting the tape caught in the turning pen also. I use nitrile glove when glueing but not when finishing.

My major gripe with CA is long term health concerns. I think that like Snakeskin blanks come in two type, those which have cracked and those which have not cracked yet, people who do a lot of CA finish come in two types. Those who are sensitive, read allergic, and those who are not yet allergic. If you do enough of them, and get repeatedly exposed to the fumes and maybe worse the dust from sanding the CA finish over time I think that everyone will have allergic reactions. It is a fast finish, fairly durable but with major long term health issues and not worth the risk to my aging body.

I would look for alternative finishes if you can. Most of my pens these days are getting Q. Lac. or Enduro finishes. Longer learning curve, more time between coats and more time to dry or harden between steps and assembly. Where I use to cut, drill, glue, turn and finish a pen in the same night I now take maybe a week of ten days for the pen. The finish takes maybe 15-30 minutes total spread over ten days. Most of the time it is just curing and is in a dust free finishing box.

How many people do you know who have posted about allergic reactions to these finishes compared to CA allergies? None that I have read but I am sure a few exist. Maybe one for every fifty CA problems. I like those odds better and the finish you get with Q. Lac and Enduro is getting to be very near what I had with CA.