With the hundreds of possible CA techniques out there, it's surprising how close everyone is in their methods, including me.
1. Dry sand blank to 400 grit. I always finish my sanding with the lathe turned off and sanding with the grain of the wood. I completely eliminate any circular sanding marks. I've never seen the need to go past 400 grit. If you can't see any sanding marks with your naked eye prior to CA, you certainly won't see them after your CA application. (The corollary is also true to some extent).
2. Clean off blank with denatured alcohol. Be especially thorough if it's an oily wood such as Cocobolo. Next a quick puff of air from the compressor to get rid of any lint or paper towel particles.
3. With the blank spinning at 200 rpm or slower, one coat of thin CA dripped directly on the blank with a folded paper towel (Bounty) under the blank used to spread the thin CA out for complete coverage. You can tell how avidly the CA soaks into the blank. If it's a lot, I'll do a second coat with the thin CA after spraying it with accelerator (I only use aerosol can accelerator - never the pump bottle).
4. Next I apply 10-12 coats of medium CA by placing a good sized drop of CA on a folded paper towel and and wiping it a few times across the blank, getting the layer as flat as I can. I alternate which side of the blank I start the initial wipe from. I use each corner of the folded paper towel so I get 4 coats with one piece. I use accelerator between each coat and proceed to the next coat immediately after spraying the accelerator.
5. I don't sand until I'm done applying all my coats. I then use dry 400 grit sandpaper at 350 to 400 rpm to knock the ridges off the CA surface until the entire surface is uniformly scuffed with no shiny "lines". I exercise care, particularly at the ends of the blank to make sure I don't sand too much CA away. I tried using 320 grit to speed this step up, but it was too aggressive. I always finish my sanding with the lathe stopped by going axially along the blank, eliminating any circular sanding marks.
6. I next square the ends of the blank using my
sanding mill. This needs to be done since the CA builds up unevenly on the ends of the blank during application. If needed, I will score the CA with a box cutter at the point where it adheres to my 60 degree cones to be able to remove my blank without breaking the integrity of the CA surface at the ends of the blank. I always turn between centers. A little wax on the cones helps prevent the CA from sticking, but I usually forget to wipe it on before I start. When I square the ends of the blank, I try to leave a thin layer of CA on the ends. If this is not possible (rarely), I'll wipe the ends on a piece of paper towel with a little thin CA on it to coat the ends with CA.
7. Next I wet sand using MicroMesh pads at 350 to 400 rpm. I skip the brown 1500 grit pad, as this is too coarse, and start with the green 1800 grit pad. Don't get overly aggressive with the green pad, since it's still relatively easy to sand through the CA to bare wood. I usually stop, wipe the blank down and inspect it under magnification to make sure I've sanded out all 400 grit scratches (which are parallel to the axis of the blank as per step 5).
8. It's smooth sailing after the green MM pad. With the 3200 (tan) and 3600 grit (burgundy) pads, I usually put a micro bevel on the edges of the blank as part of my sanding process. This ensures there is no sharp rim that you can feel if the blank is a little proud of the adjacent component piece after assembly. I try to aim for a few thousandths of an inch proud. If you are the least bit shy, then you can feel the edge of the component.
9. Continue through the MM grits to 12000 (gray). For the coarser grits, I wipe down the blank with a paper towel after each grit to prevent a stray particle from leaving a scratch mark. You should now have a glassy shine to your blank. But it's not done yet.
10. Using a buffer and Canton Flannel wheels, I next polish the blank using Formax Ultra 6163 (Plastic-Glo P-22, this is white and from
Caswell Plating) and finish with Formax Fine 6165 (P-112, this is beige colored). This completely eliminates the micro scratches left from the 12000 grit MicroMesh.