Craft foam for CA finishing

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
V

VotTak

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Messages
214
Location
Staten Island, NY, USA
I read here that craft foam is being used for CA finishing. Can we go deeper in that topic, please?
1. Where do you get you craft foam? What should be a price range?
2. What size(maybe color), thickness should I look for when shopping for that?
3. How do you apply CA? How do you apply BLO and CA using craft foam? How much CA needed? What thickness of CA used?
4. What happen after initial application? Do you throw that piece of foam away? Clean it? Keep on using on clean spot?
5. Anything specific while using foam in comparison with paper towel?

Sorry for a lot of questions. I've never used craft foam before.
Thanks in advance for your answers.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
1. any crafts store or maybe Wal-mart. a buck a sheet.(11"x17")

2. I've only seen 2 thicknesses - on about 3/32" the other about 1/4" - use the thin stuff. I prefer darker colors - it's easier to see the glue when it dries on the foam

3. Cut foam into squares about 1" x 1" - maybe 1x2. hold the 1" edge on the pen (while it was rotating slowly) and apply CA. Use the foam like a squeegee to spread. I don't use BLO. I use 2-4 coats of thin, then 2 or 3 coats of medium.

4. when the glue dries, flip the square over and use that side for the next coat. after that dries, I use scissors and cut off about 1/4" of the foam and the dried glue - and then reuse the same piece of foam several times. when the foam gets too small to handle - throw it away.

5. I no longer use paper towels for CA application.
 
I've used it for CA finishes.

1) You can find it at any craft store/Walmart. It's not very expensive, you can probably get an 8x10 sheet for $1-2 and cut it up into 1x3 inch strips.

2) the stuff I have is probably 3-4mm thick.

3) Same way you would with a paper towel, or any CA finish.

4) I stick with 1-2 pieces per pen.. You can rotate the piece around and use both ends, and flip it over and use both sides. (wearing gloves so you don't stick to it). Once I finish with the pen I throw out the piece.

5) I find that I get a smoother finish, fewer little ridges to sand out. Although it can be easy to apply too thick and get really large ridges if you aren't careful.

Test it out on scrap piece and see what you think.
 
The only thing is to test the reaction with ca... Put a drop on the foam and see if it starts to smoke. If not, it works great. If it does, it will cure before you can get a good coat on the barrel...
 
The Penguin said:
3. Cut foam into squares about 1" x 1" - maybe 1x2. hold the 1" edge on the pen (while it was rotating slowly) and apply CA. Use the foam like a squeegee to spread. I don't use BLO. I use 2-4 coats of thin, then 2 or 3 coats of medium.
Click to expand...

Just curious as to the RPM when you're doing this.
 
What type of foam is it? ... Is it spongy ? ... Is it white and "hard", like the molded foam you get as packing material when you buy a new electronic appliance ?
 
jsolie said:
The Penguin said:
3. Cut foam into squares about 1" x 1" - maybe 1x2. hold the 1" edge on the pen (while it was rotating slowly) and apply CA. Use the foam like a squeegee to spread. I don't use BLO. I use 2-4 coats of thin, then 2 or 3 coats of medium.
Click to expand...

Just curious as to the RPM when you're doing this.
Click to expand...

dunno.

I have a PM 3520A - so no digital readout.

If you've ever done any kind of CA finish, you know what is too fast by now.
 
I do pretty much the same as what The Penguin outlined. I apply at the lowest speed my lathe goes, about 500 rpm. I won't go back to paper towel.

Using craft foam wastes less CA because it doesn't soak in the foam. I also don't worry about specks of paper towel left behind and ruining the finish.
 
The Penguin said:
jsolie said:
The Penguin said:
3. Cut foam into squares about 1" x 1" - maybe 1x2. hold the 1" edge on the pen (while it was rotating slowly) and apply CA. Use the foam like a squeegee to spread. I don't use BLO. I use 2-4 coats of thin, then 2 or 3 coats of medium.
Click to expand...

Just curious as to the RPM when you're doing this.
Click to expand...

dunno.

I have a PM 3520A - so no digital readout.

If you've ever done any kind of CA finish, you know what is too fast by now.
Click to expand...

My old Jet lathe doesn't have a digital readout either, and I think the slowest it goes is around 500 or so. Was just wondering if application would be better served with something slower than that. I've done CA finishes on enough pens that I have more successes than failures of late, but am always looking for better ways to apply the stuff.
 
I agree, craft foam gets the best results for me. I don't have a speed readout, but about a No. 1.5 on my Robust which equates to about 450rpm. I feel the foam leaves a smoother surface resulting in less sanding/micromesh.
Additionally, the CA doesn't soak thru the craft foam and I haven't had my finger stick to it yet!!
Gordon
 
I have had better success using nitrile gloves. The foam didn't do it for me. Cut off one finger at a time for each pen. Disclaimer-this is not my original idea (few are). I learned this from this forum a couple of years ago. I use my life time supply of craft foam to spread glue on my tubes before inserting in the blanks.
 
only difference between using foam or paper towels is the amount of sanding, which I think is minimal with Abranet. Don't know if the cost is justified.
 
I finally picked up a single sheet of 2mm thick craft foam for the princely sum of $0.89. I cut a small strip, about an inch across and maybe 4" long. I tried using this instead of paper towels and pen component bags that I've used in the past.

I'm sold.

This was, by far, the best way I've ever applied CA to a pen. The sanding was a lot less, and I was able to successfully use medium CA. I usually use just thin since I've had the best luck with that so far, and the times I've used medium I've had to sand it back down to wood and start over.
 
magpens said:
I apply CA with my lathe turning at about 50 RPM (electronic speed control).
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'll have to try this. I do drill at about that speed and it works well. I usually take the lathe out of back gears for sanding and CA and just go with the slowest standard speed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom