bliorg
Member
Hi, all -
Second McKenzie Coyote click, this time in claro walnut burl. Truthfully, though, I was interested in trying a new finish. Cleaning out the garage/shop the other day, I found some vinyl sealer and Behlen's spray instrument nitrocellulose from a guitar project years ago. I've been doing a lot of CA finishes, and don't really mind the feel of the acrylic, but wanted to see if the lacquer gave a different feel, and a different clarity or look on a figured wood with a lot of chatoyance. Picked the claro burl for that.
Turning was uneventful. Sprayed the vinyl. Gave it a couple coats. Sprayed, dunno - probably 10-12 coats of lac. Let it dry overnight, probably close to 24 hours (can recommends 3 or more days, but I'm impatient, and it's not a violin, so...). When I do a CA finish, I take 1000 grit paper and lightly sand the rough finish along the length of the blank just to where the finish is scuffed and dull; I can see low spots that way and can level it fairly easily and quickly. Did that with the lac. Wiped down dry, then wet sanded with MicroMesh. Looked great, but sanded right through the lacquer in a bunch of places. Hmm. Started over, resprayed, more this time, and let cure for about five days. Progress as before, but a lot lighter hand (was not heavy handed before but).
Did better this time. The feel is distinctly different from CA - not less plasticy to me, but, dunno, has more tack, or grip, or elasticity. Very good clarity. However, did not flatten nearly as well, and there are still some wavy areas. Doesn't look awful, but nearly as flawless or flat as I can get with CA. More importantly, not as good as I can get with CA in about 10 minutes, versus almost a week with the lacquer. I suspect the waviness is the lacquer softening from friction during the we sanding. CA obvious doesn't do this.
I think there's potential here, but there's a lot of optimization to be done, and given the prolonged time for this first iteration, not sure I'm going to revisit this immediately.
The McKenzie pens is glorious, beautifully milled, and works perfectly this time. Happy with the pen.
Thanks for looking.
Second McKenzie Coyote click, this time in claro walnut burl. Truthfully, though, I was interested in trying a new finish. Cleaning out the garage/shop the other day, I found some vinyl sealer and Behlen's spray instrument nitrocellulose from a guitar project years ago. I've been doing a lot of CA finishes, and don't really mind the feel of the acrylic, but wanted to see if the lacquer gave a different feel, and a different clarity or look on a figured wood with a lot of chatoyance. Picked the claro burl for that.
Turning was uneventful. Sprayed the vinyl. Gave it a couple coats. Sprayed, dunno - probably 10-12 coats of lac. Let it dry overnight, probably close to 24 hours (can recommends 3 or more days, but I'm impatient, and it's not a violin, so...). When I do a CA finish, I take 1000 grit paper and lightly sand the rough finish along the length of the blank just to where the finish is scuffed and dull; I can see low spots that way and can level it fairly easily and quickly. Did that with the lac. Wiped down dry, then wet sanded with MicroMesh. Looked great, but sanded right through the lacquer in a bunch of places. Hmm. Started over, resprayed, more this time, and let cure for about five days. Progress as before, but a lot lighter hand (was not heavy handed before but).
Did better this time. The feel is distinctly different from CA - not less plasticy to me, but, dunno, has more tack, or grip, or elasticity. Very good clarity. However, did not flatten nearly as well, and there are still some wavy areas. Doesn't look awful, but nearly as flawless or flat as I can get with CA. More importantly, not as good as I can get with CA in about 10 minutes, versus almost a week with the lacquer. I suspect the waviness is the lacquer softening from friction during the we sanding. CA obvious doesn't do this.
I think there's potential here, but there's a lot of optimization to be done, and given the prolonged time for this first iteration, not sure I'm going to revisit this immediately.
The McKenzie pens is glorious, beautifully milled, and works perfectly this time. Happy with the pen.
Thanks for looking.
