Applying CA finish on a pen

[ekeogh]

Hi All

I hope someone is out there that can help me as I am a beginning turner.

I have turned several pens on both wood and acrylic and I want to finish them in CA finish

Although I know this takes practice and I have watched several YouTube videos my question is

I have a Rockler Excelsior midi lathe and the lowest RPM is 720 but almost everywhere I am looking every one is recommending 200 RPM ???

What do I do?

 

[KenB259]

Some people apply it with the lathe off, I don't subscribe to that method, but it can be done. I certainly apply CA faster that 720, I'm usually around 1000. You just have to develop your own method , but I can guarantee 720 is not too fast.

 

[studioseven]

FYI: Most turners don't apply CA to an acrylic blank. You should be able to sand then polish those type blanks to the same appearance as a wooden blank with a CA finish. There are exceptions to every rule but generally most don't.

Seven

 

[egnald]

I think I usually apply CA somewhere in the 600-700 RPM range. Without changing belts on my lathe, adjustments with the speed control are pretty coarse on the low end. I have the belt set to give me about 500 RPM on the low end and about 3600 on the high end.

The key is to develop a regimen that works for you, your equipment, and materials and then try to maintain consistency after you have tweaked it and it starts working well.

Regards,
Dave

PS Although I typically use CA on wood pens, sometimes I also use Pens Plus and occasionally OB's Shine Juice.

 

[RunnerVince]

I usually have my belt on the fastest configuration, which goes from around 1300 rpm to around 3800 rpm (or is it 2800? can't remember at the moment). I'll turn the speed all the way down when I apply my CA, but I occasionally forget, and have applied several CA finishes at 3800 rpm. I can't tell a difference between finishes applied at the two vastly different speeds, other than the spatter I get if I use too much CA at the highest speed.

 

[jcm71]

There is no need to apply CA at the lowest speed. Up until about 5 yrs ago I did, but I finally just got tired of changing the belt on my Delta. If one can believe the table on the lathe, I turn at 4000 rpm and when turn it down to 1350 to apply CA, without changing the belt. No muss (splatter) no fuss. I haven't looked back since.

 

[its_virgil]

720 is not too fast so carry on and learn to apply CA as a finish. You will soon develop your own technique which may or may not parallel another's technique.

Real authentic acrylic will not need a CA finish since it will polish and buff to a very nice shine. But, not all resin blanks are acrylic. Acrylic is not a generic name for any and all resins. It is a specific type of resin and making real acrylic blanks is not something that can be done in our home hobby workshops. Even many commercially available blanks will use the word acrylic incorrectly.

Personally, I do not normally use CA as a finish on resin blanks. Sometimes it is needed.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[wouldentu2?]

I apply thin CA at 1100 rpm with never a problem, at 1700 it will fling off. Why 1100, because my lathe is a 3 pulley with variable speed and I turn, sand, finish and polish in the 1100 - 2600 range.

 

[Dalecamino]

One more video worth watching. Ernie did all of his turning at 2500 and even says so in his video. We lost Ernie last month, but his legacy lives on in his videos. Worth a look.

 

[JamesC]

Hi All

I hope someone is out there that can help me as I am a beginning turner.

I have turned several pens on both wood and acrylic and I want to finish them in CA finish

Although I know this takes practice and I have watched several YouTube videos my question is

I have a Rockler Excelsior midi lathe and the lowest RPM is 720 but almost everywhere I am looking every one is recommending 200 RPM ???

What do I do?

I apply THIN CA At 800rpm sometimes faster with a blue paper shop towel folded over several times. I'll usually support the towel with a piece of old sandpaper to keep the glue off my finger. Keep applying layers of glue, you'll know when to quit. On some resin blanks it really adds a nice shine. (Alumilite) in particular but others as well.
Jim

 

[jrista]

Hi All

I hope someone is out there that can help me as I am a beginning turner.

I have turned several pens on both wood and acrylic and I want to finish them in CA finish

Although I know this takes practice and I have watched several YouTube videos my question is

I have a Rockler Excelsior midi lathe and the lowest RPM is 720 but almost everywhere I am looking every one is recommending 200 RPM ???

What do I do?

Remember that at a given RPM, the speed at the surface of the blank differs relative to its radius. For a pen-scale radius, 200rpm is pretty darn slow. Even 750 RPM in terms of "surface speed" is not all that fast. I've applied CA at 1000 rpm, as with the lathe I usually use for pens, the belt setting I usually use ranges from 1000-3800 rpm, and I don't like to change the belt setting if I can avoid it. At 1000 rpm its neither particularly slow, nor particularly fast, for the range of pen blank diameters I usually work with.

FWIW...unless you have some specific need (i.e. notable bubbles in the blank or something like that)...there is no reason you need to finish resins with CA. In fact, IMHO, most resins look best when polished to a proper shine on their own, and some resins can be polished/buffed to unparalleled level of shine (that not even CA can reach).

 

[leehljp]

There are a lot of smart and intelligent bowl turners here, but there are some that learned and believe that "slow is good" in everything. That is fine for LARGE bowls, but for pens - 750 - 1000 - 2000 is NOT too fast. Above 2000 or so, there is the danger of slinging the CA off. Not good for clothes,

Notice the chart below, it list the lowest diameter as 3 inches and indicates that 2000 to 3000 is fine for that diameter. Just think of what would be OK for a 3/4" or 5/8" diameter pen blank - 5000 rpm.

Another comparison:
1" diameter x 3.14 = 3.14 x 1000 rpm = 3140 inches per minute cutting speed. 261.6 ft per minute cutting/working speed.
12" x 3.14 = 37.68 x 200 rpm = 7536 inches per minute or 628 ft per minute cutting/working speed.

Those who write or tell you to turn a pen at 200 rpm do not know simple math. 1000 RPM on a 1 inch diameter blank has nearly 1/3 the cutting/working speed of 200 rpm on a 12 inch bowl.

It is the working speed that is important.

 

[wouldentu2?]

Apply your CA with the thin 1/16" thick thin craft foam available anywhere kids art supplies are. You use so little and it comes out so smooth all without getting it on your fingers.

 

[wouldentu2?]

 

[ZanderPommo]

Hi All

I hope someone is out there that can help me as I am a beginning turner.

I have turned several pens on both wood and acrylic and I want to finish them in CA finish

Although I know this takes practice and I have watched several YouTube videos my question is

I have a Rockler Excelsior midi lathe and the lowest RPM is 720 but almost everywhere I am looking every one is recommending 200 RPM ???

What do I do?

If you want someone to just video chat and demonstrate the method hit me up in a DM and I can show you. It's much simpler than many people make it out to be and in my personal opinion I've gotten to the point where I've about maxed out potential efficiency. Between the point of 600 grit sanded raw wood and 8 coats of CA polished to 12,000 grit generally takes me about 8-10 minutes.