blo - ca - ca

[ahoiberg]

has anyone else ever tried using a few layers of straight ca after applying a regular blo/ca finish?

just for everyone's info, i've been doing that with my last few pens with very favorable results... perhaps this is old news but i thought i'd report it anyway!

 

[Tom McMillan]

Hey Andrew---that's great---do you have any photos to show the difference as an example??

I use only CA myself.

 

[ahoiberg]

well, if you look in my album, the pen of the osage orange is blo/ca only and the walnut fountain or the mesquite slimline are the modified blo/ca/ca... i'll try and take a side by side of the two soon.

 

[bradh]

Have not tried it, but it should work. You are just combining the BLO/CA method with the CA method.
We would be interested in more details if you would like to share.

 

[ahoiberg]

happy to.

i basically follow don ward's blo/ca technique and then add a few coats of thin ca. after sanding those down to what i deem appropriate, i use hut plasic polish. sometimes 2 coats to get rid of any little pocks or scratches. after that, i use a white diamond wheel and then TSW. it works pretty nicely and i think the blo/ca is a lot easier to apply smooth coats of, obviously, so it helps provide a foundation for ca without so easily sanding down to the wood when sanding thin ca coats. i'm still trying to "perfect" it but it's held some really desirable outcomes so far...

 

[cozee]

I use straight CA from start to finish. Accelerator to set each coat, usually 3 of thick CA. I then turn to smooth them finish out with MM. I do coat with thin first if the wood is soft/porous. I rarely have any problems that cannot be attributed to air temp and or humidity. I only use BLO directly on the wood for popping graing or adding a bit of tint. I am a bodyman by trade and since CA is chemically urethane based, I finish it basically with the same methods that I finish automotive urethanes.