CA/BLO observations, am I right?

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pmpartain

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Ok,

Tried all the finishes (enduro, friction polish, lacquer, etc., not plexi). I've settled in on CA/BLO. I've been able to get a pretty good shine. Some almost glass smooth. Here's what I seem to have learned. Looking for agreement or not here.

I started with the method that Russ Fairfield describes on his DVD.

I'm using Viva paper towels (duck now).

Seems to be critical about the amount of CA you apply to a barrel. I've gone to putting 4 or 5 drops of CA on one half of the pen, then puttig 4 or 5 drops on the paper towel and doing the other half. Before when I put 10 or so drops on the paper towel, one half of the pen always got a heavier coat and a worse shine.

You don't want to feel any drag on the paper towel when you hit the barrel with the BLO. Use extremely light pressure until you get a glaze of the BLO on the barrel on top of the CA.

It's not a bad thing to let the CA sit for a second or two before using the BLO. Seems to be a good thing to smell the fumes before using the BLO.

I'm not sure about this one, but if the CA is partly but not 100% cured and you have a bit of a rough coat going, you can squeeze the paper towel coated with BLO onto the blank and this smooths out the CA very slightly.

Similar to the paper bag trick, you can heat the CA with the bare paper towel to get a bit more shine without the paper bag.

Question - Is one coat of the CA good enough if you have a glass smooth coat and no bare spots?

Just looking to see if anybody has had similar results.

Thanks
 
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Originally posted by pmpartain
<br />
Question - Is one coat of the CA good enough if you have a glass smooth coat and no bare spots?
Click to expand...

I am a newbie to the CA finish, but have had a couple that simply looked GREAT after the thin coats. I stopped there, my thought, why screw up something I am very happy with?

I am sure there are might be durability issues, (more experienced folks chime in here) but if you have a solid seal on the wood with no holes/gaps, it should be OK.
 
I don't see the point of waiting. It just gives the ca time to harden with ridges that are a pain to get out. The BLO probably dilutes the ca some (anybody know?), but on a dense wood 2 or 3 coats seem to be enough. I've switched to the method where I put the blo on first, then (with the paper towel still on the barrel) drop some ca where the towel intersects with the pen, swiping back and forth six or eight times rapidly. I'm getting a much smoother finish that way.

One key for me is never letting my paper towel sit still. Keep it going back and forth and just kind of zip it off one end when you're done. NEVER try to add more or patch it up.
 
carl, i agree with you, i've never been able to patch a ca finish. i have to sand it all off and start over.

mark, i've tried the ca/blo and just the ca. to be honest, i can't really tell a difference with using the blo, so i don't. i have found that i get a much better coating by using two coats of thin ca first, as a sealer, then on to 3-4 coats of medium. mm to 12000 and if i want, a little buffing, and the shin pops right out.
 
I started out with c.a.using Fangars method,then I made a change,I quit using sanding sealer,and I think he did too? all I use now is Two coats of thin and two coats of thick,everything else is like Fangar does his finish,not always foolproof but most of the time it works,and yes all I use is VIVA.
 
The only time I use BLO anymore is to "pop" a grain if I think the pen needs it. If I do this I take the pen off and work on another, letting that pen sit at least over nightfor the BLO to dry or evaporate or whatever...insert your belief of choice. I'd had a couple of pens develop dull or flat spots or had them "bloom' under the finish. I attribute this to using BLO under the CA....or overly oily wood....again insert your belief of choice. So instead of chancing it and having to refinish another pen I now only use a CA finish unless for the above mentioned reason.

Mark like you I use a spot of CA only enough for one half the pen at a time, otherwise it'll end up just as you say too much on one not enough on the other.

I use Bounty Select-a-Size paper towels for the simple reason I can get a nice sized pad without wasting a lot of paper. The half sheets if folded right yield a pad about 1"x3" with 4 sides(one on each side and two more on the inside) I can get 16 applications of Ca out of one folded pad, if I control my size of CA drops.(this only works after I switch to meduim CA cause the thin soaks thru the pad rendering the inside layers unuseable.)

As to your question of one coat being enough, If you're going to sand and buff, or polish the pen, no one isn't enough.
I've settled into a routine that works for me and yes your mileage may vary, but I use 3 coats of thin CA as a sanding sealer and 3 to four coats of medium as a finish, followed by sanding, lightly with 400, 600,800 and Hut Plastic polish. This works for me ....doesn't mean it's gospel...lol
 
CA is super glue...CyranoAcrylate glue and BLO is Boiled Linseed Oil and several of us use CA glue either by itself or with boiled linseed oil as a finish for pens. There are several threads in the finishing forum on it use and how the CA finish is done. There are several sets of instructions in the library.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
Originally posted by JayDevin
<br />what is ca blo???
Click to expand...
 
I am applying the finish as closely as I can to how Russ lays it out on the DVD. I sand the wood all the way to 12,000 grit sandpaper if I think there is figure in the wood to show off. If not, I sand to 600 and hit it with steel wool. I then apply a coat of the thick CA followed by BLO. Wash rinse and tepeat 2 to 3 times more.

I've found that if you feel drag on the paper towel when you apply BLO, you get an orange peel in the CA. No drag = super smooth shiny coat. The amount of CA and how quickly you touch it with BLO seems to be critical.

I do have some problems with bare spots on the wood. I am guessing that the blank gets slightly out of round during sanding. The high sponts in the blank allows the CA to be wiped off, and the low spots collect CA. I'm afraid I'm not as good with my tools to get a smooth finish to start with. I have to smooth out the blank a bit with 150 grit to start.

Well thanks for the input from everyone. I plan to master this finish and move on to Enduro. Actually next I am going to try using shellac as a sealer coat followed by CA on some corn cob pens. I've found a brand of dyes with brilliant colors, but the CA reacts with yellow to make orange. Reacts with orange to make some osrt of brown. Blue turns out great. Red reacts with the CA to get like a liquid blood red (I actually like that reaction). I'll let you know how the shellac works.
 
when i used to use blo with ca, i always ended up with bare or dull spots on the finish... so once i got going with straight ca, i didn't turn back. i use only thin although i might give medium a go again soon. it always gunked things up for me in the past, but i think i was applying too thick of coats. of course, the thin works great, i'm just never happy with being complacent! [:D]
 
My understanding was that the BLO is to thin the CA a bit and help smooth it. Has anyone tried putting the blo on the PTowel, the adding the 4 drops of CA to the same spot on the towel, and apply both at the same time?

My thinking is that the BLO will help the CA flow....It will not be under the CA so it should adhere. You would be wise to kick it with this method.

Again, I am developing my CA tecnique and so far, I can work it and work it, and eventually I get results, but it takes WAY too long, and too much canding between coats is required.

Thanks
kirby
 
I apply the boiled linseed oil first and then the CA. Russ puts the boiled linseed oil on top of the CA. I've tried Russ's method and it works and I had no problem making it work. CA without boiled linseed oil works. In fact, I now do both ways(oil on top and oil on bottom) on the same pen...most of the time. I consider using CA as a finish to not be one of the more complicated finishes...and I think Russ, as well as others, would agree. It's just not as difficult to produce an excellent CA finish as is commonly thought. The mystique has been exposed. Maybe it was at the first, but we now have instructions from several who have excellent results and are easily duplicated. Pick one of the several sets of instructions and follow them. After proficiency is obtained, then maybe some tweaking can be done. Whatever finish is used will only be as good as the wood preparation underneath. I personally think that the pen surface is not properly prepared by many penturners. I read on a professional woodturners website a few days ago that there was no reason to sand a pen past 400 grit. He now has an email from me but I've had no response.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Originally posted by keapople
<br />My understanding was that the BLO is to thin the CA a bit and help smooth it. Has anyone tried putting the blo on the PTowel, the adding the 4 drops of CA to the same spot on the towel, and apply both at the same time?

My thinking is that the BLO will help the CA flow....It will not be under the CA so it should adhere. You would be wise to kick it with this method.

Again, I am developing my CA tecnique and so far, I can work it and work it, and eventually I get results, but it takes WAY too long, and too much canding between coats is required.

Thanks
kirby
Click to expand...
 
If I'm understanding you right, that's the essence of Munday's method, which is described in the first tutorial in the 2004 posts in the library. It's the guts of what I'm currently using. So far so good.

It doesn't seem to matter whether the CA or the BLO goes on first in terms of adherence. I've seen Russ post the same opinion if I'm not mistaken.

Originally posted by keapople
<br />My understanding was that the BLO is to thin the CA a bit and help smooth it. Has anyone tried putting the blo on the PTowel, the adding the 4 drops of CA to the same spot on the towel, and apply both at the same time?

My thinking is that the BLO will help the CA flow....It will not be under the CA so it should adhere. You would be wise to kick it with this method.

Thanks
kirby
Click to expand...
 
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