Ca durability over time ?

[Petricore]

I really am in love with the CA finish, its by far my favorite I've done. My problem is, in talking with some wood turners (bowl mostly) they say they dont use CA to fill cracks anymore because after several years the CA starts to dry up and get discolored and brittle. Has anyone noticed this with pen finishes ? What is the oldest pen you have with a CA finish on it ? I really want to do CA for my pens, but dont want people coming back in 10 years when the pen looks like crud.

-thanks,
Linc

 

[gerryr]

I have a nearly 2 year old fountain pen that I use every day and it still looks brand new, except for the dent in it because the clip was loose. I know Russ is in a better position to answer this about pens than I, but CA has been used as a finish on pool cues for a long time and they're probably subjected to even more abuse than a pen. CA drying up, getting brittle and discolored? I find that hard to believe based on my experience and everything I've read here. I belonged to a local woodturning club and found that most of the members were not at all interested in finishing, except for walnut oil or BLO or similar oil finishes. I finally resigned from the club because it was apparent that they regarded anyone who only made pens as not really knowing anything.

 

[Petricore]

yeah I've noticed the pen turners are considered a little different than bowl turners. to each their own. I'm very encouraged by the fact that pool cue's use the finish Thanks for the info.

 

[Kalai]

I use CA alot and I have never had that problem, and I have bowls that have been repaired with CA that are over 15 years old and they still look good, my wife has a Red Hala hair barrett that I made and finished with CA andit it about 10 years old and looks fine.
CA is brittle and that is just the nature of it, if I were to glue say 2 pieces of somthing together with CA and I were to hit it against a hard surface it will break off at the CA because it is brittle say as apposed to 5 min. epoxy, but a CA finish should not get brittle in the sence that you see cracks developing, I hope this all makes sense and I hope this helps, aloha.

Chris[8D]
Kalai[]

 

[Petricore]

Thanks for the great info.