CA FINISH NEED HELP

[dozuki]

I have been trying to copy the CA finish I see on the pens in the photo gallery and I just can't get it right. It is either to thin and looks a little spotty or its to thick and wavy. I tried using sandpaper, papertowel and waxpaper to apply the stuff and it just doesn't seem to want to work. Am I supposed to spray accelerator before or after i apply it and just how much sanding is needed to get that glassy look. HELP.

 

[Leather Man]

Hi Paul,
Welcome to the forum. If you look up some of Old Grizz posts, he goes into detail on CA finishes. He may even see this post and respond.
Ben

 

[JimGo]

Paul,
Did you try reading the articles on the main page on CA and CA/BLO finishes? I have had good luck with CA/BLO as a finish. I don't use accelerator, and I use 2 layers of thin and two layers of thick CA. Really gives the wood a shine, although it does feel less "wooden" than some other finishes.

 

[dozuki]

yes i tried the CA/BlO method and i couldn't get any build up. What are the amounts you should use one to another. Should there be more BLO or CA.

 

[JimGo]

Paul,
I keep my BLO in a small bottle to make it easy to pour. I just fold up the paper towel a few times, until I have about a 1-1.5" wide piece. Then I pour enough BLO to cover about a 1" square section near the tip of the folded towel. Not enough to saturate the paper towel, mind you, but enough to get it "wet". While the lathe is running, I rub the BLO on one of the turned and sanded blanks, getting a nice even coat on that piece. I then apply the first coat of thin CA, working my way from one end of the blank to the other. As I do this, I can see where the CA has been applied, because it changes the "shininess" of the blank.

Once I've applied an even CA coat down the length of the blank, I rub the paper towel back and forth a few times, until the CA is dry. At this point the CA on the paper towel has hardened too, so I switch to another section of the paper towel and repeat the process for the other pen blank. Once I'm done with each half, I look at the finish; if it is pretty even, then I switch to the thick stuff; if not, I repeat with another coat of the thin. In either case, I use a little less BLO on the 2nd through nth stages than I do the first time, but still enough to leave a little shine on the blank; otherwise, the process for the subsequent coats are the same as the first coat.

I've been lucky so far and not had too many problems with "orange peel" or other finish issues (of course, now that I've said this, Murphy is hopping in his car and driving to VA). When it has happened, I've started with 1500 grit MM to knock it back down and worked my way through the MM again, with the finish coming out pretty good.

Hope this helps! Oh, and PLEASE read my footer carefully...I've only done about 20 pens, so my advice should be taken with a grain of salt!

 

[ldimick]

My CA finishing is a bit different than Jim's. My first coat is thick because I only do CA on blanks that need some extra stability or even fills. I did find that the easiest way to get a good first coat is to make sure you get the BLO and CA to mix a bit.

Have you tried MM after three or four coats of CA? I tend to use MM on every CA finish just to smooth it a bit. But in order to really get it to work you need it to be fairly thick.

Also, remember that it is not friction polish and heavy friction is not necessary.

 

[rtparso]

I use a little different approch for CA. I sand to about 1500MM and apply CA with my finger (in a rubber glove) and keep adding CA until it stays wet then I use shavings to burish the CA and finish starting at 1500 and ending at 12000MM and then polish with lite Hut wax. I should add that I don't think that the CA is on the surface of my pens more like impregnated. The pens shine great and hold a nice finish slowly going from gloss to a satin finish.

 

[atvrules1]

Ron,
i tried your way and now am typinfg with one hand because the other is attached to my pen......any ideas for removal?
No, seriously, do you have the pen on the mandrel when you do that, turning or is it all done by hand away from the lathe?

 

[woodstump]

I use a technique similar to ron, but being a tightwad, I buy latex gloves from Costco ($8 for 300??) and cut the fingers off. Since I only use my index finger to spread the ca on as the pen is turning, I get lots of pens from a single glove befor I toss it. I can usually get a finish on a pen using 1 or two "fingercots". while I'm waiting for the ca to dry, the cot just slips off and it goes back on without touching the sticky part, or I just keep the finger pointing up while I do something else for 20 seconds.... my wife says i look like a proctologist with a single finger in latex sticking up in the airjavascript:insertsmilie('[}]')
Evil [):]

Originally posted by atvrules1
<br />Ron,
i tried your way and now am typinfg with one hand because the other is attached to my pen......any ideas for removal?
No, seriously, do you have the pen on the mandrel when you do that, turning or is it all done by hand away from the lathe?

[:0][:0]

 

[woodguy1975]

Applying CA is a bit tricky sometimes. I usually use the gloved finger approach, thick viscosity, and probably 6 or more coats. Then flatten with a skew and polish to 12000MM. Most folks don't beleive my pens are really wood because of the shin they have. It does give you a plastic feel to the pen, but will not tarnish with use. []