I didn't want to hijack a different thread so thought I would ask my question separately.
I read a lot of post about the CA finish and it seems a lot of people use what I would consider an excessive amount of CA.
My question is why so many coats?
Are multiple coast just to obtain more depth or is there other advantages?
More depth - that is part of the reason but not the complete reason. But, have you looked at $500.00 pens, $1000 pens? The Shine, Depth of finish. Well done Urushi finished pens go for $2000 - $5000. A great finish adds $1000 to $5000 in the right markets.
Some people love the depth of a finish, finely polished. I spent 26 years in East and Southeast Asia (most of it in Japan) and different cultures and different people prefer different things. Over There, shine on top of fine craftsmanship is everything. Ask those who sell
pens for a living on this forum and you hear what sells the most (finely polished deep shine) 50 - 1 over flat finish. I grew up with flat work and oil finishes, but I learned to appreciate a good shine while overseas. I still love my tung oil finishes but on pens - oh the polished shine and I don't mean wax.
From what I have been observing on these post I wonder if the heavy coats of CA is partially the problem, from cloudiness to spots to cracking.
The problem of cloudiness, spots and cracking are not a problem of CA per se. They are mostly the problem of inexperience. The problem is - not understanding humidity, temperature at application, application techniques, storage of finished pen, and quality of CA, plus the way all these interact with different kinds of wood. Which woods expand and contract with humidity changes; which ones don't; Oily woods, soft woods, hard woods, green wood, dry wood each have different characteristics. I have had spots, cracking, cloudiness, and lifting of CA on the ends when taking the bushings off. I didn't blame the CA, but with each problem, began to explore the reason for it and I learned from it.
After a couple of years of pen making, I learned how to prevent those things. It was experience, and is experience.
I did not get into pen making thinking I could find all the answers in 6 months and be a genius at it. I was not a natural. I just attacked each problem until I learned what caused it for me and I learned how to overcome it in each situation, and not just one time but prevent that problem every time. That means that I experimented over and over until I learned how to overcome it in each situation. It wasn't a problem of CA, it was a problem of inexperience.
My tag line contradicts this, but with enough tenacious experience one can overcome and get what they want!
:biggrin: