Cloudy CA?

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MatthewZS

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Jul 22, 2010
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Location
Georgetown Texas
I'm hoping someone can tell me what's happening here. I'm no expert with CA finishes, but I've got the routine down pretty good I think. quick rundown on my procedure. When I finish a piece I sand the wood from 150 up thru 600. Mist the wood with water to bring up the grain and resand 320, 440 and 600. Let it dry, then apply 3-5 coats of thin CA. I don't use accelerator. Now at this point the CA looks fine. Next I wetsand with micromesh up thru 12000. Now when I get done with this.... SOMETIMES...... I get what looks like huge air bubbles under the CA. The surface of the CA is still polished but the CA in that area is .....white..... or foggy. I can see the woodgrain clearly, there is simply NO gloss to the finish. When it does this, no amount of re-polishing will do any good. I tried every way from sunday to get a photo of this effect but it just didn't come out. It literally looks like a half inch or larger patch of the finish is just cloudy, or more to the point, matte finished no matter how I polish.

Any thoughts on my rambling?

Thank you:)
 
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"Mist the wood with water to bring up the grain and resand 320, 440 and 600"


I could be wrong, but your "misting" with water may be causing the "fog" (no pun intended) on your CA.
 
Two thoughts:

- skip the misting, moisture can cause cloudy CA

- make sure you're not sanding completely through the finish, 3-5 coats of thin CA is fine, but easy to sand through if you're not careful
 
I don't know if this is your problem but sometimes when you sand CA, specially after only 3 to 5 coats of CA, what you are seeing is dull areas where the CA finish has been completely removed down to the wood. Also, sometimes since the CA is harder than the wood, sanding might indent the wood slightly. Also, it could be moisture from the wet sand that has risen to the surface. This could be do to the heat created when you are sanding the CA finish.

Just my 2 cents worth, not sure if it is helpful or even correct though.
 
I agree with the water idea. I have had this happen a few times on wood that I knew was not quite dry enough to turn, but did anyway. I have sanded the ca off and let them set in a dry area for a week or so and reapplied ca and have had no problem after drying a little. I had the same thing happen with cocobola (oily wood) and rubbed the blank with acetone or dna after removing the ca finish. this has worked pretty well also.
 
This only happens in.... oh, one out of 10 or 15 pens, so I never thought of the water but if moisture will cause CA to cloud it could be I've got some moisture hanging around longer than I realize. Either way this gives me a couple things to keep an eye on. I'll take the water out of the process. Thanks!
 
CA glue is the most sensitive to moisture of anything we can use to finish a pen.

Cloudy CA glue finishes are almost always caused by moisture in the wood. In can be moisture in the wood, but in this case you are adding the water. Quit.
 
Water is the most common cause of foggy or whitish patches in a ca finish. Dull spots are usually from sanding through the ca to the wood. Some woods just don't like CA no matter what you do. Some days you just can't get a ca finish to work out no matter what wood you are using. Some people are just cursed and can't do a ca finish no matter what they do, but you don't sound like you are in this group, so there is hope. Yellow socks seem to be something of a cure-all for ca problems, according to some people on here. I prefer dancing skyclad around a roaring bonfire of mistletoe and holly wood, (widdershins, of course) at midnight during a full moon, as it is not as messy as sacrificing hamsters. That's just my personal preference, though :-) YMMV
 
I don't mist my wood. I use the CA accelerator to do the cleaning and moistening .. I have never had a problem with cloudy CA this way. I may be new but had great teachers.
 
I'll throw my nickel in the collection plate....water BAD. I was using a damp towel to wipe off my blanks after sanding and prior to CA finish. Days or sometime weeks later I'd notice clouding in my finish. Now I wipe blanks down with Denatured alcohol and my CA finishes look like glass.
 
pensmyth said:
I'll throw my nickel in the collection plate....water BAD. I was using a damp towel to wipe off my blanks after sanding and prior to CA finish. Days or sometime weeks later I'd notice clouding in my finish. Now I wipe blanks down with Denatured alcohol and my CA finishes look like glass.
Click to expand...

You do realize that DNA is 70% or more water (read the label plus alcohol absorbs moisture from the air so a can that has been opened allot could be much higher) ? It's best to use either Acetone or accelerator , these have just a trace amount of water .
 
I use the accelerator. If you think about it's made for ca to cure. Not to mess it up. I believe if people complained about it messing up the CA it would be changed. Probably the best bet honestly. It cleans the wood right before I start putting CA on .. make sure that you let it dry before you put CA on though or your CA will cure way to fast.
 
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