Finally doing CA finish

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neon007

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Well after alot of suggestions I gave CA a try as a finish. Great results! I have done several pens with a CA finish and they all turned out beautiful. That is until this last one. I don't know if I am using someones method. I just kinda went at it and it works for me. I sand up to 800. Then blow off and apply sanding sealer. After it drys I sand with 600 to prep for CA. I apply thin CA first just to make sure all pits are filled. I sand that with 600 blow off and apply thick CA. Sand 600 apply again. I do 3 coats of thick CA. Then I sand and polish to a glass finish. My problem came on my last baron I was working on. After polishing I noticed that one of the pieces had a cloudy spot in it. My question is what caused that spot, and if I sand back down to wood and start again will it happen again?? Thanks. I know someone knows exactly what happened. I think some people here know more about CA than the people who invented it. Here is a pic. Horrible pic but it shows the spot.

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keith,

my first thought was moisture or oil in the wood and i did a little searching on the site, remembering that russ had addressed this a few times, here's a few links to his posts regarding exactly what you describe, plus other CA problems.

post 1: http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20156&SearchTerms=russ,ca,finish

post 2: http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25884&SearchTerms=russ,ca,finish

hope these point you in the right direction.
 
There could be 2 problems. Either the wood wasn't as dry as you though it was, or you didn't wait long enough for the solvents in the sanding sealer to evaporate before sealing them under a film of CA glue.

If it is the wood, the moisture is drawn to the surface by the heat od turning and sanding. The problem can be usually be solved by waiting until it has cooled to room temperature before applying anything to the wood surface. It the wood was really moist inside, set the blanks aside for a week before sanding and finishing.

If the problem was the solvent in the sanding sealer, just wait longer to make sure it has evaporated before covering the wood with a film of CA glue, or don't use a sanding sealer. CA glue is a good wood grain filler and sealer, it is sandable when cured, and there is no waiting for solvents to evaporate.
 
Thanks for putting your input here Russ. I have not used sanding sealer on any of the CA finishes I have done and was thinking I might have missed a step somewhere. I am going to pick up a dead center and start doing my CA finishes off of the mandrel and bushings! The only problem I have had was when taking the bushings off the finish would lift at the edge. I usually use a razor blade and cut at the seam before I remove the bushings.

I have not had any problems on oily woods and tend to beleive it is a combination of luck and that I use kicker to clean off my blanks before I start the CA application.

Here are a couple of other tips that I have learned the hard way..

When working a wood that has inclusions such as cottonwood and you do not want to do stone inlay, get close to the finish diameter then use thick CA and put a drop to fill the hole. Do this for all areas that have voids that you want filled. This will leave you a bumpy surface which you will need to sand smooth before applying your finish.

Spend a little more when buying paper towels for applying CA finish. The expensive blue "shop" paper towels actually have a smoother surface than say viva or bounty and will give a smoother starting finish.

Wipe the blank down with a clean towel between coats of CA especially if you use kicker. You do not want any of that on the blank when you go to apply another coat of CA.

There is more but that will be for another post. Also if anyone likes to use Zap brand CA and want to get it for wholesale PM me.

Mike
 
Here's some "newby" ignorance... What's Kicker? I've been working with CA finishes this past week, but haven't run across that term in any of the articles I've read.

Mike G.
 
well all has been taken care of. I dont know if it was solvents or moisture. So I sanded all the way back to the wood and started again. this time it went perfect. Thanks for all the advice. I have been using plastic bage, the kind that the pen parts come in to apply my CA leaves a very smooth finish. Smoother than when I used paper towels.
 
Grats Keith. I actually had a peice last night that on a bead area of the blank the CA finish went south. I tried adding more CA and sanding but that did not work, so like you I sanded that area down and refinished with no problem.

I have heard of people using the plastic bags on CA finishes, but I always use mine for glueing the tubes. I put a bead of glue om the bag and then use a chop stick for applying it to the inside of the blank. Then I roll the tube in the leftover on the plastic bag before I insert it in the blank. I thought about using a bag for applying a finish but was afraid I would melt the bag onto the blank. I have smoking paper towels every time I put on a finish.[:0]
 
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