Help with dyed black walnut

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swanny70

swanny70

Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
71
Location
Monticello, Wi
Need help from my fellow IAP members. Making a pen for a customer out of dyed black walnut. I have applied CA 3 times and 3 times I have had to take the CA off. The CA turns white and has bubbles in it. I apply CA and then spray accelerator. What am I doing wrong????
 
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You might try waiting about a minute before spraying the acelerator. I have been using one drop of ca and letting it dry by its self then reapply the ca and wait about a minute then spraying that coat with acelerator. What I found is the coat of ca applied after the accelerator dries very quickly without more acelerator.
 
Use the thin Ca for several layers first to seal the wood, then the medium and let it dry by itself for 30 seconds to a minute before using the accelerator on each layer.
Even better the Stickfast wood finishing CA is less likely to do funny stuff when you hit it with accelerator, it's been reformulated.
 
Black Walnut is such a booger. It's hard, it dulls my tools, makes me itch; but oh when it's done, does it make your eye go big!

I had some blanks that had been setting on the shelf for 4+ years. Glueing the tubes with CA and 7 of 8 blanks I had enough time to get the tubes in before the glue set, 8th one set before I could get the tube 1/2 in (often see that with green wood). Also had a nice chunk of 6X6X12", soon as I cut it away from the anchor seal, sucker cracked before my eyes, and the next few days later cracked about 40 times more. Wish I had a moisture meter to see what its actual % was, but setting in a dry place that long, it couldn't have been high.

If you are applying the CA with bushings on, just touch the bushing and see if its tacky. Takes the CA a little longer to chemically react with steel than itself or wood, so if its dry on the bushing, "should" be dry on the wood. That will give you a general idea of how the CA is going to behave in your current conditions.
 
Put 1-2 coats of BLO on before the CA. This will seal the dyed wood and prevent the clouding. Then, as others said above, several coats of thin ca without accelerant waiting 60 seconds between coats. Then accelerant followed by medium CA.

With CA there is no one right way, only the way that works for you.
 
It sound like you used medium or thick CA.

If you did, you do need to wait before hitting it with accelerator.
What's the temp where you are applying your ca? That will also influence the wait time.

If you use thin CA (and apply it sparingly) you can usually hit it with accelerator immediately. Colder temps could influence that as well.
 
Moisture is being trapped under the Ca from somewhere. Either too much moisture in the wood or each coat of Ca has not had time to cure. I can use thin Ca with accelerator as fast as I can appliy in the Texas summer. In winter/cooler temps I give each coat of Ca a minute or two to cure.
 
:at-wits-end: Sounds to me like you are using thin CA and adding accelerator over the top. Thin CA and acceleratorl tend to bubble, turn white, and smoke when used together. Try using gap filling or thick CA and accelerator for your finish, there is no adverse reaction, you can repeat coats, and it takes less CA to build up coats. At least it works for me. Jim S
 
As you've read, there are many possibilities, but without seeing how much and what kind and how soon you're using accelerator, it's hard to find you a definitive answer.

I'd suggest:

Apply thin CA for the first few (3-4) coats, with no accelerator - just allow a minute or two between coats for drying. A light touch will tell you if it's still tacky (wet). Wait until it's not tacky for the next coat. Patience, grasshopper. :smile:

Then after a few coats of thin, you can do a few coats of medium. Let each coat dry for at least a full minute, then give it a light spray of accelerator. Give it another minute or two to do it's job - don't rush it. I like the aerosol cans - the "pump bottles" I've tried have been harder for me to control, giving me larger droplets instead of a fine mist.

See if that helps...
 
Thanks, guys! I am using thin CA and then adding accelerator. I put denatured alcohol on it last night. Today (because of the 8" of snow) I will try finishing it again.
 
Hey, thanks everybody for helping me through this problem. I think I finally figured out what was going on. My basement is hovering around 65 degrees. I put 1 coat of CA on and let it sit for 1 hour. I then repeated this 4 more times. At the end, I sprayed the accelerator and then MM to 12000. Looks great!!!
 
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