Hi all! I've only managed a decent CA finish for a few month and am looking into ways to make it faster.
Right now, my most reliable routine is to apply 10-12 coats of thin CA smoothed with BLO. I wipe excess BLO with a clean paper after each layer cured, sand 600 both lathe running and stoped, clean the CA dust and move on to the next coat. Once done i let it sit overnight, then use wet MM all the way to 12k and finally buff it with a flannel cloth and blue paste.
That works rather well, but it is a bit tedious... especially on dual barrel kits.
One bottleneck is sanding in between layers, so i tried applying several coats in a row before doing a bit of sanding, but in the end, the finish is not glass like - i can see very thing circular marks on the highlight in bright sunlight.
I tried medium CA but it produces a lot of grooves that are hard to sand off... I tried without BLO but the cure time is way longer and the surface not as smooth so more sanding again...
Any advice welcome! :wink:
Thanks
Pat,
Your process is certainly tedious and I doubt that, it produces the very best deep finish and shine on the barrels so and because you are asking for quicker and more consistent top finishes, this is what I do...!
No BLO what so ever, pure thin and medium CA and accelerator, wood sanded up to 400 (dry) clean with accelerator or acetone, use compressed air to blow any dust in the wood.
Most blue paper towels are better than the kitchen white stuff and you may find then on industrial cleaning companies as they are used often in mechanic and other work-shops as hand cleaning towels.
Instead of putting the CA in the applicator (paper towel), turn the lathe speed to about 800 rpm and with the applicator under the barrel, run the CA bottle (with the long nose applicator, cut in a slight angle to match the angle of the application over the barrel and run both (the paper applicator and the CA) from the tail stock to the head stock, making a constant drip with the CA. When you get to the head stock, run the paper towel applicator back to the tail stock, with a gentle touch on the applicator but as fast as you can.
Don't go backs as forwards with the applicator, as it will get stuck to the barrel, do this movement (tail-stock-head-stock-tail stock) only once per coat. Start with the thin CA and give it 2 or 3 coats depending of the wood, before you start the next application, give it a quite burst with the accelerator. After a couple of coats with the thin CA is time to go for the medium CA and without touching any sandpaper, repeat the process 10 to 15 times.
The amount of ripples and their size will depend of how gentle/hard you used the paper applicator and how fast/slow you run the CA coats so, a little practice on some rounded wood, will correct and perfect the movements and times.
Now remember that, you need to cover the wood with enough CA to be able to get that deep and glossy finish, the biggest mistake people do when applying CA is that they want to see a smooth finish all the way through so they use the sandpaper in between coats or every couple of coats not realizing that they are simply coating with CA and removing what they did, making that a never ending process.
Now in regards to the "ridges" that you will get, regardless, they are nothing to worry about, in fact they are an indication that there is plenty of CA over the wood so, how do you remove them...???
Again this is where many people go wrong and endup cutting through all the CA coats into the wood, creating those "dull" spots that are most irritating/frustrating after you though that you were done with it...!
Well, the secret is a combination of 2 things, the first one is to finish your session of coats with the last 2 coats with the same thin CA you started with, as and while the CA is going over the wood at fast rate, the CA is not totally cured even though you may have used the accelerator so, finishing with the thin CA is like using the CA thin viscosity to repair/flatten/fill the valley's and smooth the high spots.
You still have ridges but a lot less pronounced and easy to smooth out and again, this is where people take more than what they should off the CA on the barrel(s) by trying to sand those ridges with the lathe turned on. You simple get a container with clean water and a combination of wet & dry good sandpaper grits 600, 800, 100, 1200, 1500, 2000 and 2500 (more if you wish), starting with the 600 but with the LATHE SWITCHED OFF, wet well the paper/pad) and sand the barrel longways only. Don't use too much pressure and the 600 grit will remove more than what you thing. Manually rotate the spindle while you rub the blanks surface all around. Use the water to you advantage and pours a little over the blank to make sure you are not going too far. You don't need to remove all the marks at this stage as you still have all the other grits to go through, otherwise by the time you finish, you removed all the CA on gad on it.
OK, now that you removed 90% of the ridges, switch the lathe back on again and start working the other grits, this time you do it with the sandpaper over the barrel as it rotates, normally a 3 quicks and gentle passes is sufficient, changing the grits as you got. Again, make sure the paper/pad is well wetted...!
When the wet sanding is over, use a dry and clean cloth/paper towel to gently clean any water over the barrel(s), compressed air is a good option together with the paper towel. You are now ready for the last stage which is the polishing compound that will finish the barrel(s) surface.
And no, my system is not BETTER than everyone else's, (you knew that this was coming, huh...???:wink
but, I can say that, there are a couple of "steps" in my process that have resolved the problems that I was having with the CA system, when I started and still, I'm yet to see anyone (correct me if I'm wrong...!) that have made the suggestion to use the thin CA to smooth the ridges out, instead of sanding...!
:wink::biggrin:
My suggestion is, practice on a piece of rounded wood of diameter and length identical to the pen barrels you turn (for timing and speed), this will take the pressure/stress out of trying something new on a quality blank already tubed and shaped/sized. You stuffed up...??? who cares, sand it down and start again, pure and simple...!
Now, if any of what I said feels confusing to you, no problem, simple ask the questions, and I shall give you the answers...!:biggrin:
Good luck,
Cheers
George
