I got it!!

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avbill

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Oct 18, 2007
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San Bruno, CA, USA.
:smile: After talking to several of the members of the Northern/Central California get together I reread the instruction and spent 3 1/2 hours on 4 pens dealing with just CA finish. After polishing two of the 4 pens out I see where I need to take the finish off and redo them. But I know now how to get that beautiful finish again. It was that consistently what was giving me a bad time about. Why I'm redoing 2 is I did not see the sanding marks under the final finish. That's what sand paper is for!

So thank you Jay, Mark, Daniel, Dave, and Greg.

2 coats of thin CA sand
2-3 coats of thick sand through mm.
and Buff

I think I was making it too hard!
 
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Congrats Bill!!!

Yes, your sanding of the wood is critical. I try to turn it well enough that I can start sanding with 320; sadly I often have to go down to 220. I sand to 400 always moving the sandpaper side to side as fast as I can as the lathe spins slowly so I get cross-hatch sanding patterns and then stopping the lathe and sanding lengthwise with each grit.

Once I get to 400 I add the finish and start sanding again using the same method.

I wanna see some finished pens at the next gathering!!
GK
 
Many people don't see the necessity of sanding the wood beyond the minimum needed to get the sand marks out.

The degree of sanding before adding the finish is very noticeable when chatoyance (such as curly and lightly reflective grain) is concerned. At that point, it is not about whether the sand marks can be seen or not - but how deep the wood looks. The finer the sanding, the deeper it looks.
 
Hank,

The flip side of that is that you need some "bite" for the finish to adhere to. If you go to smooth then your finish can more easily be "popped loose" if the pen is bumped, etc.

At 400 chatoyance shows up just beautifully once the finish is on the pen.

GK
 
gketell said:
Hank,

The flip side of that is that you need some "bite" for the finish to adhere to. If you go to smooth then your finish can more easily be "popped loose" if the pen is bumped, etc.

At 400 chatoyance shows up just beautifully once the finish is on the pen.

GK
Click to expand...

Greg,

Actually no bite is needed for CA or even other finishes. Certain kinds of CA can adhere to glass, and so can many finishes. I sand to 12000 mm and even on oily ebony woods and CA sticks fine.

That's an old woodworkers tale that simply is not true - and this old woodworker never believed it either. :biggrin: And I never had a problem with other finishes sticking to 600 and 800 finished woods over the years. Back in the early '70s, I used to help a fellow who had an auto repair/paint shop. He regularly used 600 and 800 and higher sandpaper for preparing the auto for finishes. I started using that on woodworking projects too and never had a problem.

A scraper as pictured here and here can smooth wood much much finer than 400 sandpaper. Finishes stick to that kind of smoothness without a problem also.
 
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My most recent sanding schedule is using paper with grits of 150 (if needed), 220,320,400. Sanding vertically with each after sanding at medium-low speed.
I then use 600, 800,1200, 2000 at slightly faster speed. I then use MM 6000, 8000, 12000.
When I look at the blank with a dissecting microscope, there are no visible scratches.
This takes very little time. I haven't experienced any problem with CA not adhering.

Larry
 
I'm wondering if there's a common brand or brands involved with those who are successful with the CA finish. I try many of the techniques I see posted here, but my results are hit-or-miss. I use Stick Fast CA from Highland Hardware. What brands have you folks been successful with?
 
SRB said:
I'm wondering if there's a common brand or brands involved with those who are successful with the CA finish. I try many of the techniques I see posted here, but my results are hit-or-miss. I use Stick Fast CA from Highland Hardware. What brands have you folks been successful with?
Click to expand...

I use E-Z bond from Manny, as do many people here.
http://woodenwonderstx.com/WWBlue/NewGlueWS.html

I have used what ever is available in local hardware stores here in 1 oz bottles and they do as well as Manny's. My problem here is that I can't get bottles larger than 1 oz, even at hobby shops, so I use Manny's
 
I've used 3 brands and they all worked fine:

HotStuff from WoodCraft and hobby stores. I use their NCF aerosol accelerator for all CAs.
EZ-Bond - don't remember where I got it.
2P-10 was given as a sample during one of our regional meetings.

Actually, there is a forth brand that I got from my local Woodcraft but I can't remember the brand and they don't have it online. It also worked fine.

Oh, and I've used some of Manny's CA that I bought with a friend. It also worked.

Just don't use the "flexible CA" for your finish. :biggrin:
GK
 
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