Ironwood and CA finish

[bzahn]

I am having trouble with the CA finish on iron wood. I found cloudy blotches under the finish in a few places. I removed the CA, made sure the ends were sealed so water couldn't get in, and then refinished it and the same thing happened again. I don't know if it was in the same places or not. I'm wondering if there is something inherent with iron wood that messes with CA, or could something else cause it?
Any ideas?

 

[egnald]

I have finished iron wood with CA many times without issue. I clean it with denatured alcohol before applying the finish and I make sure that it has had adequate time to evaporate before applying the CA.

Good Luck finding the solution to your problem! Desert Ironwood is one of my very favorite woods.

Dave

 

[d_bondi]

+1 for Dave's (@egnald) comment.

I do the same thing, only for oiler denser woods like this, I use acetone. I think it is a bit more aggressive at removing the oil in the wood that causes this.

 

[Mike]

I have finished several ironwood pen blanks with CA and no issues. Like Dave, ironwood is one of my favorite woods. I used the CA/BLO method with Starbond medium CA. I just finished my first blank with GluBoost and I like the results. The blank was urethane, so will have to try on wood to decide if I am going to continue using it.

Mike

 

[bzahn]

I have finished iron wood with CA many times without issue. I clean it with denatured alcohol before applying the finish and I make sure that it has had adequate time to evaporate before applying the CA.

Good Luck finding the solution to your problem! Desert Ironwood is one of my very favorite woods.

Dave

Thanks. I'll try doing that. Iron wood is a very beautiful wood and I'd like to get this to work right.

 

[BHuij]

Dunno that the wood species is your issue. I've had no problems using a CA finish on desert ironwood.

 

[leehljp]

Changing up the cause - I remember from long ago, a few discussions on something along the lines of "the pen that I just couldn't finish": There is the pen that just gives trouble and then (we) set it aside and go on making our other pens. Maybe later come back to that one pen and try again. No rhyme or reason why that one pen does that. Even doing another pen with a different blank from the same wood.

That plus other reasons - CA going bad; Not realizing that a drop of oil of some kind, or silicone, or alcohol, or water has come in contact with it previously, or that blank is not 100% dried or has its own oil more heavily in one or two spots.

 

[hobbymad]

Yeah as has been mentioned, its probably the natural oils stopping adhesion in places. I use the accelerator to clean the wood, it evaporates easily and I know for sure that if there's any left it would simply help the CA adhere.