Looking for some help!

[Shelt71]

I need some help trying to figure out what is the best finish for purple heart. I have tried numerous times on differnt days trying to put a BLO/CA finish on the blanks only to continue to have them fog. I wiped them down with acetone, before finishing. No wet sanding. Sanded to 600 then applied finish. Any suggestions? I will welcome them all! Thanks

 

[Jim Burr]

Hi Bob,
Are you using accelerator on the CA? Sometimes CA can fog if to much accelerator is used at to close a range. I like to hit each coat from 2-3' away for just a second. Good luck!

 

[bradh]

There a few things that will cause CA to fog. Loctite used to have a good article on this, but I can't find it now. I have to rely on memory and that is always dangerous these days.
Too much accelerator has already been mentioned. Fogging can also come about from too much humidity, such as wet sanding before the finish sets or even extreme humidity in the air.
Too slow a "drying" time has also been reported to cause fogging. If the wet CA is not allowed enough "air", it can fog as the finish takes a long time to set.
These are a few things I remember from the old Loctite article.

 

[RussFairfield]

Brad said it all.
As a general rule for all finishes, not just CA glue - fogging and cloudy is from moisture, and dull and lossing the gloss is from oil. Moisture is usually from wood that wasn't as dry as we thought it was or from wet-sanding. Oil is usually from what is naturally in the wood, but it can also be from our fingers.

Moisture is more of a problem with CA finishes because they are almost impervious to moisture and the moisture collects at the wood surface under the finish. Other finishes allow the moisture to escape through the finish film.