Newbie needs finish help

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MurphysPenWorks

MurphysPenWorks

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Messages
30
Location
Oklahoma
Hi all. I've been turning pens for a little while now and my skill level has increased each time. When first starting I was sanding them to 600 grit and finishing my pens with a simple coat of HUT Crystal Coat friction polish, which looked horrible. I asked one of the guys, thankfully a pen turner himself, at my local woodcraft for help and he turned me onto micro mesh, and using a 50/50 mix of crystal coat and BEHLEN topped with Renaissance wax. This was night and day compared to what my pens looked like before but I need to take another step to making wood look like glass like you all do on a daily basis. I have purchased a few pieces of some very choice looking wood from Arizona Silhouette and I want to make these look amazing compared to what I do now. I guess what I am looking for asking this question is just to see what you all do from initial sanding through final finish because I know there is no one answer. Thanks so much for your help, hopefully this all makes sense.:question:
 
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You've asked the question of questions. From what I've seen, most people here use a CA finish. Every single person that uses CA as a finish does it slightly different from everybody else. You will receive answers that will tell you what viscosity of CA to use, how many coats, how long to wait between coats, what to combine with the CA, which brand of paper towel to use, what to use other than paper towels, to spritz or not to spritz with accelerator, and even what color of socks to wear. All of them are right. Search "CA finish" to see what I'm talking about.
As a fellow newbie who is trying to figure all of this out myself, the best advice I can give you is to go buy some cheap dowels, and practice your finish on those first. Good Luck!
 
I have gone through many finishes looking for the right one.

I started with friction polish, then went to spray Lacquer and have gone through many types of spray lacquer and finishing styles to get a good finish that's simple, beautiful and hardy. I go from 150 grit through to 800 grit and then 0000 steel wool, I then apply BLO to make the grain pop and seal the wood. I have finally settled on string instrument lacquer as it expands and contracts with the wood and is fairly hardy. Like all lacquers, it can be very fussy.

Now, having said all of that, I am currently learning how to apply ca finish as it is by far the most stunning and the most hardy; it looks like a sheet of acrylic over the top of the wood. The learning process is a challenge, but will be well worth it to master.

Hope all that didn't confuse you too much.
 
Once you learn how to apply a good CA finish it's pretty easy to do. I used to dread the final step of finishing my pens, but once I gained confidence in my ability to apply a CA finish now I only dread rounding, drilling and squaring, lol.

My suggestion is to get some wood you don't care too much about or wont use on a pen, turn it round to larger than a pen size (do this between a drive center and a live center, no need to drill it. Sand it like you normally wood and apply your CA finish. You never even have to take it out of the lathe. Then take the finish off with a skew or other tool, resand and practice again. You can get 5 to 10 practice finishes in on each piece.

For me, getting it right is a combination of feel, sound and smell to know if it's going on right. You'll get the hang of it with practice. When I first started using a CA finish I could never get it right.
 
Well to answer your question, I sand the blank with 120, 240, 320, & 400 grit. Than apply 10 to 15 coats of thin CA. After the CA cures I wet sand with 400 & 600 grit and inspect the finish on the blank for flaws than mm to 12000 and apply Hut Ultra Gloss Plastic Polish.
And that is how I do it.
 
You will get lots of answers to this question. I'm also a relative nooby, and I'm still learning, but here's where I am in the process.

First, to get the best finish, keep the design simple. A design with lots of beads and coves is much harder to finish than a fairly plain design. And if you are working with wood, it's the wood itself that you are trying to show off.

Second, I use CA on pens. I've found that WOP works very well on bottle stoppers, but takes much more time. I'm sure that it would work on pens, but I would like the process to move a bit faster. So I use CA.

Third, the process that I'm currently using is:
- sand through the grits - 150, 220, 320, 400, 500, 600 and 800.
- wipe with DNA (or acetone)
- I use blue paper towels to apply the initial coats of finish.
- with the pen spinning at low speed (and wearing a face shield), apply a thin coat of either BLO or Teak Oil. I prefer Teak Oil on woods with dramatic grain.
- put a few drops of THIN CA on the oil-soaked paper towel, and wipe down the spinning pen until the surface is dry.
- apply a bit of oil to a new bit of towel, and then put a few drops of THIN CA, and then wipe down the spinning pen until the surface is dry.
- repeat the last step until the surface is sealed and hard. Wait a few minutes for the CA to thoroughly cure.
- wipe the spinning pen with 4/0 steel wood.
- put a few drops of MEDIUM CA on a bit of plastic bag, and wipe down the spinning pen.
- repeat the last step several times. I typically apply 6-8 coats of MEDIUM CA.
- allow the CA to cure thoroughly.
- sand the pen lightly. The grit depends on how smooth the surface is, but I never start below 400, and I never go above 800.
- using micromesh, WET sand the pen. I usually omit the lowest grades of MM, but go all the way through 12000, but only sand for a few seconds with each grade.
- dry the pen, and then polish with a plastic polish.
 
Here's my Medium CA/Baggie routine...

• Sand through the grits to 600 on the lathe.
• Hit the blank with denatured alcohol to clean it and create a dry surface.
• Put a small plastic baggie on your finger and put it under the blank on the lathe.
• Put five or ten drops of medium CA on the top of the blank.
• Hand crank the lathe while moving the plastic baggie back and forth until the CA is smooth around the blank and even overlapping onto the bushings.
• Walk away from the lathe and let the CA cure for 2 hours... overnight is even better.
• Wet sand with 600 until smooth (not too much or too long!) and then go to MM pads.
• Chisel off the CA on the bushings right up to the edge of the blank and you're done.

I wasted a lot of time and expensive paper towels with other methods and this one works great for me. I just can't finish my pens immediately so delayed gratification is required.

There's a bunch of ways to effectively apply CA glue to a pen blank so the one that's best for you is the one you can do consistently and you're happy with I guess. Try them all and choose one.
 
Lots of good advice here. The only thing I disagree with is wiping a sanded blank with DNA. IMHO, DNA should NEVER be used after sanding, ESPECIALLY oily woods such as cocobolo or BOW.

DNA attracts moisture. It is almost guranteed to produce a fog or haze in a CA finish over oily woods. Acetone Also attracts moisture, but the effects are not usually as bad as with DNA.

If a short blast of "canned" air (dust off) will not clean the sanding debris, my next choice would be a 1 second shot if aerosol CA accelerator.

Additionally, with oily woods, I omit any BLO from the CA finish.

Respectfully submitted.
 
Andy, you make an excellent point about DNA wiping. I rarely turn oily wood... I work almost exclusively in PR and plastics with a detour into amboyna now and then, and I always blow it clean with compressed air as you wrote.
 
Thank you all for responding. It took me a bit to reply because I've been researching CA finishing on here and about everywhere else I can find it. I am giving it a go on a bunch of scrap pieces of am going to use as samples for an upcoming craft show in about a month. My first try was pretty much a failure, lots of bubbles and cloudy spots. I thing I was simply going too fast, not waiting long enough between coats. My second try is going a lot better so far. This is how I am progressing so far.

After turning I sanded the blank to 600 grit and applied a layer of HUT crystal coat. Crystal Coat is the only thing I have right now to make the grain pop and after reading the back and forth bits about BLO and DNA I figured I try something different and see what happens. Then I applied two coats of thick CA, again only thing I have at the moment. Sanded again with 420 and 600. Right now I am waiting for coat 5 to dry and I'm probably going to go with 10 or 12 total before micromesh. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

P.S. I only have red socks....hopefully thats not a bad omen.
 
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Sorry Andre , it's gotta be yellow socks :biggrin:
As for the rest of it , anything goes . I use thin CA which both seals the grain and makes it pop . I use something called "Delrin strips" , plastic strips that are reusable but have also used paper towels , wax paper , sponges and even the plastic baggies that the kit parts come in . I like the delrin strips because they last so long with just an acetone cleaning once and a while .
As was said find a method that works for you and learn to make it work consistantly . Do get the yellow socks though and learn the chant :biggrin: They won't really help you but they will make me feel better knowing I'm not the only fool here :redface::biggrin:
 
Be sure the yellow socks are argyle and you will get the chant after 50 posts. That is your right of passage..... Meanwhile find a good CA (Monty's is my choice) and practice.
 
+1 on what Ben said... It may also be geographical/climate... What works at sea level by an ocean at 100F may not work for someone a mile high in near desert conditions at 42F...

I started with Russ Fairfield's video on Youtube, then Ed from Penn States Industries "I can't believe this finish", and they trial an error... lots of error...

Scott

bensoelberg said:
You've asked the question of questions. From what I've seen, most people here use a CA finish. Every single person that uses CA as a finish does it slightly different from everybody else. You will receive answers that will tell you what viscosity of CA to use, how many coats, how long to wait between coats, what to combine with the CA, which brand of paper towel to use, what to use other than paper towels, to spritz or not to spritz with accelerator, and even what color of socks to wear. All of them are right. Search "CA finish" to see what I'm talking about.
As a fellow newbie who is trying to figure all of this out myself, the best advice I can give you is to go buy some cheap dowels, and practice your finish on those first. Good Luck!
Click to expand...
 
Okay, third try and I think I've got it....maybe...I hope...

Sanded to 600 grit, HUT Crystal Coat, and 10 coats of Titebond thick CA. Let it cure overnight, then 2400 through 12000 micromesh and HUT plastic polish. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but let me know what you think.

1_073.JPG


It's just a bunch of scraps (redheart, african mahogany, bubinga, yellowheart, and zebrawood) that I am going to use at a show as samples for custom orders.
 
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