No CA accelerator? What to do in a "pinch"

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
dustmaker

dustmaker

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
334
Location
Gastonia, NC
I set about making some Jr. Gents as gifts for a couple of well deserving friends this weekend and realized I had only about a few squirts of NCF accelerator left. I missed the post about using Lysol, LOL, but I found a technique that works almost as well and wanted to pass it along.

I remember reading on here somewhere that CA requires heat to cure and that is why we tend to struggle with CA finishes in the cool weather. It was a little on the chilly side in the shop, so before I put any CA on, I would pinch the blank between my index finger and thumb and move them up and down the length of the blank to cause friction. This warmed the blank up. I found that if I dropped only 3 or 4 small drops of thin CA and smoothed them out with a piece of wax paper, the CA cured really fast with the warm blank, in like maybe 15 or 30 seconds. Oftentimes I could start to feel the CA get "sticky" even while spreading it out. Only during the times that I got sloppy and put too much CA on did I need to resort to accelerator (and usually then I had a few bumps to sand down). After a while I started using a shop towel between my fingers to keep from getting burned!

I don't know if anyone here has thought of using heat as an accelerator, but it seems to work pretty well. I suppose you could use a hair dryer or some such device as well, but I haven't tried that.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I usually see my thin set in 30-40 seconds with no accellerator needed. I tried a hair dryer on medium CA when I was in the same boat earlier and it failed. I gotta see if the Lysol works at some point.
 
I never use CA accelerator when finishing ... Take a look at Finishing with CA Glue and Boiled Linseed Oil by Russ Fairfield in the Library
 
boiled linseed oil will accelerate ca as well. put a few drops on your blue shop towel and your ca on top of that. run down the length of the blank. The friction created by runnung the towel will create the heat the blo will burnish the ca and keep the towel from sticking to the blank.
 
Sylvanite said:
Or you can breathe on it. The moisture in your breath will cause the CA to set.
Click to expand...


Do not do this. It only takes a tiny slip up to catch your lip on the quickly-setting CA.

Luckily for me it didn't catch and tear. I laugh about it now, but it could have been really bad.
 
socdad said:
I never use CA accelerator when finishing ... Take a look at Finishing with CA Glue and Boiled Linseed Oil by Russ Fairfield in the Library
Click to expand...


His is the only method I use, and it has always worked great for me.

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
Russ quit using blo a few years back. Straight ca. His 4th cd "the collectors set" had a finishing schedule that I have gravitated to.
After sanding with 150 grit apply some thick ca to the sand paper and seal up the blank. Go thru the grits then finish with a couple coats of thin ca. Then finish the finish by mm to 12k.

That cd will teach you a lot about building a pen

Wayne
 
jbswearingen said:
Sylvanite said:
Or you can breathe on it. The moisture in your breath will cause the CA to set.
Click to expand...


Do not do this. It only takes a tiny slip up to catch your lip on the quickly-setting CA.
Click to expand...

Don't get that close. If you get the CA too moist, too quick, the CA can fog as it sets. Just a gentle blow from about a 12" distance is all you need, even with a dust collector running behind the blank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom