Problem with CA finish on Redwood burl

[Mr Fixit]

Made (tried) a pen with redwood burl today. Looked good. Sanded to 420, then EEE. Then started CA. 2 coats thin, 3 coats medium, then sand starting with 420, EEE then MM to 12000.

When I took the bushing out of the tubes, the finish started flaking off. All the finish flaked, like it didn't adhear to the wood at all. This was the second pen I did today with the same CA and process. First was spalted maple which was no problem.

What did I do wrong?

Mr FIxit

 

[DavidA]

:highfive:You waxed the wood with the EEE. EEE is a wax containing a very fine abrasive. you could try cleaning the pen with Naptha, it will desolve the wax left behind. Re-sand then seal the wood with Sealcoat (dewaxed shellac) then the EEE ,clean with Naptha and then apply your finish. You can use a straight CA finish or use wax based Shellawax which contains wax over the EEE Never CA over any wax based product. The redwood is much more open pored and softer than maple. The wax residue is much harder to clean off the softer wood.

DavidA

 

[Bree]

Skip the EEE. Sand to 600 and then do your MM-12000. It will be fine. If you have no 600 grit, start your MM-12000 after your 400.
:wink::wink::wink: