Question - CA Finish on Sculped Pens

[C_Ludwigsen]

Well, the subject says it all []. A friend of mine from our local woodturners guild and I were talking about pen finishes. He turns many, many more pens than I do, but was unhappy with the finish. I use the CA finish and have been very happy with it.

So he was doing a pen demo and we had the idea that he would turn it and I would finish it. Okay, so great idea. Now the problem. He proceeded to turn this wonderful sculped pen from Eastern Red Cedar, did the base sanding through about 320, then turned to me and said "it is all yours".

I started applying the CA finish and instantly realized all those ridges, valleys, and curves were going to be a problem. While sanding the CA through the grits, we invariably kept wearing the CA down to the wood on the high spots and leaving it too thick on the shallows.

So how do the rest of you handle putting a CA finish on a sculted pen?

Thanks for helping a novice.

 

[timdaleiden]

Originally posted by C_Ludwigsen
<br />Well, the subject says it all [].
I started applying the CA finish and instantly realized all those ridges, valleys, and curves were going to be a problem.
So how do the rest of you handle putting a CA finish on a sculted pen?

That is a problem, and I don't know what the answer is. Friction polish will work on free form pens. Someone mentioned adding more shellac to the bottle to make it more durable. I tried it, and it does make a difference, but I am waiting for time to tell.

You could also dip or spray the pen with laquer. I have had some good luck with the spray on free form barrels.

 

[Daniel]

In the case of lots of contours I first try to get the CA a smooth as possible when applying it. I have found wax paper to work the best for me. adn then pray that I can start snading with 320 grit or higher. taking is as slow as is barable. If as usual I do sand through the high spots I reapply the ca right then. But my best fix for this problem yet is to not put alot of countours in my pens. seriously I have decided to shy away from lots of coves and beads in wood Pens just for this reason.

 

[Marc Phillips]

What seems to help me with this problem is to apply the CA while the lathe is spinning slow... then I make one slow pass underneath the blank with a T-Shirt type rag... and absorb all the excess CA... followed almost immediately by a very light spritz of accelerator.... When I do this I can go immediately to 600 grit.... so there's a lot less chance of sanding through the CA with the lighter grit.... I then go to 800, then I switch to the micro mesh....

Try the quick wipe then accelerator... works for me! []

 

[C_Ludwigsen]

Cool... Thanks Mark and Daniel. I think I got it...

1. Apply the CA and use either cloth or wax paper to spread and remove the excess.

2. Hit with accelerator quickly.

3. Pray (that you can start fairly high on the sanding grits).

That works for me. I'll let you know. Although I'm favoring Daniel's method of keeping away from sculped pens for now.