Segmented Purpleheart/Aluminum/Redheart

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Ryan Richardson

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Mar 2, 2009
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Location
Brighton, CO
I'm still trying to develop a consistent, repeatable CA finish, however, purpleheart continues to give me fits. I think I was able to get the grain filled using the slurry method which was my first problem. Now, it looks like the CA finish isn't sticking to the purpleheart. Looking at the picture, you can see where there is a gloss over the redheart and aluminum, but then gets dull over the purpleheart. Reminds me of the first time I tried to put a finish on cocobolo.

The blank is sanded to 600 grit, micromeshed to 3200 then EEE. The finish is being applied by taking a folded up strip of paper towel, putting a drop of BLO on then applying that to the blank, then taking a drop of thick CA and applying that to the blank, folding the towel over and rubbing back and forth to smooth it out; similar to that youtube video. After the last coat of CA, I polished the blank with some PSI One Step plastic polish.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks in advance.
 

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I wondered about that. Should I go ahead and sand off the existing CA or do you think I can get away with just applying new coats of CA as it is? I would clean the blank first to make absolutely sure all the polish was gone.
 
Be careful with the acetone. It will dissolve the set CA, including any CA that was used segmenting the different parts together.
You should be able to do this, just use the acetone sparingly and do not leave the acetone on the blank for very long.
 
I've had that problem also with Cocobolo. Haven't tried it with purple heart.
Here is what I do and it works great. After sanding, I wipe about 3 times with acetone. 2. Two coats of sanding sealer. 3. Three to four coats of thin CA without the blo sanded between each coat. 4. About 5-6 coats of blo and thick ca. No sanding between coats. Sometimes it looks like the ca isn't sticking but keep going. Lastly 2-3 coats of your favorite plastic polish.
This is what works for me. Hope it helps you.
Scratch
 
Denatured Alcohol works good too. Just before you put the finish on, wipe it down with DNA and then finish. I use Med CA as a finish and it works fine.
 
Hey, thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

@Brad: That's a good point about the acetone, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

@Scratch: Looks like I've got yet another finishing method to try out. :smile:
 
I've read of a lot of people on here using denatured alcohol and have some friends that use it. Guess I need to pick some up to keep around the shop. I also placed an order for medium CA from Monty earlier this week that should be here soon.

One of the reasons I'm trying thick CA is that sometimes I end up with "pits" in the finish and was hoping that a thicker build up would help with that. Maybe I'm just not getting the grain as sealed as I thought...
 
I just give the blank a quick spray of accelerator, then 10 coats of thin ca, no blo, no sanding between coats, then micro mesh after the last coat. be sure all ridges and scratches are gone before going to the next finer grit..works for me 100 percent of the time even on woods like cocobolo and even lignum vite
 
I use thick or med. CA depending which is closer to the lathe. I do 4 or 5 coats,MM wipe it off with a clean rag. Then take a look, then a few more coats and it usually comes out quite smooth. I do the chant while swaying back and forth. :biggrin:
 
splinter99 said:
I just give the blank a quick spray of accelerator, then 10 coats of thin ca, no blo, no sanding between coats, then micro mesh after the last coat. be sure all ridges and scratches are gone before going to the next finer grit..works for me 100 percent of the time even on woods like cocobolo and even lignum vite
Click to expand...

Now that would be cool. I've got a bunch of lignum vitae blanks I'd love to be able to use.
 
+1 on the accelerator instead of acetone or DNA. Evens out the application without the risk of debonding your laminations. I gave up on BLO a while back too.

James
 
Consider not sanding to so high a grit. If you've got a relatively smooth finish when you stop turning you might want to stop sanding at around 600 or 800 and then applying thin CA I've found this works for me with Purpleheart. Although some may disagree with me I think as you go as high as 3200 you are actually burnishing the wood making it hard for the CA to penetrate.


ldb2000 said:
That's too simple of a method to apply CA Harold , that can't possably work , you have to complicate it as much as possable :eek::rolleyes::biggrin:
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LOL...Butch that's why I never post my CA method.....it's too simple!
1.Sand to 600-800.
2.Apply 10 coats thin CA or until grain is filled.
3.Let cure overnight.
4.Sand 400 thru 1200
5.Buff with Plastix polish.

See? That would never work...besides I can't find my yellow socks!
 
The woods you are using are two different densities and absorb differing amounts of CA , that's why you had a good finish on the redheart but the purpleheart was still dull . You need to seal the wood first so that the finish coats don't soak into the wood . The first couple of coats of thin will seal the wood but you have to give it a chance to dry , then when you add more coats the finish will build and not just soak in .You also need enough coats to cover and build a thick enough finish so when you do final sanding you won't sand off the finish .
The simplest CA finish is 3 coats of thick . This will work on most woods with only a few exceptions . Put away the BLO and EEE and the ACC , start with the simplest method , get that to work consistently then complicate it as much as you like .
 
For me the BLO (unless I want it for the appearance of the wood) is strictly a lubricant and accelerator for the CA. In warm weather, I don't need it. . . The baggie over the finger with thick CA works fine. In cold weather, I use it. In freezing weather I switch to the plexi.
 
On very oily woods such as Lignum and even the pleasures of Purple Heart I have used Acetone SPARSELY to get the oils to come out better, Purple Heart can take in seemingly endless amounts of CA, Just try a simple Ca finish, I do use BLO/CA but I have continued to tweek my methods of the last year to where I am very pleased with it, Next time seal the wood and it will be much easier.
 
daveeisler said:
Can you tell me how you apply the CA, is the lathe spinning, do you use a rag to spread it etc. Many thanks Dave
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Yes, The lathe is spinning, but not wide open. I can't remember the exact rpm's but I move my belts about halfway. I use a soft paper shop rag
from either Wally World or Sam's club. I learned from watching You tube, Just search ca finishing.
 
I forgot to mention, you have to spit on the blank first and hold your mouth the right way. Just like fishin'
 
Ryan Richardson said:
One of the reasons I'm trying thick CA is that sometimes I end up with "pits" in the finish and was hoping that a thicker build up would help with that. Maybe I'm just not getting the grain as sealed as I thought...
Click to expand...

A thicker buildup will eventually fix that problem, but it takes a lot of glue and a lot of sanding, because you basically have to build up enough glue that the bottom of the deepest pit is above the surface of the wood enough that you can then sand ALL the ca off the blank down to the level of that deepest pit and still have enough of a layer to polish without cutting through to the wood somewhere. It's much easier to make sure you have a perfectly smooth, pit free surface on your wood before you start laying on your finish coats. One way to do this is to "wet sand" the blank with a coat of ca. just get your blank shaped and sanded up to a medium grit, like about 220, then get a piece of 320 sandpaper, and drip some ca on the blank while sanding and keep the paper moving till the ca sets up. This generates a slurry of sanding dust and wet ca which will fill in the pores of the wood. Now the surface of the blank will be pretty ugly at this point, but that's ok, because you are going to sand all the ca back off the surface with a fresh dry piece of 320 grit, leaving only the dried slurry in the pores. Now you can clean your blank, inspect for any more pits, and if all are gone, lay up a normal thickness of ca finish, and polish.

For really open grain woods like Oak, and paduk, I wetsand with the 220 paper.
 
Thanks to everyone for all the comments and suggestions. Along with all the tips that have been mentioned, I also think it's just going to take a lot of patience and practice.

I did finally get a chance to finish the pen and a picture is posted over in the Show Off Your Pens! section. The finished product was a result of EEE, followed by three to four coats of thick CA, applied with a paper towel and just a couple of swipes back a forth across the blank. No BLO was used but I still used EEE after sanding the blank because it helped to shine the aluminum a bit. The resulting finish was wet sanded with MM and then plastic polish applied.

I still have a lot try and learn and really appreciate the time everyone took to read and reply to this post.
 
Ryan Richardson said:
Thanks to everyone for all the comments and suggestions. Along with all the tips that have been mentioned, I also think it's just going to take a lot of patience and practice.

I did finally get a chance to finish the pen and a picture is posted over in the Show Off Your Pens! section. The finished product was a result of EEE, followed by three to four coats of thick CA, applied with a paper towel and just a couple of swipes back a forth across the blank. No BLO was used but I still used EEE after sanding the blank because it helped to shine the aluminum a bit. The resulting finish was wet sanded with MM and then plastic polish applied.

I still have a lot try and learn and really appreciate the time everyone took to read and reply to this post.
Click to expand...


Ryan, make sure you get them yella socks--you can make up your own chant--it really works.
 
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