The best finish??

[RussFairfield]

We all have our opinions, and I never would never advocate any finish as being better than any other; BUT.......

Back in the days BBPP (Before Ball Point Pens), many quality fountain pens had a thick nitrocellulose lacquer finish. This finish was subjected to years of use and abuse, and sometimes the pens have spent the past 50 years being kicked around in the bottom of a desk drawer. Unless there are deep scratches, a little buffing will bring them back to as good as new, That says a lot for a finish. I wonder if someone will be able to say the same for CA glue, Enduro, and the other things we use today, in 2060.

 

[oldsmokey]

Russ, I think you could answer that question better than most of us.
I have a question for you to consider. Considering the EPA laws that have forced lacquer companies to change there formulas, do you think a pen finished today with lacquer will last fifty years?
When I was running my cabinet shop I started to use automotive finish (lacquer) to get the quility of finish I used to get with lacquers that were supplied to the woodworking industry.

 

[cozee]

Also, another long term issue to consider is the fact that those lacquers never cured because the solvents in them remained active. This is what gave them the ability to be rubbed out over and over again. Since the solvent remained active, this also meant that ones skin was in contact with it. Working within the collision repair industry, it has been shown and proven in many cases that long term exposure to certain solvents can lead to cancer, with todays paints being even worse. So, perhaps the pen Aunt Maudy used for 40 plus years still looks nice but it may have killed her to! So it really isn't a question of a pen living that long, but us!!

 

[bradh]

I do not know about automotive laquers, but most North American manufacturing companies are moving away from solvent based finishes. Many commercial workworking shops are already using water based or UV curing laquers. Many commercial paint lines are now using slovent free powder paints or water based paints.
Commercial finishes are not the same as they were 10 years ago.
Brad

 

[jeffj13]

Originally posted by cozee
<br />Also, another long term issue to consider is the fact that those lacquers never cured because the solvents in them remained active. This is what gave them the ability to be rubbed out over and over again. Since the solvent remained active, this also meant that ones skin was in contact with it. Working within the collision repair industry, it has been shown and proven in many cases that long term exposure to certain solvents can lead to cancer, with todays paints being even worse. So, perhaps the pen Aunt Maudy used for 40 plus years still looks nice but it may have killed her to! So it really isn't a question of a pen living that long, but us!!

Greg,

I really struggle with your post and would love to see some evidence that supports your conclusions, especially that a single pen could kill. It has been my experience that you cannot rub out a finish until it has fully cured. I'm sure that many of us have had the experience of not waiting long enough for a finish to cure and instead of a nice shiny finish, you had little grey balls of finish. Consequently, I believe that if the lacquer you described didn't fully cure, it couldn't be rubbed out.

Also, any studies that I have seen dealing with long term solvent exposure (or sawdust for that matter) reference significant respiratory exposure in a confined space over a period of many years. That a single pen in an open air environment could cause cancer is a stretch. If what you state were true, than any antique furniture in our home would seem to be a recipe for disaster

jeff

 

[sailorzturn]

Being a sailor, I just have to try a marine varnish. I will admit that CA speeds up the finishing process, but I love the look of a high gloss on ships. I'll let you know how it works out. Another finishing idea I had was to research how folks who make musical instruments finish their work.

 

[bob393]

Russ: good question, only time will tell.

 

[RussFairfield]

Originally posted by oldsmokey
<br />Russ, I think you could answer that question better than most of us.
I have a question for you to consider. Considering the EPA laws that have forced lacquer companies to change there formulas, do you think a pen finished today with lacquer will last fifty years?

I don't know about the 50 years because, like the lacquers, all other finishes have also been compromised by those same EPA Regulations. I think that lacquer will always be the superior finish for pens. If for nother reason than a solvent based lacquer finish has a clarity, brilliance, sparkle, and depth that is superior to anything else we can put on the wood, and those are still missing from the waterborne finishes.

Before someone reminds me that automotive finishes are waterborne and exhibit those qualities, I would like to remind them that they do it with a more toxic paint system, get the gloss with a clear overcoat, and then bake the finish in an oven. Unless we are willing to do that, I think there will always be a place for the solvent based lacquer finishes on our pens.

As for toxicity of lacquer, once the solvents have evaporated, what we have left is a film of cellulose which is the same as the celluloid in camera film, and that comes from trees. We have to make our own choices, and take our chances in this world, but I doubt that using a fountain pen for 50 years has killed anyone.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Government standards for toxicity can be conservative to the extreme. Many of us remember the scare of flame retardants in childrens pajamas. Whatever the substance was, it did give cancer to rats when fed in massive quantities. Translated, a child would have to EAT about a dozen pairs of pajamas a day for years to be at risk. But, the Gub'ment took the product off the market. I'll betcha any risk from pen laquer solvents was a tiny fraction of the pajama scare.