what is the problem with this finish?

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D

Dvoigt

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Joined
Dec 5, 2008
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280
Location
Fraser, MI
I did a CA finish on this pen and after a month or so a daily use there are a few spot that are no longer shinny. There are a few random spots as well as a small strip around the 2/3rd of the pen.


I tried to get good pictures of it, but all i had was a microscope at work, so it is almost too close to see the problem.

My initial thought is that I did the CA went too thin after I smoothed it and the daily use worn through it.

Any opinions? It isn't local to any one wood, but seems to appear more on the Purple Heart.

I was just going to disassemble the pen, hit it with the higher MM to smooth is out, and then redo the CA thicker. Is that ok, or do i need to strip all the finish off?

Thanks!
D
 

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Kinda looks like the CA is "ghosting" or fogging. Can't say for certain the problem. Did you do a staright CA finish or a CA/BLO finish? Do a quick search on fogging CA in the finishing section. I'm sure something will be there.
 
Strip it down

Looks to me like the CA separated from the pen blank in those spots. Only way to fix it is to strip it back down to the wood and apply a new finish of CA. I hope it turns out for you. That is a nice pen.
 
I just did a straight CA finish on this pen.

I think I sanded too much off. Should I have wiped it down with DNA or something before I do the finish. I'm going to redo it with a CA/BLO method, I have had better results with that.
 
Looks like you rubbed through to me. As if it was a lifting, then it should still be shiny even though it is cloudy underneath. The only other think I could think of would be off gassing of the CA
 
It looks to me like the CA was thin and wore through. How many coats of CA did you use and how much sanding did you do to it after it was applied? I would take it apart, strip it down bare, and put on another finish and be done with it.
 
Moisture is my vote. It doesn't take but a tiny bit to ruin the CA. Handling of the pen with sweaty fingers just could have left enough to cause the damage.

Otherwise, I would go with over sanding of the CA.
 
And another vote for too thin. The first pict makes me think that the pen was probably .007 - .009 OOR and sand through occurred, or at least too thin in that spot. If both spots are on the same side, I would say that is the problem for sure. Either way - too thin of a coat or minute' OOR, a thicker coating would be the solution.
 
I turned it between centers to reduce the out of round. But I'm still new at that.

I belive I did 4 coats of medium CA, I don't know how much I sanded.... I just sanded until it was smooth. My CA method has improved since I did this pen, so I'll clean it up and try again!

Thanks for all the input
 
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