white stuff in pores

[sorcerertd]

Does anyone know how to get rid of whatever this is in the pores of the wood? This has a couple light coatings of CA on it. Normally, I would think it was finish dust dried in there, but it wasn't like that until it had sat for a couple months. Any suggestions on how I can prevent this without losing the "real feel" of the wood?

 

[JohnU]

I'm only guessing but it may be your CA reacting to moisture or oil in the wood pores. I've had that issue when I wet sanded near the ends of the barrel and moisture got below the glue and discolored it. At that time I was using EZ bond CA. I use Gluboost finishing ca now (blue and orange bottles) and haven't had the issue. I often just use 2-3 coats of the extra thin (red label) over wood and lightly steel wool it (#0000 extra fine) so it wicks in and seals but doesn't smooth out the grain, to keep it not so shiny and still feel like wood.

 

[1080Wayne]

Never seen that happen . Only possibility I can think of is that your thin CA coats didn`t penetrate deeply enough into the pores , and oils or moisture has now brought the dust to the surface . I would be generous with the thinnest CA you have , the thinner the better . I have no Gluboost experience , so try John`s suggestion .

 

[hooked]

I have had this happen when I use porous wood and wiped it down with denatured alcohol after sanding it before applying the finish. I think the DNA has fully evaporated or dried, but I start seeing those white spots a few days later. I assume it gets trapped in the pores and does not fully evaporate. So I started waiting a few hours between wiping down with a product and applying a finish when using porous wood. This seems to have remedied my issues with my white spots.

 

[sorcerertd]

I have been using gluboost exclusively for the last year or so. It's so much easier to work with that it's worth the extra money. I waste less, so it's not as much more expensive as most people think it is. The ultra thin is great for those super small cracks, but I hadn't thought about using that initially on this one. I wanted a little shine to show off the figuring in the blank. It was well dried, but I guess it can soak up some humidity easily enough.

 

[KenB259]

I too use Gluboost. As far as the price goes, I will tell, it depends where you buy it. I get mine from Exotic Blanks. Wanna see a high price? Check out what Amazon is charging.

 

[leehljp]

Not a definitive answer: Anytime open grain hole are left open or partially filled, dust and wax and extraneous material can get in it - in unexpected and unexplained ways. It does remind me of sanding dust. Did you wax it? Wax can be clear for a period of time and then turn white if not wiped off. The outside wax could have been wiped off as is custom while the areas inside the grain hole were not - then turned white weeks later.

 

[keithlong]

I had this problem a few times myself. Now if I turn a pen with open grain wood, after I have sanded it and cleaned the dust off, I wipe the blank down with boiled lend seed oil and after it dries I then apply my finish to it. The oil sealed the grain.

 

[cmiller]

If it's sawdust: If I have a blank with open grain or defects where sawdust can hide, I use water to clean it off. That opens up the pores and releases the sawdust. Water works better than mineral spirits. Then let it dry completely to check.

 

[rherrell]

If you use DNA to wipe off the blank just prior to applying your CA finish then that MIGHT be the problem, DNA has a lot of water in it that can get trapped in the pores. If you use DNA be sure to let it dry completely before applying the CA. Acetone is a much better solution for cleaning the blank.

 

[BULLWINKLE]

Lately, I've turned mostly in Kirinite. I love how it looks. When I do use wood (closed or open pore) I sand down to 1000 grit, followed by EEE paste. I am not a big fan of CA finish as it gives the wood a plastic feel. True, it's the most durable but aesthetically, I like the feel of natural wood. There are some great friction polishes, or I'll often finish using lacquer. It's very durable and the wood retains more of that wood feel. Dries in seconds on the spinning lathe and cures quickly for more coats if you need them. Feels more like fine furniture than plastic. I use Deft brand. Never had any problems.

 

[Shep Walker]

Are you sure it's not polish residue? I bought a hard bristle toothbrush (Dollar store) and use it to clean in the grain before I CA (GluBoost only for me) and after I polish, if necessary.

 

[Shep Walker]

If you use DNA to wipe off the blank just prior to applying your CA finish then that MIGHT be the problem, DNA has a lot of water in it that can get trapped in the pores. If you use DNA be sure to let it dry completely before applying the CA. Acetone is a much better solution for cleaning the blank.

Thanks for that tip!

 

[Shep Walker]

Lately, I've turned mostly in Kirinite. I love how it looks. When I do use wood (closed or open pore) I sand down to 1000 grit, followed by EEE paste. I am not a big fan of CA finish as it gives the wood a plastic feel. True, it's the most durable but aesthetically, I like the feel of natural wood. There are some great friction polishes, or I'll often finish using lacquer. It's very durable and the wood retains more of that wood feel. Dries in seconds on the spinning lathe and cures quickly for more coats if you need them. Feels more like fine furniture than plastic. I use Deft brand. Never had any problems.

Aussie Oil is pretty awesome.

 

[frankonthetis]

Have noticed a similar issue after applying the HUT Ultra Gloss white plastic polish to a CA finish. Use an air gun to blow out any little voids with sawdust residue after sanding to 600 grit and then again if the white polish appears in the voids after final polishing. My issue is why does the CA finish, 5 coats thin, sand @ 600 grit, 3 coats medium then wet sand to 12000 still leave those minute voids in the blank? Thought the CA finish would fill those voids.

 

[montmill]

Walnut will do that for me. I need a good coat of GluBoost before leveling or some will end up in the pores. Also when using the Beall buffing system white diamond will leave white spots. I use Vonax instead.

 

[farmer]

Looks like some kind of contamination to me .
Doesn't look like its in the woods water pores to me.
Looks more on the surface

 

[sorcerertd]

Looks like some kind of contamination to me .
Doesn't look like its in the woods water pores to me.
Looks more on the surface

I probably should have clarified this more. Technically, it is on the surface since the pores are partially filled with CA.

 

[farmer]

I probably should have clarified this more. Technically, it is on the surface since the pores are partially filled with CA.

I am not going to tell you anything you don't already know. Contamination and it needs to be sanded out .

 

[RunnerVince]

Have noticed a similar issue after applying the HUT Ultra Gloss white plastic polish to a CA finish. Use an air gun to blow out any little voids with sawdust residue after sanding to 600 grit and then again if the white polish appears in the voids after final polishing. My issue is why does the CA finish, 5 coats thin, sand @ 600 grit, 3 coats medium then wet sand to 12000 still leave those minute voids in the blank? Thought the CA finish would fill those voids.

Remember that if the lathe is spinning, physics is working against you filling any void--you're trying to get a substance into a void, while the forces at work are trying to expel anything they can.
Additionally, the thin CA is so thin that it either soaks right through or immediately gets thrown back out. It may seal the edges of the void, but it's not likely to fill the void, even with multiple coats. And the medium is too viscous to make it into the smaller voids with the lathe spinning (and often even with it off!).
With all that in mind, if there's anything I don't want coming through to the final surface, I try to fill it with the lathe off. This takes more time and a lot more patience. I usually do a "seal" coat or two with the thin CA, then a single "fill" coat with the medium. In my experience, if I try doing multiple coats of the medium, I increase the chance of contamination, or simply of getting a bad cure--where the ambient moisture is trapped between coats and then cause the very white spots we're trying to avoid. But since I'm using more glue to fill the void, I have to allow for more time for curing, even with accelerator spray. Nothing worse than thinking a void is filled and the glue is cured and then getting sprayed with CA when you turn/sand past the thin layer of cured glue and expose a pool of uncured glue.

 

[frankonthetis]

RunnerVince, thanks for your thoughts on my issue with the white spots. Presume your "seal" coats are just on any voids? When noticing the obvious voids, use coloured CA glue, medium brown, brown or black with lathe off, accelerator then carefully level with chisels. Some voids though are so small that only appear visible to my old eyes after the white polish is added! Do use a work light with magnifier now to look for issues after initial sanding and before CA finish is applied.

 

[RunnerVince]

RunnerVince, thanks for your thoughts on my issue with the white spots. Presume your "seal" coats are just on any voids? When noticing the obvious voids, use coloured CA glue, medium brown, brown or black with lathe off, accelerator then carefully level with chisels. Some voids though are so small that only appear visible to my old eyes after the white polish is added! Do use a work light with magnifier now to look for issues after initial sanding and before CA finish is applied.

Yes, I would just do the "seal" coat on the voids. At that point in the process, I don't necessarily want CA on the entire blank. I try to fill voids before turning to final diameter, so most of the CA is on the shop floor in the form of shavings within the next few minutes. For me, whether to use colored CA or clear CA depends on the blank, the size of the void, and the look I'm going for. In a lot of cases, the void will be completely invisible once the final finish it applied, so clear is the way to go. This is especially true for those "artificial" voids (i.e., mistakes) and for very light tearout. I basically don't want to introduce another color to the blank, so if there's no black or super dark brown, I'll probably use clear. If there's a lot of color variation already (dyed burl, for example), then blank/brown is often a great solution.

 

[frankonthetis]

Thanks for the clarification on the sealing. Use a lot of wood that has dark grain pattern, arbutus burl, cascara, dogwood, osoberry etc so the coloured CA is used to blend in but can see the value of thin clear for the lightish coloured blanks. Thanks again.