Wipe on poly question

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I have used both the wipe on poly and the fast dry poly . The wipe on poly takes at least 10 coats to give a good finish , more is better . The fast dry poly takes about 6 coats . Both need time between coats (about 2 to 3 hours for the wipe on and around 6 hours for the fast dry) to dry and then takes several weeks to FULLY cure . They will be dry to the touch over night but that is not fully cured and it will not reach max hardness untill it is . Once it is fully cured it is as good as a CA finish as far as durabilty is concerned but it does tend to yellow over time so it's not really good for white woods .
 
Thanks Butch, very clear and precise information. One last one, can it be wetsand with MM or will be ok as is. Sorry for all the question but my doctor just advise me to quit using CA and i need to find a good alternative. I might try plexi too but drying time is not an issue or me.
 
It can be wet sanded but you have to wait to get a good finish . I really liked working with the fast dry poly , it gave a great finish and all it needed was a quick buffing on the wheel with white diamond to get a glass like shine , the wipe on was a bit of a pain because it is so thin it just keeps soaking in and took forever to build a good finish . Again the only problem is the wait time , I found myself finishing my blanks and putting them away for about a month before I could buff them . You can speed up the process of finishing them by putting them in a post cure oven for about an hour then putting the next coat on but curing the finish still took weeks . When it is fully cured it is as hard as any CA finish I have ever done but I'm just too impatient to wait for it to cure .
By the way , neither of these finishes work right on oily woods like cocobolo , they never dry . Even cleaning with Acetone didn't help very much .
 
arioux said:
Thanks Butch, very clear and precise information. One last one, can it be wetsand with MM or will be ok as is. Sorry for all the question but my doctor just advise me to quit using CA and i need to find a good alternative. I might try plexi too but drying time is not an issue or me.
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Hi Alfred,

I shall assume that your doctor has advised the switch because you are having reactions to the CA; I started to have them as well after using the stuff for about a year. I've felt the effects after using as little as two drops for a small repair.:frown: In my case, rather than changing finishes, I changed my work habits. Depending on your actual condition, this may or may not work for you as well; you will have to decide since your health is more important than the finish on a pen.


  • First, I only use CA for finishing now, I never use it to glue in tubes; I use epoxy for that instead.
  • I always wear latex gloves as well, because I'm sure that one reaction I had was just from skin contact.
  • I have ventilation blowing across the blank and away from me.
  • Most importantly, I bought a good respirator (half mask with filters rated for organics) from an industrial supply store - not a big box outlet. It goes on before the CA comes out, and I don't take it off until AFTER I leave my shop (separate building from house in my case).
  • Finally, to limit my exposure, I leave all CA work to do last; just before leaving the shop.

Others on the site have also provided useful tips to avoid the CA fumes. This is what works for me, and as long as I follow these steps I don't have any problems, but like I said, it's "health before finish"! If you decide to try this, you may want to run it past your doctor first.

Good luck.
 
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