Decal Problems

[Donny Lawson]

Well, I watched Grub32 on youtube and thought I would try his Decal pen.Mine isn't working out at all.The only thing I didn't use is the accelorator setting spray.,only because I don't have any.I did put the decal on the pen and let it cure overnight and then added about 2 coats of thin CA and 1 coat of med. CA and 2 more coats of thin CA.I wet sanded it and it was like all the glue came off with no shine at all.It did not hurt the decal.I added glue again and it did the same thing again.I am sanding very lightly.Should I be using the accelorator spray?I'm adding the glue at about 4-5 hundred rpm so I don't heat up the wood.I've worked on this all weekend and I'm getting frustrated.Please give me a clue on my mistake.
Donny

[David E Keller]

What are you using to sand? With CA, you have to go really fine and/or buff. I usually wet sand 600 just to get rid of any ridges and then micromesh to 8000. After that, I buff with tripoli and white diamond.

It's possible that you are sanding off all the CA, but it sounds like you may not be going fine enough with your final grit. Photos might help.

[Donny Lawson]

I'm starting off with MM 1500 to work out the roughness.It hasn't worked so far.
Donny

[David E Keller]

Are you wet sanding with the MM? I would.

[Donny Lawson]

All wet sanding so far.
Donny

[David E Keller]

Have you tried buffing it or plastic polish? Can you tell if the CA is gone or is it just dull?

[Bernie Weishapl]

I buff with the beall buff on my CA finish.

[Paul Douglass]

When I did straight CA I always put on at least 10 coats of medium before I started sanding. Started sand dry at 300 to get it smooth, than 400 and 600 than wet sanded with the MM all the way through 12K. Than I do a polish with Hut or something similar. Reading your post my first thought was you are not putting enough coats on.

Oh ya before I started with the CA the blank was sanded dry from 300 through at least 600 sometimes more. Blanks cleaned with DA before applying CA. I do all my sanding at a pretty fast speed like around 1000 rpms and polish I crank it all the way up.

I lately I've been doing the BLO/CA finish and am very pleased with the results. Some don't like it as well as plain CA.

[Donny Lawson]

I followed Grub32"s method other than the accelorator.After the blank was turned I dry sanded through 600 grit. I then added 4-5 coats of thin CA(let dry for about a min. or two in between coats).I then added a few coats of med CA.I let it cure a few hours and it was rough so I started wet sanding from 600 through 1500 grit.Let it dry for a while and added the decal.It cured overnight.The finish looked dull like there was nothing on there.I added 5-6 coats of thin CA and another couple coats of med CA.I wet sanded through 12000 with MM.No polish yet. Is there something I'm doing wrong?Would the accelorator help in this case?By the way the wood I'm using is Maple.
Donny

[David E Keller]

I don't think the accelerator helps except to dry faster between coats. If you buff it to no avail, I'd put it back on the lathe and just touch it with a skew to see if there is any glue remaining or if the CA is gone. Some photos of the pen might be helpful.

[Jeff Nicol]

Donny, I have had the same thing happen to me using hard maple. I think that the CA does not adhere to the overly smooth sanded maple as well as other woods. So I started putting the CA on at about 320 sanded surface then sanding it back with the same. Then build up the CA with some scuff left so the CA has something to hang onto. If it is to smooth or there is any wax anywhere or uncured oil the CA will not hold well either. I will put on 3-5 coats of medium and let it cure for the final layers and then sand it out and buff. One other thing near the ends of the blanks it is verry easy to sand away the finish as it is only a few thousanths thick, so be careful on the ends of the parts. If you wet sand and you have sanded through the finish the water or fluid you are using can capillary under the CA film and it may fail.

Hope this helps some and good luck,

Jeff

[Allen Neighbors]

With all tight-grained wood pens, I sand to 400. Then Micromesh (the 3"x4" pads, cut into four pieces) all nine grits; then I apply thin CA. 8 to 10 coats. No accelerator, no BLO. When cured, Once again, I Micromesh, dry, all 9 grits. Then buff if I think it's necessary. Sometimes it isn't. Always a high gloss, and I've never had a cloudy finish on a pen.
I don't know what could be causing the cloudy finish.