CA Pen Finish Question

[Doug M Jones]

After seeing Stu's pens, I tried the CA finish protocol over the weekend and failed miserably. The bag over my finger tried to attach to the wood and I ended up with a gobby mess. I have to go back and re-read the thread, must be doing something wrong.

Also, the CA fumes were intense. I had on my safety glasses and faceshield and dust mask, should you use a chemical respirator with CA?

I'm trying to improve the finish. So far my best work has been sanding to 600 and then putting a couple of coats of Mylands Cellulose sanding sealer on. Then sanding to 3600 and then 3 coats of Mylands Friction polish. I then hit it lightly with HUT plastic polish and they shine like glass but I worry about the durability of the finish.

Thanks for any advice

[Bill O'Conner]

I find a latex glove works better for me than trying to keep the bag on my finger and run the lathe on it's slowest speed and keep your finger moving not sure if I could help more

oh forgot make sure it doesn't get dry or it will stick too

[Doug M Jones]

It might have been the speed. I had moved up to mid range on the Jet Mini while turning the blank and didn't slow back down for finishing.

[Bill O'Conner]

by the way if you are doing anything besides a slimline you'll want to wax the bushing that go in the tubes and the shoulder that meets the barrel. I forgot this once and I still have the bushing stuck.

Bill

[Stan Cook]

I use CA on almost exclusively on pens. The learning curve is steeper, but once mastered, IMO, it can't be beat when you take into account speed, durability, and gloss.

I don't use a sanding sealer. On open grained woods, I fill with a slurry of sanding dust and thin CA. I apply CA with a paper towel to a very slowly rotating blank. I apply several coats (usually 12-15) with a quick spray of accelerator in between. Sand the surface smooth (no shiny spots) after all coats have been applied and then polish with micromesh or buff.

Bill, put your stuck blank on the end of the mandrel so that only the bushing is on the mandrel and the blank is hanging off the end. Rock it back and forth with increasing pressure while slowly rotating the blank by hand. It will work loose 99.99% of the time. The other 0.01% can be persuaded with a transfer punch and hammer ;)

[Mike Vickery]

Doug,
I do not use the plastic bag so cannot really comment on it, but I have done quite a few CA finishes on pens. You have to work fast and not mess with it to much. Usually back and forth once is all you can do or it starts to set up on you and you get bad ridges. I agree with CA being the best finish I have found for pens and use it for any that I want a gloss look on. The fumes are bad if you have a dust collector it should suck them up. A respirator is never a bad idea, but personally I do not use one. Once you get the hang of it, it is well worth the learning process.

[Bill O'Conner]

Bill, put your stuck blank on the end of the mandrel so that only the bushing is on the mandrel and the blank is hanging off the end. Rock it back and forth with increasing pressure while slowly rotating the blank by hand. It will work loose 99.99% of the time. The other 0.01% can be persuaded with a transfer punch and hammer ;)

it's stuck tried just about everything pick up a new set of bushing and chalked it up to a learning curve, it was my month having trouble with Olive wood 2 blow outs and than that. If it wasn't such a nice looking wood I'd never turn an other piece of the stuff

Bill

[Mike Vickery]

Bill,
If nothing else works soak in acetone to get you bushings back.

[Shane Sura]

I learned this on this forum as well. When applying CA to my pens I use WAX paper. It does not interact with the CA so it does not set up. Use only one finger however because sometimes it comes through the paper (nothing fingernail polish will not cure). So far the wax paper is working well. I do try to apply it with one quick stroke. Too many times back and forth and I find it streaking. So far it has worked great but the past couple of times I have had issues with the CA. It appears as if my micromesh is nmot getting it as smooth as it was. I am going to do some research to see when micromesh wears out. Good luck with the wax paper so far my LOML has not complained with me stealing it all :D.


Shane

[Bill O'Conner]

Micro Mess is like sand paper it loads up but you can wash it out . There are a number of ways to do it my favorite is in my jean pocket

Bill

[Shane Sura]

So you put it in your jean pocket and put it through the wash?

[Bill O'Conner]

yup or tie in a sock and send it thru the washer and dryer, need to keep it in something or it will unravel. I've also heard of poeple using dish soap and just let it air dry

Bill

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I don't often use CA for a finish, but when I do, here is my protocall:

I polish the wood to 10000, using Butcher block oil, at 10000, as a lubricant.

Wipe down to remove the extra oil.

Take a piece of cotton (T-shirt works very well) and put a little oil on it.
turn on the lathe, put several drops (1 to 2) on the cloth, on top of the oil.

Press this mixture into the wood, moving the rag rapidly along the axis.
Add a couple of drops of oil to the rag and do it again.
Check for smoothness.

Repeat process three times. Finally, Take a clean cloth and remove any excess oil. At this point, it should be done.

Bruce

BTW I turn, polish, and Finish pens at 3900 rpm.

[John Terefenko]

I would say the prefered method of CA is to do a CA/BLO finish on pens. Using a paper towl and putting the CA on the pen and wiping once then adding two or three drops of blo to the towel and rubbing back and forth. Check for any dfects and then apply next coat the same way and so forth.

[Stan Mijal]

Doug,

I have only had those little bags hang up and try to stick to the finish when there was simply too little CA on the surface of the pen. Once the amount of CA drops, it begins to set very quickly since there is now more friction and heat in the area under the fingerprint.
Either 1) keep more CA wetted on the surface , smooth out and remove the bag , then let dry, or 2) you might want to try applying CA and immediately follow with a little piece of paper towel with about 6-8 drops of boiled linseed oil on it. The oil will act as a lubricant as well as a catalyst to cure the CA very quickly. Wip excess oil off, sand very lightly and reapply. (this gives a matt finish, but is very quick)

[Mark Hubbs]

I've only done one pen with CA (heck...I've only done three pens total so far!). It worked well. I put two coats on with the baggy as suggested here. The coats were thick to keep the bag from sticking.

But, it seemed to take a long time for it to cure. I used OOOO steel wool after it hardened and then put a couple of coats of shelllwax on it. It turned out great, but I have no idea how long the shine will last. Especially in the grubby hands of my Combat Medic son, who it was sent to.:eek:

How long to you fellers let the CA harden between coats?