CA Glue FInish.

[Mark Stewart]

Now I hewre a lot of the pen turners talk about a CA Finish. Can someone please explain this to me as to how its done. I just do not under stand.
THanks MArk

 

[CoolHandLuke]

Let me first start with a question for you... are you going to be using this finish on something turned (like a pen), or do you have something else in mind also?

for turnings, my experience with CA would suggest using a thinner glue, a slow lathe speed and some accelerant to set the glue quicker. I'd start with a few coats of CA applied while the lathe turns slowly (or even by hand)... while lightly holding a cloth to part of the work while dripping the CA on from the bottle. This will keep it from slinging off and getting all over stuff, dry.. then lightly scuff with a high grit (320 or so) and apply more coats until the build is right.... then polish it out on the lathe.

For other things besides turnings, check this link out.... CA finishing tutorial

For more on lathe use try this http://www.penmakersguild.com/articles/cafinish.pdf

http://www.cnywoodturners.org/index...view=article&id=37:cafinish&catid=16:articles

 

[CaptnA]

Mark
CA can be a persnickity finish. I had mixed results until I found "my" way. First don't forget that ca LOVES your skin and fingers. Acetone is your friend!
Make sure you are happy with the wood. Scratches etc are almost magnified by the ca finish.
Some people use the plastic bags pen parts come in to wrap their fingers and protect them, and apply the ca. I just use a clean plain white paper towel to apply and clean the glue off my figers when I slip up a bit.
Some people use blo to 'pop' the grain. I have but usually don't. With the blank spinning, at medium speed, I wipe the blank with DNA just to clean all the dust off it, and let it spin dry. I use quick dry ca and have no problems and don't use accelerator.
Moving quickly I hold a corner of a folded paper towel to the blank and moving it back and forth along the blank place a drop of ca on the blank and spread it and then another. Usually 2-3 drops to cover a blank well. You can build up a blank if you need to, you might even if you don't mean to. Just add a drop or more of ca and let it build up where needed. Even though ca is quick drying, I like to let mine sit overnight to cure thoroughly.
When dry, I use 400 - 1200 wet dry sandpaper and then move to micromesh and eventually plastic polishes, tripoli, white diamond, etc. When sanding you will see some white dust. That is your finish. Everything you take off is no longer there... Use your calipers especially if you are building up. If you aren't happy with the look, sand off the ca and try again. Just try to spread and keep the ca even and smooth. (Even, unless you need to build up and end a low spot.)
Over at IAP.org there are many tutorials in the library.
You might try just turning some spindles to pen size and practice your finish on them.
There are as many ways to do it as there are people doing it.
Before you try to take your blank from the bushings, think that the bushings MAY be glued to it. You can finesse them off or cut them loose. I've ruined a finish trying to remove a bushing and once I glued everything to the mandrel. Not fun!
When it works right its a nice durable finish.

 

[ScottM]

I am still learning my way but getting there as it come to CA. It will take practice. Andy is right on. All I would add is when sanding the CA finish always wet the sand paper and micro-mesh. A final coat of paste wax will also help.

 

[pcooper]

I've tried several different ways to finish with CA, and found a video somewhere on youtube (sorry, I didn't bookmark it) where a guy is going through the steps of turning a pen, about video 7 or 8 in the series he shows doing the CA finish, one video shows him messing up, the next shows success. He used paper towels and thick CA, I tried it and for me it works slick as a ribbon. The sanding and finishing part of it was pretty painless, very little to have to work out, and the final result was outstanding. I didn't try the wet sandpaper though, I think I'll try that next to see if that makes it better. :icon_thum

 

[BKind2Anmls]

After several months of not being pleased with the results, I have finally gotten very happy with a CA finish on my pens. My main problem earlier was sanding too much which made dull and shiny areas. Here is how I do it now.

1. I turn the pen to the desired size.
2. I put a cover over my lathe bed to protect it.
3. If there are large imperfections I fill them with sawdust and dribble thin CA over the sawdust.
4. After 30 seconds I spritz with accelerator and turn down the filled area.
5. If there are small imperfections or open grain I turn the lathe speed down and sand lightly with 150 grit gathering sawdust in my sandpaper. Then I sparingly drop thin CA glue on the slowly spinning blank and sand with the 150 grit sandpaper until all small openings are filled. I then sand with the grain with the 150 grit, with the lathe off. At this point I inspect the blank and repeat the fillings until it is perfect. From this point on, the sanding is not to remove imperfections but only to remove the sanding marks left by the previous grit.
6. Next I sand with 180, 240, etc. all the way to 12000. I stop the lathe and sand with the wood grain after all grits through 3200, inspecting the blank each time I stop. If any imperfections are discovered I backup and fix them. Some imperfections cannot be seen until you hit 800 grit or higher.
7. After the blank is perfect, I set the lathe to low speed for the CA finish.
8. I take a whole paper towel and fold it over and over till it is a thin strip about 1" wide.
I dribble 5 or 6 drops of thin CA on the end of the towel and rapidly coat the blank, only moving across the blank twice, once to the left and then back to the right.
9. After 30 seconds I lightly spritz accelerator on the spinning blank. I hold my end of my paper towel behind the spinning blank so the accelerator will harden the glue on the towel, as well.
10. I flip the towel over and put 5 or 6 drops of thin CA on the end and repeat the coating as in step 8.
11. Repeat Step 9 and then rip off the end of the used towel and then apply one more coat of thin and spritz with accelerator.
12. After a minute, I turn off the lathe and put 6 or 7 drops of medium or thick CA on the paper towel and rub it in the direction of the grain, very rapidly, while hand-turning the lathe wheel. This tends to fill the cross-grain ridges left by the previous coats of thin.
13. After the CA dries (you may lightly spritz with accelerator after a minute or two), I hand sand the blank, with the grain, lathe turned off. I use a very light touch and 400 grit paper until the shiny spots are gone. This requires very little effort.
14. Once the blank is uniformly dull I move through the remaining grits up to 12000.

I tried sanding between coats but, in my experience, it wasn't necessary and frequently caused an inconsistent finish on the blank. I also didn't have any luck with wet-sanding so I just use my sandpaper and Micromesh dry. I check with a magnifying glass after I'm through and have been very pleased with the results. I have sold quite a few pens to computer clients over the past few years and they have not complained.

Everyone who uses CA has their own way of doing things. This is my way and it is no better than anyone else's. Like I said earlier, my main problem was over-sanding.

 

[pcooper]

I'm going to try this method too, they're all pretty close to the same, with little bit of things different here and there, but this sounds easy and maybe would fix a few 'spots' that have been less than "Perfect" in my past attempts.