# Questions on CA Glue finish



## gridlockd (Nov 15, 2011)

I am new to pen turning, but have come to the conclusion that CA glue provides an extremely durable finish. I have done a few pens and they all seem to have turned out "ok". I am using medium CA, applied with a piece pf paper towel. I apply 3 coats then sand, then 3 more coats, sanding lightly in between each one. I am seeing some "swirling" of the finish which is requiring me to try to sand it smooth and reapply.

My questions are these: am i using the proper weight of CA? should I be applying with something other than paper towel? am i applying too many coats?

thanks in advance for any advice, i aspire to create pens in the same arena as the beautiful ones i've seen here.


----------



## D_Allen (Oct 11, 2010)

Well, I'm no expert but I've done some pen with this finish.
Lately I have been getting some areas where the shine is fading. I recently bought a cheap set of small tubes of glue for less than $1 and I am thinking that may be the problem. I'm going to do another one using some name brand like Loctite to see if it goes away. I have been using the boiled linseed oil on the paper towel along with the glue. That seems to be working well for me. Don't use too much oil, just enough to help the glue spread.
Also, for what it's worth, I found there was less swirling and few high spots when I turned it at a higher speed, around 900 rpm. It's still a hit and miss deal with me. My worst error is that I try to put another coat on too soon. I don't use an accelerator so I need to give it about 5 minutes between coats.


----------



## triw (Jan 30, 2012)

I am new to pen turning also and by accident I discovered a new way to do a CA glue finish. First I wear thoes thin rubber gloves (like used in doctors office) I found out I dont need paper towels I just apply directly to the wood with a glove covered finger tip at a slow speed. Next I was finishing a pen turned from rosebush root, it had some small cracks in it and I applied CA glue and rubbed in some fine dust from the earlier sanding. I could not seem to get it in the cracks so I grabbed a handful of the sawdust under my lathe and with the lathe running on a slow speed I applied the handful of dust directly to the CA covered pen and I could not beleive how nice it looked. It filled the small cracks and buffed the ca glue at the same time. I tried this on another pen (spalted sycamore with no cracks) and received the same beatiful finish. Never heard of doing that and don't know why I did it but it worked. I most likely broke a few rules but not knowing the rules…


----------



## D_Allen (Oct 11, 2010)

triw, that is a very interesting process that I definitely will try. I just need to remember not to vac all the dust and shavings away before finishing, like I usually do. You have discovered the art of experimenting…which is some of the best art and learning you can find.
At this point I need to comment on my above comments. I do now use an accelerator and I only use good name brand CA glue that comes in the 2 or 4 oz bottles. I do not use the BLO anymore and I do use small paper towel squares. And also, the speed is at the slowest I can go. I guess I discovered that I was doing it all wrong! ;-)


----------



## gridlockd (Nov 15, 2011)

i think i have finally developed a method that works well for me. I sand my piece as normal, then use a little acetone on a rag to clean the piece up. even if i had to stabilize the piece during turning, the small amount of acetone does not hurt it. then i sawdust burnish the piece before applying the first coat. My CA application is as follows: very low speed on the lathe, two coats of medium CA, then wet sand at a bit higher speed. then 4 coats of thin CA, followed by another wet sand. two more coats of thin ca, then I hit it with some white diamond compound, buff it off, then some paste wax, buff and finish. I do use accelerator on all coats of CA. this has been working extremely well for me. nice, smooth, glossy finish.


----------



## Guss (Sep 19, 2011)

Im not a expert ether but here is what I. I sand the pen to 600 then clean the dust off the piece. then i take a cotton cloth and put the ca glue on it, to apply the glue I don't turn on the lathe i just turn the lathe by hand. then i spray activator on and let it sit so the activator can dry for a bit. I do 4 coats this way. then I take 1200 micro mesh and sand it smooth after it is smooth I look for high spots. places that the blank isn't as glossy and i reapply till i get a good even finish then I ether buff it on the acrylic buff set that i have of finish it out with the micro mesh if i use the micro mesh i don't sand the piece vary long with each step. i have also had good luck with the hut plastic polish after the 1200 sanding


----------

