CA Glue Finish

[sbarton22]

Quick question...I have been making some pens. I finished a couple with CA glue and BLO. Then I run them through the Beale system. I learned this last bit from a demo at my local turner's guild.

My question stems from my own stupidity of not recording my experiments. I made one pen and let it sit for a couple of hours before I applied Ren wax. That pen looks like a glass finish. I don't think I even used the EEE or white diamond.

I've made a couple of pens since and per the demo, after a couple of minutes (usually set up time on my grinder) I go right to buffing. The result is the glass finish is lost, for the most part. Yes, it is shiny. But it is almost like I must have taken a couple of layers off the finish?? It brings the wood texture back a little, and that is actually nice, but I want to know how to get back to where I was.

So, long story longer.....should I be letting the last layer of CA cure for some period of time before buffing? Just chuck the buffing all together (I don't really understand what that does to a CA finish, only that is what the demo showed)?

I' feel like I have the process down pretty solid, I just need a little more advice. Thanks.

[alindsey]

If you ask 10 different guys how they do a CA finish you'll get 10 different answers. I don't use BLO or buff mine on a buffing wheel, but instead:

Medium CA, one drop per barrel of the pen. With the lathe running at it's slowest speed, I put a drop on a cloth and quickly zip it back and forth on the barrel of the pen, maybe 5x back and forth. Let it dry, usually takes about 5, minutes, then repeat the process until I've built up 6-8 coats. After letting the final coat dry about 10 minutes I get the lathe on slow-medium speed and lightly go through the series of micromesh abrasives from 1500 through 12000. As long as I've allowed time for the CA to dry between each coat I get a glass-like finish that is very durable.

Again, that's the method that works for me so take it with a grain of salt. Another guy in the store swears by thick CA, yet another uses the thin viscosity and applies it with the little plastic bags the pen parts come in. Still another co-worker uses only Viva brand paper towels and drizzles the glue onto the pen barrels straight from the bottle while holding the towel underneath and working it back and forth.