Help me find a thread

Jack Kerwood

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Rome GA
A few weeks back I was researching how to apply a CA finish to a pen or in my case a razor handle. I found a couple of treads with several good ideas including blue paper shop towels and how to fold them etc. Now I am ready to try. I have spent a hour this morning and can't find the threads. Any help will be appreciated.Jack Kerwood The Old Yankee's Woodshop
 
There are quite a few videos on You Tube showing how to do it. Do as search on "CA" finish. There is one on using BLO/CA that I have be very successful with and doesn't require all the sanding. There are also tutorials on the penturners.org site in their library.
 
I did an "Advanced Search" for "CA Finish Pen", hoping to get the hit you were looking for. Instead I got 364 hits.

If you do the Google search ca finish pen site:familywoodworking.org it will go through this forum looking for that topic. With 364 hits, not much help, but you might be able to refine your search.
 
CA is usually trial and error Jack. Blue shop towel...paper towel...speed...# of coats, all very subjective. Then you get into CA brands, temp and age. If you need a hand...feel free, Paul and I do CA finish in our sleep! His is always great...I need to do mine when I'm awake!!
 
Thanks for the tips. The razor handle and the wood of the stand is finished. For the record the wood was Brazilian Tulip Wood. The finish I ended up with was 8 coats of thin CA put on with a blue paper shop towel as suggested. One thing I discovered ( I am sure that I am not the first to discover this) was after I applied a coat I would wave a heat gun back and forth for 30 seconds or so until the finish felt dry on my wrist above my glove. This allowed my to apply 8 coats in 2 sessions. I sanded with the grain with the power off between coats. Each coat was sanded with a finer grit than the previous one. The final coat was done with a 1200 grit paper. Jack Kerwood "The Old Yankee's Woodshop"
 
Finding a method on CA is like belly buttons ... most everyone has one.

Upsides are it is fast and nice and shiny. Downside it can be frustating to apply and it is brittle and you'll find that out when you drop one just right.

Not in a big hurry I can recommend something I teach (I use it on my reel seats and bamboo rods) that gives the same glossy finish as CA but unlike CA if you drop it you don't have strip it down to wood and restart from scratch. Just apply the finish to the affected spot and it is self leveling and cross linking. Another upside it is cheap, a 3oz bottle is around $6.

I'm a big fan of accelerator (non-aerosol) I apply with a perfume bottle for a controlled spray.

Biggest thing is developing a ritual and doing it the same each time.

Only thing I'd recommend is ditching the paper towels. Paper towels act as a mild accelerator and nothing starts the day off right like having pieces of paper towel stuck on your finish and you get to start over.

I do prefer the "Blue" shop towels for applying my sanding sealer and cleaning up spills.

I've been using 2mm or 3mm craft foam that I tie my fishing flies with for years. I can buy a 11" x 18" piece of foam for a $1 and it makes lots of flies and I still have enough left over to give away when I do demos on different finishes I play with at our local Woodcraft and our Pen Turning Club.

Here's a pix of a piece of foam that has done over 100 pens and reel seats and still going strong over the last year or so.

1349167Foam_002.JPG
 
Ron, I must be missing something. What are you using in place of CA that costs $6 for 3 oz? I am always ready to try new tricks. A confused "Old Yankee" Jack Kerwood
 
The white sheets of foam stuff people use for packing the thin stuff works well also. Another thing I do is wrap the end of my finger with painter tape.
And all those little tiny ziplock bags that come in the pen kits will also work. I call them finger condoms.

But nothing has worked as well as craft foam for me.
 
Ron ,I checked out Birchwood Casey Tru-oil. It sounds very similar to the home brew mixture that we used on gun stocks back in the sixties. I will wait until I get to a Sporting Goods Store that stocks it. Shipping costs for ORMD materials from several places were double the selling price. There is a Bass Pro about a hour and a half away when I get to that area I will pick up a couple of bottles. Thanks again, Jack "The Old Yankee's Wood Shop"
 
Ron ,I checked out Birchwood Casey Tru-oil. It sounds very similar to the home brew mixture that we used on gun stocks back in the sixties. I will wait until I get to a Sporting Goods Store that stocks it. Shipping costs for ORMD materials from several places were double the selling price. There is a Bass Pro about a hour and a half away when I get to that area I will pick up a couple of bottles. Thanks again, Jack "The Old Yankee's Wood Shop"
I used to get mine in the Walmart Sporting Goods department.

Here's an old pix of a reel seat that is finished with Tru-Oil

ULFR%2520BUILD%2520003.JPG


I play with a lot of different finishes. Now that the weather has started to warm up and I can move my Snow Blower to see the lathe again Ill start playing with two 'one coat finishes' I left off with last fall. A Moisture Cure Urethane and I've been playing with a UV finish activated by the sun.
 
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