Is this wierd, or what?

Bill Lantry

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Well, folks,

Back in October (yes, October!), it was Ms Perez's birthday. Ms. Perez is from San Antonio, and she's one of several people the U keeps employed to keep me on track (believe me, it's not a one person job! ;)

Anyway, I wanted to make her something for her birthday. So I slapped a big old hunk of cherry on the lathe, and started going at it. It was almost done when suddenly it flew apart. Dang! I asked her supervisor what I should do. She said "Don't tell her, just make another one, and surprise her when it's done." Well, one thing led to another, and then over christmas break I found myself staring at a chunk of green Hickory. So I slapped it up on the lathe. Everything went fine, it had a nice shape, I finished it with lacquer, but it was, well, I don't know, a little dull. It just wasn't as nice as I would have liked. I resolved to do better.

So, friday night, I chucked up a chunk of the linden I brought down from Vermont last summer. It had an odd shape. The first thing I did was to turn it round, to see what I could do with it. As I turned it towards the form it suggested, it wanted to crack. So what else is new? But here's the wierd thing:

I got out the thick CA (gap filling) glue. I've done this before, and always had trouble hiding the glued spot. Anyway, I got the outside sanded. Suddenly, I remembered seeing something (not sure where) about people using CA as a finish. So I said 'what the heck', and rubbed the whole outside with CA. Shined right up. Hmmmm...

The inside took awhile, but went without incident. I went back to shellac for the finish. Outside looked great, inside less good. But I soldiered on. Went out yesterday morning, and the inside was thinking seriously about cracking. Even though it was getting a little out of round, I decided to sand the inside, and do the CA number. Stopped the crack, *and* it looked great. Double hmmm....

The outside bottom, though, needed some work, as the wood is soft, and there were some chuck marks. So I made my first ever jamb chuck. It did serve it's purpose, but I wasn't thrilled with the performance. So I finally bit the bullet and started a longworth chuck (first time I've ever done any plunge routing). I had a fantasy that everything would just turn like magic as I reverse rotated the two disks. That didn't happen, but it will be seviceable as soon as I find some rubber baby buggy bumpers... ;)

Anyway, here's the objet (not sure it counts as a bowl!) About 8" wide by 6" high, linden, finished with CA and shellac.

Thanks,

Bill

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That's shaping up nicely, Bill. :thumb: Real pretty wood, too.

In my experience with a Longworth chuck, it helps to keep the tailstock in position for as long as possible to hold the piece against the face of the chuck. Then when you move the tailstock out of the way for the final cuts, they should be VERY light. Otherwise, the bowl can pop out of the chuck and bop you in the head. At least mine did. :p This is especially true on pieces like your bowl where the sides are roughly 90º to the face of the chuck.
 
Well Bill, a great long story to tell us what happened.
But what count is the outcome, and for a present it looks very good, something like a Japanese rice bowl. I think this will be greatly appreciated.
 
CA Finish

I knew people sometimes finish with CA glue, but how do you apply it? What finishes can go over it? Also, what is the advantage of using CA as a finish?

Thanks.

Hutch
 
Matt,

I'm the wrong person to ask, as I'm a complete doofus! The proof: I have two kinds of disposable gloves, one thin, one think. The thick ones are blue, I think I got them at harbor freight. Anyway, I just turned off the lathe, squeezed the thick, "gap filling" glue onto the piece, and slathered it all over with my blue-gloved hand. I'm sure this is not the preferred method, so don't try this at home! ;)

Then I sprayed it with some kind of chemical agent that hardens it instantly. I'm sure that stuff has a name... ;)

It's probably a mistake to put shellac over it, but it *did* make it look nice, and I think the chemical reaction was done... The piece will likely eventually teach me otherwise ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
I've used CA as a finish on small turnings like pens, but not on larger pieces. I've also tried lacquer, polyurethane and shellac (as a sort of friction polish). Although shellac is a bit easier finish to apply, I've not been satisfied with it's longevity on a pen in use. CA is my favorite. It sets up ready to polish in quick order and is a very hard, long lasting finish. I've carried and used pens for over two years with virtually no sign of wear to the finish. And using that micro mesh sanding system up to 12K grit make pretty quick work of polishing it up to a high sheen.

Being a cheapskate, I used to cut the finger tips from the rubber gloves and use them one at a time to smooth out the CA with the lathe running at it slowest speed. Drip the glue on with one hand while using a rubber glove covered finger to smooth it out. Hit it with some accelerator (that's what you were looking for Bill) and apply a second coat. Hit that with the accelerator and give it a couple minutes, then begin sanding at as high a grit as you can efficiently start with and work up to the level of shine you want. More recently I've found that the little plastic bags that some of the pen parts come in can be used instead of the rubber glove finger tips, and they're free.:rofl:
 
Bill, you weren't too far-fetched in your methods. :thumb: Like Jerry, I use the little plastic pen kit part bags for spreading CA. I've also used a piece of wax paper, a nitrile glove, or a piece of thin closed-cell packing foam. I've pretty much stopped using micro mesh in favor of wet sanding to 600 grit, then going straight to the tripoli buffing wheel, followed with white diamond then a blue compound I have that's finer than white diamond. (I do the same with acrylics, too.) It's faster than going through the MM grits, and I can't see a visible difference in the outcome.

Hutch, as Jerry mentioned, the CA finish is VERY hard and durable.
 
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