# Problem with CA finish cracking



## ALexG (Oct 7, 2013)

it's being a while that I didn't do any CA finish, and I didn't have this issue before, I was using like 8-10 coats of medium with different wooden pens and the finish shows different type of cracking after one day, like small little mesh cracks or some times like a spiral crack. I tried leaving the blanks for one day before wet sanding,same issue, 
I used the lathe at slow speed for not over heating, I used accelerator and 30 secs between coats

any thoughts?


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## Dan Masshardt (Oct 7, 2013)

ALexG said:


> it's being a while that I didn't do any CA finish, and I didn't have this issue before, I was using like 8-10 coats of medium with different wooden pens and the finish shows different type of cracking after one day, like small little mesh cracks or some times like a spiral crack. I tried leaving the blanks for one day before wet sanding,same issue, I used the lathe at slow speed for not over heating, I used accelerator and 30 secs between coats  any thoughts?



Too much accelerator sprayed too close is something that comes up in these discussions.


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## Jim Burr (Oct 7, 2013)

Maybe the bushings are "glued" to the blank. When you take them off, they crack the finish. This is assuming you are using metal bushings and other stuff.


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## commercialbuilder (Oct 7, 2013)

I recently did the Liberty pen and pencil kits and the ca cracked and came loose on the pen but the pencil is ok. I cleaned both blanks with acetone before applying the ca , the only thing I can think caused this is heat but I have never had it happen before.


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## kovalcik (Oct 7, 2013)

Just a few ideas:

Jim's bushing hypothesis is a good place to start.  

Old CA or a new brand?  You mentioned you had not done a CA finish in a while.

Accelerator.  I know a lot of people use it successfully, but my view is if I need to use accelerator, I am putting too much CA on at a time.  Try not using it and see if it makes a difference.

Weather.  Extra humidity or really dry in your shop?  Temperature differences?


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## ALexG (Oct 7, 2013)

is not on the edge of the blank, so is not a bushing problem, CA too old,  it could be, I believe is like 1 year and half old, temperature of my shop is kind of dry


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## 1080Wayne (Oct 7, 2013)

8-10 coats of medium should give a fairly thick finish . Without accelerator , I would wait about a week for full curing and off-gassing of the CA before finishing the finish . I suspect that using accelerator doesn`t eliminate the need for a significant time lapse .


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## Monty (Oct 7, 2013)

A year and a half is getting old for CA.


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## Mike_in_Atlanta (Oct 8, 2013)

I recently had a problem with my CA finish cracking as well - turns out it was just some old CA glue.  Got a new container and no more cracking.

mike


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