# CA Glue as a finish



## RussFairfield (Aug 3, 2009)

This article showed uo today in the Woodworkers Journal e-Zine. Sounds easy. They say it is an easy finish. Thick CA, 3 coats, polish, and done.



Glue as a finish, you say? Incredible, but true. CA (cyanoacrylate) glue provides a beautiful glossy finish on small turned objects. It's perfect for pens because, unlike other finishes, the gloss doesn't diminish from handling. It may seem counterintuitive to spread glue all over your nicely turned pen, but it works great! Here's how. 

Turn the pen as you normally would, and sand it smooth. As with any finish, the smoother you make the project, the better quality finish you can get. The rosewood pen shown in these photos was sanded to 500-grit (Photo 1). 

Once the sanding is complete, clean the sanding dust from the pen blank. I use a drop or two of lacquer thinner on a paper towel, held against the spinning blank (Photo 2). 

Using thick CA glue, dribble adhesive onto the spinning blank. Your lathe should be running at 500 rpm or so. Hold a paper towel below the blank to catch any drips (Photo 3). 

Touch the paper towel against the glue to spread it uniformly across the blank. Hold it there for just a few seconds (Photo 4). 

After the first coat is dry, lightly sand the pen using a fine (800-grit) abrasive, clean the pen again, and apply a second coat. Repeat the process for a third coat. After the third coat is dry, do one more light sanding with 800-grit, then bring your pen to an amazing polish using buffing compound on a paper towel. Do the final sanding and buffing with the lathe at a higher speed, about 1,500 rpm.


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## Great Googly Moogly (Aug 3, 2009)

WOW what a great idea...


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## NewLondon88 (Aug 3, 2009)

CA as a finish?

Who'd a thunk it?


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## hewunch (Aug 3, 2009)

hmmm, I wonder if it will catch on?


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2009)

hewunch said:


> hmmm, I wonder if it will catch on?




*YES, it WILL  ! !!!!*


Catch on the paper towel, cause it doesn't dry that quickly!!!

DAMHIKT!​


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## hewunch (Aug 3, 2009)

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: Ed!


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## Marc Phillips (Aug 3, 2009)

ed4copies said:


> *YES, it WILL  ! !!!!*
> 
> 
> Catch on the paper towel, cause it doesn't dry that quickly!!!
> ...



I see you also know how to make a flapping lathe ways cleaner... now that I have the new lathe all I have to do is (1) let the paper towel stick to the blank (2) release the headstock locking lever and (3) slide the headstock up and down the ways to clean them


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## just_call_me_dusty (Aug 3, 2009)

The things ya don't learn on this show!!!


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## OKLAHOMAN (Aug 3, 2009)

He can't be serious, wonder if the fumes just got to him


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## leehljp (Aug 3, 2009)

I got that in my email also. 

I remember a fellow joining IAP about 3 to 4 years ago and his 2nd or 3rd post was: "You use superglue as a finish? You gotta be kidding me!"


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## bdonald (Aug 3, 2009)

Maybe you should make a video of it Russ?


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## GouletPens (Aug 4, 2009)

Boy it sounds easy. I bet it's easy to learn and everyone will do it the same way:wink:


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## Fred (Aug 4, 2009)

Amazing how 'simple' it seems to be according to THEIR directions! 

I guess we all best get really, really busy and try it ourselves before someone patents the idea. You would have thought that one of us would have come up with this idea.

Oh yea, we did only we added BLO. Now wait till they hear about that idea! Until they do, keep it to yourself unless they offer good money to you ...


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## bitshird (Aug 4, 2009)

Gee whizz I can't wait to try it,


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## NewLondon88 (Aug 4, 2009)

bitshird said:


> Gee whizz I can't wait to try it,




Naah.. it'll never work..


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## sefali (Aug 4, 2009)

LOL. I see a that article creating a lot of pissed off readers, as things go wrong while applying this "super easy new finish".


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## RussFairfield (Aug 4, 2009)

I had all of the same thoughts as I read the article.


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## GoodTurns (Aug 4, 2009)

i'm wondering if it's even possible to buy it in bulk instead of these little super glue tubes?


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## chriselle (Aug 4, 2009)

Ahhhhh!!!   THREE coats.....that's where I went wrong!

Anyway


A reliable source on the internet said... that black rubberized superglue stuff is the way to go....supposed to look better than ebonite.:wink:


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## leehljp (Aug 5, 2009)

Sefali: 





> LOL. I see a that article creating a lot of pissed off readers, as things go wrong while applying this "super easy new finish".



Russ: 





> I had all of the same thoughts as I read the article.



Good thing we are prepared for the fall out from that article with 5 new Greeters to point them in the right direction. Russ, I hope you are ready for this! :biggrin:


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## babyblues (Aug 5, 2009)

Now what idiot would use CA as a finish on a pen?!  That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.  I'll probably try it tonight.


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## Dagwood (Aug 5, 2009)

Next they will be telling us we can use a lathe to turn wood on, go figure.


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## RussFairfield (Aug 5, 2009)

I discovered that a friction polish finish lasted longer when I used CA glue (Zap and Hot Stuff) as a wood hardener and filler under it. I shared this with the turning club members, and it didn't take someone long to discover that the CA was a pretty good finish by itself. Then I went to an AAW Symposium, and discovered that some other folks were doing the same thing. A guy from Tacoma, WA said he was using the Boiled Linseed Oil over the wet Super-T and was getting good results. We got together in a local woodturners shop that night and tried it, and the rest is history. 

Thanks to the Internet, nobody works alone anymore, except some woodworking magazine editors. It amazed me that these folks, who are supposedly savvy Internet explorers, are just now catching up almost 20 years later.


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## GouletPens (Aug 6, 2009)

RussFairfield said:


> I discovered that a friction polish finish lasted longer when I used CA glue (Zap and Hot Stuff) as a wood hardener and filler under it. I shared this with the turning club members, and it didn't take someone long to discover that the CA was a pretty good finish by itself. Then I went to an AAW Symposium, and discovered that some other folks were doing the same thing. A guy from Tacoma, WA said he was using the Boiled Linseed Oil over the wet Super-T and was getting good results. We got together in a local woodturners shop that night and tried it, and the rest is history.
> 
> Thanks to the Internet, nobody works alone anymore, except some woodworking magazine editors. It amazed me that these folks, who are supposedly savvy Internet explorers, are just now catching up almost 20 years later.


 Hey....give the editor a break. I mean it's not like more than half the pen turners out there are already using CA finishes....oh wait. YEAH WE ARE!:embarrassed:


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## kylundragon (Aug 6, 2009)

Marc Phillips said:


> I see you also know how to make a flapping lathe ways cleaner... now that I have the new lathe all I have to do is (1) let the paper towel stick to the blank (2) release the headstock locking lever and (3) slide the headstock up and down the ways to clean them



I know i am new here and just reading this for the first time but... i use a 12" x 9" x1" board with a cloth attached to it for whenever i do anything with water or glue. i have a shopsmith mark 5.


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## wolftat (Aug 6, 2009)

Hey thats a great idea, it sounds so easy. I saw them make a handmade wooden pen on "How It's Made" and they only take 3 minutes from start to finish, so why do they cost so much?


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## toolcrazy (Aug 7, 2009)

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. 

Still don't like it. Back to my Enduro.


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## jusaf (Aug 8, 2009)

I haven't used CA as a finish yet.  I've been using friction polish.  It works ok.  Not the greatest and definitely not the gloss look that I really want on my pens.  I am going to do the practice method that I read here about using a scrap pieces that is rounded.  My question though, is this....do you have to use a paper towel or can you use a finishing cloth?  I have some finishing cloths that I got for next to nothing.  They are more like the old cloth diapers that some folks used to use.  I have been buying them at my local Target and getting about 12 for $4.  They are great for applying sanding sealer and friction polish.  Just not sure about the CA yet.  Do I need to use thin or medium CA?  All I have right now is medium.  I figured that I would give it a try and see what happens.

Jim


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## leehljp (Aug 8, 2009)

jusaf said:


> I haven't used CA as a finish yet.  I've been using friction polish.  It works ok.  Not the greatest and definitely not the gloss look that I really want on my pens.  I am going to do the practice method that I read here about using a scrap pieces that is rounded.  My question though, is this....do you have to use a paper towel or can you use a finishing cloth?  I have some finishing cloths that I got for next to nothing.  They are more like the old cloth diapers that some folks used to use.  I have been buying them at my local Target and getting about 12 for $4.  They are great for applying sanding sealer and friction polish.  Just not sure about the CA yet.  Do I need to use thin or medium CA?  All I have right now is medium.  I figured that I would give it a try and see what happens.
> 
> Jim



Paper towel is much better than cloth in application. Besides acting as a mild accelerant, PT is probably cheaper than your cloth once you see how much you use for one application and how much you then throw away.

Medium is fine. Some people use medium only; some thin only and some vary from time to time. I usually start off with thin for the first two or three coats and them use medium or occasionally thick from there.


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## jusaf (Aug 8, 2009)

Just regular paper towel or the blue shop towels?

Jim


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## Halling51 (Aug 8, 2009)

NewLondon88 said:


> Naah.. it'll never work..



Well, I have seen it in use and I have tried it lately.

IT DOES WORK!!


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## RussFairfield (Aug 8, 2009)

I keep hearing about all of the paper towels used for a CA finish. I use 1 paper towel to finish a pen, and most of the time 2 pens from the one towel. 

I fold the towel lengthwise in half 3 times, so there are 6 layers of paper. I use medium CA because it doesn't soak through, and uses fewer coats. The only reason I don't use thin CA is that it soaks through the 6 layers of paper. No more than 1" of the long strip is needed for each coat of glue, and I tear the used part off for the next coat.


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## NewLondon88 (Aug 8, 2009)

That's why I don't use Thin .. it goes right through the towel. and melts
the glove. and takes off skin..


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## leehljp (Aug 8, 2009)

RussFairfield said:


> The only reason I don't use thin CA is that it soaks through the 6 layers of paper. No more than 1" of the long strip is needed for each coat of glue, and I tear the used part off for the next coat.



Thin - So THATs my problem and why it sticks to my fingers. :biggrin: :wink:

I should have noted a cultural difference for me - Japanese PT is about 30% smaller and thinner than US standard PT.


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