# CA finish on Black Walnut



## Hosspen (Mar 16, 2008)

I have a problem and hope someone here has a solution. I have some black walnut that comes out looking splotchy with my normal CA finish techiniques.  I have tried using thin, thick, and medium CA and combinations (and with and without accelerator) but it is leaving uneven splothes no matter how I sand and polish it. I use this finish on all types of woods but am beginning to wonder if this walnut has some type of oil in it that is causing the problem.  This is some wood that air dried for 5 years (in 6" chunks) and I used the microwave to dry the 1" pen blanks the rest of the way if you think that may be a factor.  I'm considering a completely different finish but am sure it won't have the durability of CA. Any help, comments, or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks


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## rlharding (Mar 16, 2008)

It has been discussed often.  Search for oily woods.  I believe some people wipe it down first with acetone.


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## hilltopper46 (Mar 16, 2008)

See!! - I'm not the only one.

I hate walnut.

I did 25 plus walnut pens from a house that was torn down last summer/fall.  The best thing that finally worked for me was after the pen was sanded, to put about 3 drops or so of BLO on each blank and then  cover that with THIN CA.  After that sets a while, start building up the finish with medium CA (no more BLO) until you build up enough finish to work it down to its final shine.

Good luck.  IMHO you'll need it.


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## rlharding (Mar 17, 2008)

You could also try anotr finish, there are more methods than using CA. I make a lot of black walnut (I have a free source). I don't use CA I use wipe on poly the white diamond & carnuba.

Never had any kind of problem.

I wonder sometimes if the 'need' to use CA comes from reading so  much about it here, seeing pens that have a nice shine and the hand goes for the CA.  This leads me to something else so I wil start a new topic.


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## leehljp (Mar 17, 2008)

I have used walnut without a problem. As a matter of course on pens, I like for the grain to stand out so I use BLO automatically. That might be why I don't have the problem that you are describing.

In contrast from Ruth, there is no 'need' from "reading" as she describes, but the results and benefits that CA gives in many situations. So, Ruth, you can stop 'wondering'!


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## jeffj13 (Mar 17, 2008)

Call me crazy, but I never considered walnut to be an oily wood. Never had any problem finishing it either, no matter what finish I chose.

Can't speak to your technique, but in my case whenever I have a finishing problem, the first thing I look at is operator error.

jeff


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## kent4Him (Mar 17, 2008)

> _Originally posted by hilltopper46_
> 
> See!! - I'm not the only one.
> 
> ...



Tony, I am cutting down a Black Walnut tree next month up in Milwaukee.  I assume that you don't want any of it.

I haven't had the splotch issue with Walnut.  Other woods yes.


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## Hosspen (Mar 17, 2008)

Thank you all for the helpful information! It worked, I gave the blanks a good coat of BLO and then some good heavy coats of CA and guess what? No more splotches. (I'm thinking that the wood had different densities in the same blank and the BLO evened it out?). Like Jeff suggested, I guess it was operator error.

Ruth, I still may try another finish next time. I use poly (Brush-on) on some furniture I make but usually wait a day between coats. Does this wipe-on poly you refer to have a quicker cure time, or does it only require one coat, or just a lot of patience?

Leehljp & Hilltopper, thanks for the good tips too, It made me feel better to see I wasn't the only one with this problem. One thing I've learned from this is: All Black Walnut is NOT the same.

JeffJ, I don't think walnut  feels or looks oily either but it acts a little like it resisiting CA at different degrees. You are probably right on. 

Thanks all for helping out!


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## Rifleman1776 (Mar 18, 2008)

Walnut is not usually a happy choice for pens. The grain is just too open for us finicky guys on a tiny object like a pen. Lee did say he likes grain to stand out, so that would be the exception. I have tried selling and, even, giving away walnut blanks here an on other pen forums. No takers. It simply is not popular. I have given up using it for pens also. For bowl turning for large flatwork, it is the king of woods.
BTW, I have never heard it referred to as oily either.


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## sbell111 (Mar 19, 2008)

That's strange.  Walnut is a pretty good seller for us.  I guess it goes back to everybody's situation being just a bit different.


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