# CA finish cracking in cold dry climate?



## Juiceman456 (Feb 6, 2013)

I'm obsessed with Ebony and how it looks with a 10 layer CA finish. I've turned several of these pens in different kits and use one daily. The one I use daily is great; it's a Majestic Junior- fountain nib. Been using it for about 3 months. I had a couple of friends from out of town notice my pen and ask if i had any extras. I just so happen to have a Majestic and a Tycoon in ebony on hand and sold them to them.
Some additional background: I live in South Georgia where it is hot and moist all year. Humidity never falls below 70% it seems. However, my buddies live up North, one lives in Connecticut, and the other in Iowa. Quite the extreme compared to Georgia. After about a month I received a message from one of them saying they noticed small cracks all over their pen. I asked the other guy and he said he noticed the same thing. 
Kind of rough considering they paid a decent penny for those beauties. I did research all over to try to figure out why this would happen. I couldn't find any exact posts here or there stating why this could happen. The pen i use still looks brand new, no cracks. My CA finish has never had a problem, except these two cases... I’ve done over 400 pens in CA finish... WHAT GIVES?
Then i remember i had a Gibson Hummingbird guitar purchased in Michigan and when I moved it to El Paso... it pretty much DIED. I wonder if this could be the same situation with the pens. Since they are cracking around where they join the metal hardware, could it be that the wood contracted because of the dry cold weather, but the CA finish did NOT contract with it so it cracked? Anyone else notice or have these problems?
I'm going ahead and making them new pens but using M3 Volcanic Ash to make up for it. I don’t think those will crack.


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## plantman (Feb 6, 2013)

I don't know if this is the answer or not, but this is what I notice in Wisconsin. I have several floors in my house that are made of 3/4 maple, and another that is maple with inlaid walnut. These floors are tight as a a drum 90% on the year, but come January and Febuary they may open up a 1/16 to 1/8 inch in places. During this time you also start getting static shocks off the cats and metal objects. Come spring, everything goes back to normal, and the cats will let you pet them again. The point being that even though this wood is nailed to the subfloor, and sealed, it still moves with the change in humidity. CA, once cured, moves very little if any.   Jim  S


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## bradh (Feb 6, 2013)

Another issue is Ebony which is very prone to cracking when used on a pen. There was an old saying kicking around the forums: There are two types of Ebony pens; those that are cracked and those that have not cracked yet. I have heard some people claim they avoid Ebony cracking by keeping the heat under control when drilling; but I stay away from ebony for pen turning.


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## mrcook4570 (Feb 6, 2013)

Ebony is very prone to cracking, regardless of the type of finish that is used.  Yours will most likely crack in time.  I suspect theirs cracked more quickly because of the drastic temp & humidity change.  

African blackwood is a good substitute for ebony.  It is a member of the rosewood family.


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## CHARLES STOPCZYNSKI (Feb 6, 2013)

*Low Humidity!*

Juiceman,

This time of year up north when the furnace is running a lot it dries out the contents of the home.  A humidifier helps but it's a lot of work filling them with water 2 x a day.  There are automated ones as well.

The heating season is very difficult on quality furniture.  Dries out glue joints.  The other thing of course is expansion and contraction.

Charlie


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## Haynie (Feb 6, 2013)

Another possible cause.  The cracks are on the end and seem to radiate up the barrel.  I have seen this twice and I live in a lot dryer climate than you do.  Each time this happened I found a very small amount of CA/Epoxy in the tube that I had missed.  Got rid of that and things did not crack.

Just another possible cause.


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## tommax (Feb 6, 2013)

I've had a lot of post production failures in CA finishes, many many more than I'd like. They are always the most beautiful pens ever when they emerge from my basement.  I've had some great luck with most of the ebonies that I've turned regarding cracking, burls are much more likely to move and crack after turning.  If it's an exotic burl that was expensive and there is a chance it might not be totally dry which is the case for me most of the time, I'll rough turn to 1/8 of finish size and leave it for a few days to move/dry before I finish.  It's helped with burls.


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## Smitty37 (Feb 7, 2013)

plantman said:


> I don't know if this is the answer or not, but this is what I notice in Wisconsin. I have several floors in my house that are made of 3/4 maple, and another that is maple with inlaid walnut. These floors are tight as a a drum 90% on the year, but come January and Febuary they may open up a 1/16 to 1/8 inch in places. During this time you also start getting static shocks off the cats and metal objects. Come spring, everything goes back to normal, and the cats will let you pet them again. The point being that even though this wood is nailed to the subfloor, and sealed, it still moves with the change in humidity. CA, once cured, moves very little if any.   Jim  S


Yup, and the colder it gets and the more the furnace runs the dryer it gets. Cold air just won't hold as much water as warm and when you heat air that doesn't have much moisture when cold it doesn't gain any when heated.  We use a humidifier even in DE which helps just enough to prevent the static shocks and keep our wood (mostly) furniture from falling apart.


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## Russianwolf (Feb 7, 2013)

I'll put it this way.

I made this Cocobolo Burl Pen about a year ago. Been in my case for well over a year with no issues. Sent it to my Sister in Law in November/December.

This is what she received,


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## Smitty37 (Feb 7, 2013)

*Luck*

I must be lucky. I've had some wood pens (only one or two are burls)  around the house for 5 years and none have shown any cracks. I did have a key chain that after a couple of months split the whole length of the barrel.  I don't use CA finish and most of the woods are pretty common.  The humidity in my house ranges from very humid in the summer to very dry in the winter.
The temperature is kept at about 70 - 72 degrees F year round.  

I have received wood barreled pens for my collection sent from all over the country from Alaska to the far north, to Texas and South Florida and from the east coast to the west coast - none have developed any splits.


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## Juiceman456 (Feb 7, 2013)

Russianwolf said:


> I'll put it this way.
> 
> I made this Cocobolo Burl Pen about a year ago. Been in my case for well over a year with no issues. Sent it to my Sister in Law in November/December.
> 
> This is what she received,


 
Ouuuch. That's rough Ruuskiwolf

I'll take all recommendations and put them to the test.  i'll change to Blackwood (you can get away with calling it Ebony too  i'll see if my guild can get them as cheap as we get Ebony @ $0.80 7/8 x 7/8 x 6).  I'll finish it out and then let them set for a week inside my house where it is climate controlled instead of the no controlled shop... then ca finish them.


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