# Best way to finish Cocobolo



## Brooks803 (Sep 22, 2009)

I'm new to the game of pen turning and have heard that certain hardwoods such as cocobolo and ebony are somewhat difficult to finish. Any help hints or tips would be greatly helpful!!


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## tim self (Sep 22, 2009)

I only use a CA finish on every wood pen to take this as my .02.  If you are gonna use CA on cocobolo, rosewood, ebony,  ie. oily woods, wipe with acetone or accellerator on the blank first.  Let completely gas off and then apply a coat of CA.  Apply as many coats as you wish but remember,  DO NOT heat the blank to much while sanding as this will bring the deeper oils to the surface and cause seperation.


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## DennisM (Sep 22, 2009)

I will have to dig up some of my pictures of the cocobolo slimlines I did, I am really new to it and those were some of my first ones. I only used BLO/CA.

I would do a initial coat of BLO and lightly buff it in, then 5 coats of ca, 2000grit light sand, two more blow and then 3-4 more CA. No real reason other then they came out really nice that way, and when I would do it without the blow inbetween, the luster wouldnt be the same..


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## Sylvanite (Sep 22, 2009)

Cocobolo is a good candidate for "bare polished wood", a.k.a. no finish.  It develops a lustruous sheen all on its own.

On the other hand, if you are at all concerned about allergic reactions (although those are typically to the dust, not the wood), you can put a CA finish on it.  CA goes on better if you wipe the wood down with CA Accelerator immediately before application.  That strips surface oil and helps the CA adhere better.

I hope that helps,
Eric


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## THarvey (Sep 22, 2009)

tim self said:


> I only use a CA finish on every wood pen to take this as my .02.  If you are gonna use CA on cocobolo, rosewood, ebony,  ie. oily woods, wipe with acetone or accellerator on the blank first.  Let completely gas off and then apply a coat of CA.  Apply as many coats as you wish but remember,  DO NOT heat the blank to much while sanding as this will bring the deeper oils to the surface and cause seperation.




I wet sand, to keep the heat down.


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## junosdad (Sep 22, 2009)

*another option*

Enduro has worked well for me.


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## bobaltig (Sep 22, 2009)

Jonathan:  I don't really put a finish on cocobolo (one of my favorite woods).  I sand to about 400 grit, then micromesh up to 4000 grit.  Then it's over to the buffing wheels.  Buff with EEE, White Diamond and then Carnuba.  You'll get a nice smooth yet tactile feel to the wood, and the wood will darken to a beautiful dark orange color with exposure to UV rays.

Bob




Brooks803 said:


> I'm new to the game of pen turning and have heard that certain hardwoods such as cocobolo and ebony are somewhat difficult to finish. Any help hints or tips would be greatly helpful!!


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## pipecrafter (Sep 23, 2009)

I never use an applied finish on cocobolo, though I have used danish oil on knife handles.  I think certain woods like cocobolo, african blackwood, all the rosewoods in fact, just look better without a shiny finish.


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