# What is your finishing sequence?



## Jimmykoko2 (Sep 25, 2015)

Everyone is looking for the BEST possible finish. 

What is your sequence?

Polish with white diamond on a buffing wheel then use Hutt or One Step polish or Hutt/One Step polish then buff with white diamond. 

Thank you for your input and expertise.


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## Dale Lynch (Sep 25, 2015)

Sand through 600g,apply CA,wetsand through 1500g,buff with Dico PBC and med/firm buff wheel, done.


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## BackyardSmokin (Sep 25, 2015)

For acrylic I dry sand 150 grit through 600 grit.  Followed by wet sanding to 12,000 grit, then the Novus 3,2,1 scratch remover and polish.

For wood I wet sand from 150 grit through 12,000 grit using the Dr. Woodshop Walnut Oil.  Followed by a few coats of the Pens Plus.  I go with 3 coats of Pen Plus for a stain look and 7 coats for a more glossy look.


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## KenV (Sep 25, 2015)

How,do you measure "BEST"?

There are a bunch of ways that give very good results.

My test is free from surface scratches and flaws at 10X magnification.   If it passes that it is my BEST..

Not all of my pens get there though.


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## Skie_M (Sep 26, 2015)

What I usually do is right before I get into my finish coat, I sand up to 1000 grit, nearly giving a polished appearance to the wood.

Then, while the lathe is spinning at low speed, I apply rubbing alcohol. This evaporates pretty fast, stripping the oils and a little water out of the surface of the wood. Then, I apply Minwax Stain and Seal "natural" color, and while that's still wet, I apply a coat of CA. I don't spend more than 3 seconds with the applicator against the wood. Any more than that and I risk the applicator getting glued to the pen barrel.

After applying 6 - 9 coats of CA, I then begin my wet sanding, starting with 1000 grit to knock off any ridges that may have formed. Then I sand "with the grain" with the lathe turned off. Then I jump to micromesh pads (I get them from Hobby Lobby), 3200 grit, wet .... followed by turning the lathe off and sanding "with the grain" again. As I work my way up to 12,000 grit, every 3 pads or so, I stop the lathe again to sand "with the grain".

Finally, I apply some Meguiar's PlastX and buff at high speed .... I leave the lathe spinning at high speed while I follow up with a coat of Turtle Wax Hard Coat and buff it to a glassy mirror shine. The results look as though the wood was encased in glass.


Keep in mind that if you are looking to get results like mine, you'll have to follow my entire procedure step by step, taking no shortcuts or deviations. Certain substitutions may work well, like swapping out my minwax for some danish oil, boiled linseed oil, walnut oil, or what have you ... the brand of superglue used can also be changed up, as I just use the cheap stuff I buy at Harbor Freight in the 10-packs. If you have One-Step plastic polish, you can swap that in to take the place of the PlastX. In fact, they're both made by the same company.


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## jttheclockman (Sep 26, 2015)

Skie_M said:


> What I usually do is right before I get into my finish coat, I sand up to 1000 grit, nearly giving a polished appearance to the wood.
> 
> Then, while the lathe is spinning at low speed, I apply rubbing alcohol. This evaporates pretty fast, stripping the oils and a little water out of the surface of the wood. Then, I apply Minwax Stain and Seal "natural" color, and while that's still wet, I apply a coat of CA. I don't spend more than 3 seconds with the applicator against the wood. Any more than that and I risk the applicator getting glued to the pen barrel.
> 
> ...




You are adding water to the blank and depending on the strength of the rubbing alcohol you can be adding more water than others.


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## Skie_M (Sep 26, 2015)

I haven't had any issues with clouding or hazing with my method.  Also, it's a very small amount of rubbing alcohol, and it's the 95% alcohol type, rather than 70%.  Cleaning the wood surface and getting the surface dried of oils and anything that gets in the way of a CA bond is the goal ... any water that gets into the wood through this method isn't going to be significant.


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## jttheclockman (Sep 26, 2015)

Skie_M said:


> I haven't had any issues with clouding or hazing with my method.  Also, it's a very small amount of rubbing alcohol, and it's the 95% alcohol type, rather than 70%.  Cleaning the wood surface and getting the surface dried of oils and anything that gets in the way of a CA bond is the goal ... any water that gets into the wood through this method isn't going to be significant.




If it works for you keep doing it. Many ways of getting the job done. But again as I said many times those little details get left out of posts and when people use those methods the result may not be the same. Little fact about the % of alcohol as an example. Remember water and CA do not play well together.


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## CREID (Sep 26, 2015)

jttheclockman said:


> Skie_M said:
> 
> 
> > What I usually do is right before I get into my finish coat, I sand up to 1000 grit, nearly giving a polished appearance to the wood.
> ...


 You're right about using alcohol and adding water to the wood that way. Alcohol is hydroscopic and pulls water right out of the air and depending on the alcohol you buy, there is more water in some than others right away, no pure alcohol. I use acetone. Also, when I was into archery really heavy and fletched my own arrows, I noticed how alcohol does leave a residue, mostly whatever minerals was in the water that was in the alcohol. I should point out that as I said alcohol pulls the water out of the air, the older your alcohol the more water will be in it. As far as oils, alcohol is not a good degreaser, I worked in the printing industry for over 30 years and alcohol never was any good for that. Like I said I use acetone, takes care of the oils, flashes faster than alcohol and leaves no film.

Just my 2 1/2 cents

Curt


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## Skie_M (Sep 27, 2015)

Yeah, I'll have to find me some nail polish remover .... not a huge fan of that smell, though. 


That and ... will it possibly react with my CA finish coat after, if some of the acetone is still in the wood when I apply my finish?


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## jttheclockman (Sep 27, 2015)

Skie_M said:


> Yeah, I'll have to find me some nail polish remover .... not a huge fan of that smell, though.
> 
> 
> That and ... will it possibly react with my CA finish coat after, if some of the acetone is still in the wood when I apply my finish?




Never had a problem. I suggest just a quick wipe you do not have to soak it. Also run the lathe and it will force any residue to the outside to dry quickly.


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## Skie_M (Sep 27, 2015)

Alrighty, I'll pick some up and give it a try.


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## CREID (Sep 27, 2015)

Skie_M said:


> Yeah, I'll have to find me some nail polish remover .... not a huge fan of that smell, though.
> 
> 
> That and ... will it possibly react with my CA finish coat after, if some of the acetone is still in the wood when I apply my finish?


 Acetone flashes really fast. I don't soak the blank tho, I just wet a paper towel and wipe, I don't even have the lathe running. I used to use acetone years ago when I used to do silk screening. We used it to clean the screens after we were done with them to get the lacquer based film off and then reuse the screens. They had to be clean with no residue or the film wouldn't stick.

Curt


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## TurtleTom (Sep 27, 2015)

KenV said:


> How,do you measure "BEST"?
> 
> There are a bunch of ways that give very good results.
> 
> ...



   I'm with Ken here.
   We have no definition of finish.   In the machining industry, finish is determined with a finish comparator.    A finish is about counting the scratches visible at a certain magnitude and/or comparing it with a known sample.  (Google: Surface Comparator and take your pick)  The finish has a number and is called out on the blueprint, the number is  absolute.   
   I also know it's impractical to expect all pen turners to buy an expensive finish comparator.   I never intend to buy one either, but we're confusing apples with oranges here.  Because of a lack of a true standard, I have bought many items recommended by IAP members that just didn't work out that well for me, finish wise. 
 Take everything you read in these finish threads with a grain of salt and you'll feel better in the morning.


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## Wildman (Sep 29, 2015)

I laugh when see this kind of stuff,” you'll have to follow my entire procedure step by step, taking no shortcuts or deviations.”

My finishing sequence varies by finishing product and method of application, also wood species and whether dealing with close or open grain wood. Methods of application: brush, dip, spray, wipe on. 

Use only clear finishing products (oil/waterborne) which may or may not thin. Stopped using CA several years ago, although never had a problem using CA and found it very fast procedure.

Sanding sequence starts by observing surface after turning.  I divide sequence into dry & wet sanding.  I never buff anymore stopped doing that years ago.


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## Skie_M (Sep 29, 2015)

Wildman said:


> I laugh when see this kind of stuff,” you'll have to follow my entire procedure step by step, taking no shortcuts or deviations.”
> 
> My finishing sequence varies by finishing product and method of application, also wood species and whether dealing with close or open grain wood. Methods of application: brush, dip, spray, wipe on.
> 
> ...



Hmm ... taking a snippet of my post out of context and poking holes in it, I see?

The reason for why I said that is quite simple.  If you wish to achieve exactly the results I get, you'll have to follow the exact same steps.  It's just like a chemistry class ... every experiment is made to be repeatable, as long as you follow the exact same procedure every time.  If you take the exact same measures, temperatures, and ingredients, you will get the same results as the original experiment over the same period of time no matter where you are on or off the planet.

If he wants to have a glassy smooth finish that looks like the wood is encased in glass, my method is a viable one.  There are other methods that are closely related, and use different products here and there, but the steps taken are virtually identical.






24kt gold Comfort Grip (no rubber grip) with upgraded 24kt gold cross clip in Bethlehem Olive Wood.


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## Wildman (Sep 30, 2015)

Skie_M you are not the first person to share their procedure for doing a CA finish. Honestly cannot tell you how many people have shared their experience good or bad here using CA glue as a finish. If do a search here and will find all kinds of approaches to applying a CA finish. 

Too many people here think CA glue is the Holy Grail for finishing pens.   I agree a CA finish is both versatile and fast in achieving a great finish on pens.   Just not the only finish for wood pens all the time. 

Very hard to answer questions posed by Jimmykoko2 without him providing more information. Finishing sequence will vary for many reasons based upon:  Are you using antler, bone, plastic, stone, and wood for pen blank(s)? This will also change you sanding & finishing, buffing or polishing sequence too!


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## Skie_M (Sep 30, 2015)

Quite true ... I've found that for some reason, CA won't stick to my alabaster stone pen barrels...

It's quite unnecessary to apply a CA coating to an acrylic barrel unless it's got voids or happens to have foreign objects poking through the outer layer ...

Some people prefer a natural feel to their bone or antler pens, and the same goes for stone and wood as well...


All in all, if you ask 10 people around here how to go about achieving a single end result, you'll still end up with 14 answers, and some of them will seem so off-the-wall that they make no sense whatsoever, but they still work anyways... for them.


For the OP .... try various methods out till you find what works best for you.  This might not be the usual accepted method by most of us here, or it might include some unusual steps or seem slightly exaggerated in certain aspects.  Ignore us!  If it works for you, then you're doing it right!

Meanwhile ... experiment, learn, and most of all, have fun!

I just didn't like it when Bill took a snippet of my post out of context to ascribe meaning to it that I didn't put there.  Now ... CAN you achieve results like mine without following the steps that I use?   Perhaps ... but since I'm doing it the right way (for ME), I'm going to tell you how I do it.  If you follow my steps exactly, you should get the same results.  If you figure out how to do it without following my steps exactly, then that's great!  I probably can't follow your method without screwing up.


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## TurtleTom (Sep 30, 2015)

I'll agree that sequence is essential, ask any EOD man and he'll agree.


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## Jimmykoko2 (Oct 1, 2015)

Thank you all for your kind input. I have some new ideas on how I think I can improve my work.


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