# Removing a ca finish? (Do-over)



## mike4066 (Dec 9, 2014)

I was doing a CA finish last night that went bad and want to "do it over". I plan use a skew and (carefully) sand it back down to the wood. Any thickness lost could be rebuilt with CA (ironic...).

Is there a better way to do this?   I was worried that acetone would gum up the glue and get into the grain of the blank.


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## robutacion (Dec 9, 2014)

mike4066 said:


> I was doing a CA finish last night that went bad and want to "do it over". I plan use a skew and (carefully) sand it back down to the wood. Any thickness lost could be rebuilt with CA (ironic...).
> 
> Is there a better way to do this?   I was worried that acetone would gum up the glue and get into the grain of the blank.



There are a few possible ways to remove the CA that you coated the wood with, including the acetone, paint remover and other chemicals BUT, the safest way to get it removed, is to use a very sharp gouge and then some fine sandpaper.

One of the great advantages of CA coating/finishing is that, it will allow you to built any thickness taken by the re-finishing.  Even if you are not looking for that deep and gloss finish, it is possible to create a matt or satin finish with plenty of CA coats so, you own thoughts, are correct...!

Best of luck...!

Cheers
George


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## robertkulp (Dec 9, 2014)

I've removed CA with a sharp skew. As long as you're steady, it works really well. Plus, it's quick.


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## Cmiles1985 (Dec 9, 2014)

+1 for the skew. I had to refinish one for a customer Sunday night. DIW with CA finish, and the CA found a crack in the wood that I didnt. I just took it down to wood with my oval skew (freshly sharpened) and took off the CA and a touch of wood. It's like it never happened


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## mike4066 (Dec 9, 2014)

I just wanted to get some advise before I went and turned one mistake into four. 

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## Rchan63 (Dec 11, 2014)

I just sand the CA finish off until I reach bare wood


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## KenV (Dec 11, 2014)

Shear scrape takes of fine whiskers --  and seems to be a bit easier to control than a skew in bevel riding mode.  Skew as a scraper is almost as good as shear scrape.


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## RKB (Dec 11, 2014)

I scrap off the CA with a carbide tip tool and clean with DNA then start over.  I try to consider it practice but it still can be frustrating to have redo blanks.  My CA skills are getting better.


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## raar25 (Dec 11, 2014)

Acetone worked well for me.  Make sure you use nitrile gloves.


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## Curly (Dec 11, 2014)

raar25 said:


> Acetone worked well for me.  Make sure you use nitrile gloves.



Latex rubber is the recommended glove for Acetone. It stands up to Acetone longer than nitrile.


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## Grrrrr609 (Dec 11, 2014)

Thanx for this thread. I had to redo one last night.  Thanx to this thread I thought to use my skew. Did a great job. I'm having issues with this one blank but I will save it for another thread.


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## toddlajoie (Dec 11, 2014)

I've done both the skew-off/sand-off method and the soak-it-overnight-in-acetone method and had decent results with both. 

The skew/sand method is probably the most universally successful, as it is relatively bullet proof, but you are going to end up under-sized, which means more CA to build up.

The Acetone method is going to depend on if you used CA to glue the tubes in. Soaking in acetone is going to remove the adhesion to between the tube and the wood, and re-gluing it may or may not match how centered (or off-centered) the tube was glued in. Also with some woods soaking for a long time in acetone may remove oils and colors from the wood, so it may look quite different when the CA has been dissolved off... (luckly, the case I had that this came into play on, the wood actually looked better after a good acetone soaking... go figure...)


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## mike4066 (Dec 12, 2014)

Thanks again for all the help. I ended up using a skew and then turning it flat like a scraper.  

Here's what I ended up with. Curly Koa on an App Jr Gent.


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## woodbutcher (Jan 10, 2015)

That is a beautiful pen!


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