# Hot surprise



## FGarbrecht (Sep 6, 2019)

Had a little surprise putting on CA today.  I used some Mylands cellulose sanding sealer beforehand during the dry sanding, and when I put on the first coat of thin CA, I noticed my finger was burning hot.  The little plastic bag I use to keep the CA of my applicator finger had melted and fused to the paper towel with the CA in it.  Apparently the sealer has something in it that works as a super accelerator.


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## magpens (Sep 6, 2019)

Thanks for the warning. . I was going to start using that sanding sealer. . Might not now. 
Did the paper towel stick to your pen blank ? . Or catch fire ? 

I wonder if waiting longer before applying CA would solve the prob. . Or maybe the chemistry is the same even after sealer fully dries.

Any idea ?


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## FGarbrecht (Sep 6, 2019)

magpens said:


> Thanks for the warning. . I was going to start using that sanding sealer. . Might not now.
> Did the paper towel stick to your pen blank ? . Or catch fire ?
> 
> I wonder if waiting longer before applying CA would solve the prob. . Or maybe the chemistry is the same even after sealer fully dries.
> ...


I really like the sealer, seems to add a nice fill and depth to the appearance of the wood, so I'll probably continue to use it.  I just finished three pens today and I used it for all of them, but after the first one I was more careful with the CA application (used less CA and put it on really quickly).  It didn't cause the paper towel to catch fire but on the first application on each pen I noticed that the CA area on the towel was steaming (or smoking - but not burning).  After the first couple of CA applications it stops heating up, I suppose because the sealer is under a hard coat of CA.


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## FGarbrecht (Sep 6, 2019)

magpens said:


> Thanks for the warning. . I was going to start using that sanding sealer. . Might not now.
> Did the paper towel stick to your pen blank ? . Or catch fire ?
> 
> I wonder if waiting longer before applying CA would solve the prob. . Or maybe the chemistry is the same even after sealer fully dries.
> ...


You may have something with waiting.  I've used the sealer on other pens, and I'm sure I let them sit overnight before continuing to sand and apply CA, and haven't seen the heating up problem before today (when I hurried through the sealer, sanding and CA all in a matter of an hour or so).


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## budnder (Sep 7, 2019)

I've got some Mylands, but haven't used it in a while. What advantage are you seeing/hoping for in using it to seal rather than thin CA?


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## FGarbrecht (Sep 7, 2019)

My experience is limited and I haven't done a head-to-head comparison of Mylands with CA vs. just CA.  I started using the Mylands because I had some open porous wood that I wanted to fill.  What I have done is sand to 400 grit with Abranet, leave the sanding dust on the blank and apply a little Mylands diluted 1:1 in lacquer thinner, rub it in with my finger and let dry.  Then I sand out again with 400 and 600 grit, then do my usual CA finish.  To my subjective eye, the Mylands adds some warmth and depth to the finish.


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## Jim Nugent (Sep 7, 2019)

I had a mishap with CA today as well. I apparently got a bit of accelerator on my finger and then got a drop of CA on the same spot. YIKES!  Lesson learned....


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## Guthriecb (Oct 14, 2019)

Something similar happened to me, but it was just the paper towel. After I applied the CA I was holding the paper towel and it got super hot and started smoking. I’m quick to drop the paper towel now. Lol. I’ve seen the paper towel smoking after I dropped it too. I didn’t use any sealer or anything else on the wood prior either. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Woodchipper (Oct 14, 2019)

I drop my paper towels on the concrete floor away from anything combustible or drop them in a can of water.


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## Humongous (Oct 14, 2019)

I think the key here is the "Cellulose" in the sanding sealer.  Here is a blurb from Bob Behnke with Titebond pertaining to why CA set off a smoke detector.

*Bob Behnke:* When cyanoacrylates come into contact with cotton, leather or wool, it can result in a rapid reaction or polymerization. The reaction is exothermic (gives off heat), and the heat can boil off the cyanoacrylate in the air, forming white smoke-like particles that that can drift and set off the alarm’s particle detector. Use a polyester or nylon cloth instead of a cotton one, and apply the glue in thinner coatings. _(Bob Behnke is the technical service manager for Titebond products._ 

In my experience using card stock, the rapid polymerization creates enough heat to cause burns to skin (which could be severe with a high quantity of adhesive) but does not reach the flash point of paper so it most likely will not cause a fire.  Notice the "most likely", every situation is different so care must be taken.


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## DrD (Oct 14, 2019)

Yeah, I'm about to get off of the CA bandwagon about as fast as I got on it.  The vast majority of my wood blanks on hand, ~200 or so, are dalbergia species - Blackwoods, Rosewoods, Cocobolo, etc. - and are, by nature quite oily.  In the past I've had fantastic success with sanding sealer and friction polish from Wood Write when they were in the US.  Absent being able to get these, I'm going with Delf - had really nice success with their products on band saw boxes made using oily woods.
Roger the 24 hr drying period after applying a cellulose based sealer before attempting application of CA - never a pleasant excerise.


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## howsitwork (Oct 18, 2019)

I can’t comment on mylands and CA but ever tried using a piece of thick polythene bag to wipe on the CA ? It works but use a small drop of Ca cos it spreads it a long way and i did get some streaking on one blank.

About to try sanding my first set of totally C A finish blanks this weekend with micromesh.


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## DrD (Oct 20, 2019)

howsitwork said:


> About to try sanding my first set of totally C A finish blanks this weekend with micromesh.


It has been my experience that the best results in sanding CA finishes is to never turn the lathe on.  I very lightly hand sand along the center axis of the blank; sanding with the lathe turning always leaves sanding rings that are darned near impossible to remove.  I found it less work to rotate the blank on the lathe by hand, wet sanding across the blank.


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## magpens (Oct 20, 2019)

I also recommend keeping the lathe power off during sanding, and rotating the lathe chuck by hand.

Also, do the sanding in a longitudinal direction, parallel to the blank axis. . I have found that to be the best.


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