# Yet another CA finishing issue



## Yegg (Jul 22, 2013)

Thank you all for having such a great community!  I am learning quite a bit from you guys, including the fact that I want to do so much more than I thought about.  I am hoping someone here has had the same problem I have.

When applying my second through whatever coat of CA finish, I seem to get "streaks" in the CA.  My first coat is Thin and coats two through five are medium.  I am using a blue shop rag and have the lathe turning at about 800 RPM.  I use about three or four drops of CA that I apply directly to the shop rag and then make three passes (a pass being one direction not both) on the blank.  I then wait a second, use the accelerator, wait another couple of seconds, and then procede to the next coat of CA.

These streaks are rather annoying.  At first I thought it was due to substandard sanding before the CA application.  The video (StickFast) show sanding to 400 and then applying the finish.  The helpful people at WoodCraft say they sand through 1200 then apply the finish.  I have done both of those methods as well as sanding all the way through 12000 on my MM.  All three sanding methods have resulted in the same "streaks" when applying the CA finish.

Please help.


Elliott


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## Jim Burr (Jul 22, 2013)

Little more info Elliott...are the "streaks" different in color or height? Are they little ridges? 
One suggestion would be to switch to paper towels or plastic wrap. Shop towels are coarse in texture and you may find that transferred to the surface of the finish! This means a lot more sanding on an already thin film.


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## Yegg (Jul 22, 2013)

Forgive me about the color; I am color blind (mostly).  There is no discernable feel to the ridges.  The best way to describe it would be to say that if you started to apply the finish to a blank that had *very* visible sanding marks.  I have been quite meticulous in making sure that all sanding marks are gone prior to starting my finish.  That is why I even went through all of the MM grits.

As for an applicator, I am using Scott Shop Towels: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Scott-55-ct-Shop-Towels-on-a-Roll-75130/100029293#.Ue0qIGdGZOg


Elliott


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## jcm71 (Jul 22, 2013)

Elliott,
Two suggestions.  Switch to Nitrile Gloves (not latex) Cut a finger off of the glove and put it on your forefinger.   One drop of then CA and apply lightly rubbing quickly back and forth.  Do this several times, then switch to medium.  Apply several coats and then let stand for about 30 minutes.   After that I wet MM starting at black through grey and then assemble.   Second suggestion:  Quit using accelerator.   I've had no CA issues since I stopped using it, although I am beginning more and more to use Drs. Woodshiop Pen Plus friction polish


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## Yegg (Jul 22, 2013)

I hate to assume, but as a novice I tend to over ask questions.  I want to find Nitrile gloves that do NOT  have textured finger pads, correct?

Elliott


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## turncrazy43 (Jul 22, 2013)

Elliott, try craft foam as your applicator. It gives a very smooth coat and the CA does not soak thru, so your fingers do not get stuck. The foam comes in sheets of various sizes. You can cut them in 1" strips and clip off the used part with each coat. The CA does not soak into the foam and therefore, you will use less CA. The craft foam can be found at Dollar Tree or similar dollar stores and the price is right.
______________________________________________________________
Everyday I'm vertical is a great day


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## glenspens (Jul 22, 2013)

use the little bags that the pen parts are in...workes for me


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## jcm71 (Jul 22, 2013)

Yegg said:


> I hate to assume, but as a novice I tend to over ask questions.  I want to find Nitrile gloves that do NOT  have textured finger pads, correct?
> 
> Elliott



Correct.  You want it as smooth as possible.  Like two other posters suggested you could also try craft foam and the little cellophane bags.  Try each and see what works for you.  I did, and have settled on the gloves.


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## Ulises Victoria (Jul 23, 2013)

Yegg said:


> The video (StickFast) show sanding to 400 and then applying the finish.  The helpful people at WoodCraft say they sand through 1200 then apply the finish.  I have done both of those methods as well as sanding all the way through 12000 on my MM.  All three sanding methods have resulted in the same "streaks" when applying the CA finish.
> 
> Please help.
> 
> ...



Elliot. Not sure if this is going to help. When sanding the CA check for BRIGHT SHINY spots. You must get rid of those. They indicate that the CA has not been sanded down enough. Use strong light to see this. Get rid of absolutely all shiny spots in your blank. Then use the Stick Fast 2 step polish.
I use this kit with excellent results.
Stick Fast K575 CA Wood Finish Starter Kit: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
Hope this helps.


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## NittanyLion (Jul 23, 2013)

Elliott,

 I think the CA is slugging up on you causing ridges.  I think these are the "streaks" you refer to.  This is caused by running the lathe too fast(800 is too fast for me), not getting the accelerator on fast enough, putting the CA on too thick, or just bad CA that takes too long to cure.  

Start by slowing down your lathe and get the accelerator on as fast as possible.....more than likely, this is the problem.  Also, if it's 90% humidity outside, quit and go spend time with someone you love......you'll regret trying to finish a pen.

Don't get too caught up on what you use to apply the CA.  I can use any of the above and have success, or have other problems.  You need to find what works for you.  I started with bounty towels, moved to blue shop towels, then to baggies, then to craft foam, then to nitrile gloves.....finally I'm back to Bounty.  Occasionally I will use one of the others if humidity or bad ca is causing a problem.

It appears that you are seeing these streaks right away after applying CA.  If you are referring to streaks after sanding, then ignore everything I just said.....Ulises is correct.  This took me a while to figure out when I started, then it hit me and my finishes improved tremendously.  

I'm still new and figuring this out, but I'm at pen #317, of which about 300 are CA finished.  It took me to about pen #150 to feel really confident and produce a quality finish every time.  

There are a lot of great folks on here willing to help....keep your ears open and search a lot.  Hope this helps!


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## Woodkiller (Jul 24, 2013)

This may help, or not. We'll see. At times I get ridges, waves, or streaks when I put on a coat or 2 too thick. Once I catch it, I sand it down till it is smooth and use a little less ca and everything is good. I have a cheap harbor freight mini lathe and use the slowest speed to apply the ca. Good light is very helpful in catching the mistakes we make and at times showing them to us vividly. 

Mike


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## tomas (Jul 24, 2013)

Elliot,

I use only medium CA for finishing. I have also found that if I make more than 2 passes, the CA starts to "catch" on the towel and leaves textured areas on the blank. I have my lathe set on the lowest speed.  I use Bounty towels and put on 16 coats of CA.

Tomas


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## Dan Masshardt (Jul 24, 2013)

Is there anybody who lives close to you who can come over and finish a few pens together?  


The hard thing about a thread like is that everybody (understandably) defaults to promoting their method as what you should switch to.  

Steve's comment about humidity is one to consider.  I've found that big changes in temp and or humidity make a tangible difference in finishing with CA. 

One thing I noticed when experimenting with the blue towels is that the ca smokes / hardens pretty quickly on them.  Burns the eyes a bit too.  I use the white shop towels in a box and am happier with them.


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## Dan Masshardt (Jul 24, 2013)

tomas said:


> Elliot,
> 
> I use only medium CA for finishing. I have also found that if I make more than 2 passes, the CA starts to "catch" on the towel and leaves textured areas on the blank. I have my lathe set on the lowest speed.  I use Bounty towels and put on 16 coats of CA.
> 
> Tomas



That's a lot of coats!   I'll bet that's one heck of a deep shine.


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## Jim Burr (Jul 24, 2013)

Dan Masshardt said:


> tomas said:
> 
> 
> > Elliot,
> ...


 
After all this time, I'm moving to medium. Having used thin for years, I'm tired of 20 coats and see what happens. I did thick on some recent pens and just ordered medium...I learn slow :wink::redface:


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## miket in stl (Jul 25, 2013)

I recently switched from the blue towels to the foam strips.  These are my obsevations:
1.  I use less CA because I apply 6-7 coats (medium) with the strips.  I used to apply 12 coats (medium) with the blue towels.  I feel more of the CA is being applied to the blank than is being absorbed into the towel.
2.  Since I switched to the foam strips, I have had no "sand thru" situations.  
3.  There does seem to be a learning curve with using the foam strips.  The first time I used it, I wasn't impressed.  Five pens later, my technique is much better.

Mike


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## George417 (Jul 25, 2013)

Jim Burr said:


> Little more info Elliott...are the "streaks" different in color or height? Are they little ridges?
> One suggestion would be to switch to paper towels or plastic wrap. Shop towels are coarse in texture and you may find that transferred to the surface of the finish! This means a lot more sanding on an already thin film.



I agree on the paper towels.


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## kovalcik (Jul 25, 2013)

Dan Masshardt said:


> The hard thing about a thread like is that everybody (understandably) defaults to promoting their method as what you should switch to.


 
I'm surprised nobody has asked what color socks you are wearing.  Everyone knows that HAVE to be yellow when doing a CA finish. :biggrin:


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## Yegg (Jul 25, 2013)

WOW!  I go to sleep and then work in the morning and then check in.........I did not think I missed my thread for a year!    You guys are great.  I can assure you I will be trying everything everyone mentioned.  I have started to keep a journal on what I am doing and what I change so I can see what does in fact work best for me.  That and I cannot do it everyday.  Every now and again I have to make money and fire up my vertical mill and get some projects done there.  

Once again, thank you for all of the suggestions.  I will make sure to keep everyone up to date on what I find.


Elliott


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## plano_harry (Jul 25, 2013)

I agree with Steve, 800 is too fast.  Try dropping to 350-400.  At 800 you are probably heating the CA and causing premature activation.  Also I would try two passes (down and back one time by your description).  Don't over work the CA. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I wear a nitrile glove with a small pen bag over my applicator finger and use brawny towels.  CA will stick to nitrile, but not to poly bags.  The nitrile is to keep the glue off of me.

One additional success factor in my learning curve was discontinuing the medium and thick CAs, using only thin (50 cps) in 16-20 quick coats with a light blast of accelerator every fourth coat.  You should be able to get good results off of 2 drops per blank on thin (or one drop if you keep using medium)  You may be applying too much CA at one time.

Let us know what works for you.

Harry


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## NittanyLion (Jul 25, 2013)

Oh yeah, and after a month or two, you will never feel your fingertips again, be constantly chewing CA off your fingers, and start to wonder why you iphone or ipad doesn't respond when you tap it.....

I do like Harry's idea of a Baggie over the nitrile glove.  I'm gonna try that tonight.  I don't think there is a glove in my garbage can without a hole in the finger!


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## Yegg (Jul 26, 2013)

Thank you to all of you guys for all of your advice.  I just finished a pen that looks as I expect it to!  I used the craft foam and I made sure to get the accelerator on fast after each application.  I used a first coat of thin followed by five coats of medium.  The medium did not go on super great (I think I got excited things were working) and it took more sanding to make everything "not shiny" than I had anticipated.  But I persevered using 400 grit Abranet.  Once everything was uniformly dull, I cross sanded and then went through my MM from 1500 all the way through 12000.  Then I used my satin polish followed by the gloss polish.  Voila!  I will try and post a picture of it tomorrow.  I'm going to bed.  

BTW, I used a Woodcraft Wall Street II with Bocote.  

Before I forget, I did use BOL to coat the pen before starting the CA finish.  I only used a few drops and wiped in very well; almost to the point of making it a friction finish.  

Thanks again everyone.


Elliott


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## Yegg (Jul 27, 2013)

*Here it is!*

I got off my butt and took a few pictures and here is one that came out rather nicely.  I am now off to see if I can duplicate my success!

Elliott


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## miket in stl (Jul 28, 2013)

Using the foam sheets/strips does have a little bit of a learning curve.


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## Yegg (Jul 29, 2013)

*Figured it out!*

Awesome.  I just figured out posting pictures and how to do a CA finish.  Here is my last one.

Elliott


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