# Can BLO cause white spots in CA finish?



## underdog (May 8, 2012)

Can boiled linseed oil (or danish oil, or wipe on poly) cause white spots in a CA finish?

Before last night, I'd always assumed that too much accelerator had caused this. But I sprayed my last two pen bodies with liberal coats of accelerator, and did NOT use BLO, and I had absolutely NO problems with white spots...

I also used the blue shop towels from Walmart, and they seem to work a bit more smoothly than the white Bounty towels. (I'd wondered if that white spot on a previous pen was a piece of paper towel- now I'll know if it's blue exactly what it is.)


----------



## commercialbuilder (May 8, 2012)

I had the white paper towell stick to the finish before I started using the blue ones but the best thing Ihave used is the Craft Foam cut into 1" strips. It leaves a smother finish which requires less sanding and the foam does not soak up any CA. I bought mine off ebay.and got enough for a lifetime for $10.00.
I have had the accelerator to cause white spots also,I think it happens if you use to much CA and it forms like very small drops from the spinning of the blank before you spray the accelerator.


----------



## Chasper (May 8, 2012)

In most cases (maybe all cases) cloudy whitisy spots are the result of moiisture in the wood.  In my experience BLO and/or white paper towels are not a cause of white clouds.


----------



## PenMan1 (May 8, 2012)

Chasper said:


> In most cases (maybe all cases) cloudy whitisy spots are the result of moiisture in the wood.  In my experience BLO and/or white paper towels are not a cause of white clouds.



Ditto!

 After a lot of experience, you'll begin to develop a "list" of woods that require special attention.

Over the years, I've had so many issues with Cocobolo, BOW and Purple Heart fogging (sometimes, days after the finish was applied) that regardless of how dry those blanks may be, I put the in them in the microwave for a minute right before turning, THEN apply several liberal coats of aerosol CA accelerator before starting the finish process.

One word of caution! An unseen nail, etc makes quite a light show in the microwave before going "boom". You can usually find a small, used microwave oven for $10-20 at the Good Will, Habitat store, etc. blowing up the shop microwave doesn't upset the household like blowing up the one in the kitchen.


----------



## underdog (May 8, 2012)

Bubinga?

This wasn't "fogging". This was a distinct white streak that looked like it was on the surface of the finish. I wound up putting the stupid thing under the clip, because at that point I'd spent six hours on the dang thing and was tired of fooling with it....


----------



## Jerryconn (May 8, 2012)

What I generally find is that the "white" or "cloudly" spots are the result of poor or no adhesion of the CA to the blank.  This can have multiple causes, water, oils (from the wood or your fingers, etc.), wax (such as from waxing your bushings to prevent them from sticking), using denatured Alcohol to clean the blank before applying CA, breaking away bushings after applying the finish, and the list goes on..........



PenMan1 said:


> Chasper said:
> 
> 
> > In most cases (maybe all cases) cloudy whitisy spots are the result of moiisture in the wood.  In my experience BLO and/or white paper towels are not a cause of white clouds.
> ...


----------



## underdog (May 8, 2012)

If oil off your fingers could cause the white spots, I keep wondering why a spot of BLO on the cured CA wouldn't cause it.

So... looks like I need to always keep everything spotless and dry before and during CA application...

I think I've cured a couple other problems though. I started sealing the ends of my blanks with thin CA before turning, and the edges around the ends stopped lifting up after/during wet sanding...


----------



## leehljp (May 8, 2012)

underdog said:


> Bubinga?
> 
> This wasn't "fogging". This was a distinct white streak that looked like it was on the surface of the finish. I wound up putting the stupid thing under the clip, because at that point I'd spent six hours on the dang thing and was tired of fooling with it....



There are two other causes that are not fogging related. 

1. White Spots: Accelerators sometimes cause minute' pitting. Most people don't notice this, but I certainly do and keep a magnifying glass close by for inspection. If you know what you have, you can know what to do next. :wink: In these pits, CA dust will get in, and if the pits are not sanded completely out, succeeding coats of CA will make it clear for a few minutes and then - WHAM . . . white dots. Sometimes it is not the CA dust itself but simply the pits are enclosed by the next layer of CA itself trapping tiny bubbles. At first it will not show up. But after curing, the CA's curing process will make these spots show up as white, perhaps as condensation of sorts within the tiny bubbles.

2. White Streaks: When the CA has hardened well, but not completely cured, we often begin our sanding process. This is when it usually happens for me. I don't know how to explain exactly what happens but my assumptions are as follows: A small bit of CA sanding dust is trapped between the sandpaper, MicroMesh (MM) or even paper towel, it balls up; with pressure from our hand on the SP/MM - heat is created, a few tiny dust fragments harden together and then gouges into the CA layer on the pen. I would say that in some cases it might be even a sand grit that dislocated and did that - except that I have had it happen with fine MM. The common denominator for me was that I was usually in the middle to final range of MM usage when I have had it happen mostly. So this tells me that it is NOT always a sand grit. 

I have had this happen on seveal occasions and they all happened when I had fairly good layers of CA. CA needs to cure well, or be sanded slowly without lots of heat build up if it hasn't cured. By running a CA finished blank at high speed within minutes after finishing and putting a paper towell or fine piece of MM on it and rubbing it with pressure, the CA dust will ball up, harden and cause scratch gouges. For me, I can duplicate this; it is predictable for me. I may not have the right terminology and may even have the wrong assumption as to the specific cause, but never the less - the outcome is same and often predictable for me.

Another aspect to the same is this, IF the gouge was caused on an underneath layer, and either dust or air was trapped under succeding coats, then you would still have the same thing. It still boils down to sanding with too much pressure or heat build up before the CA is really cured, OR a cheaper grade of SP that has a grit come loose.

I have listed several variables and not a precise answer, but I do think that this is the right ball park for looking for the answers.


----------



## flippedcracker (May 22, 2012)

I would get this when I had wood with large or open pores (like zebra wood) but since i started using DA after sanding, but before the first coat of CA, it's gone away.


----------

