# New guy here! CA vs. Friction Polish



## Shelt71 (May 25, 2009)

Hi there,
Reatively new to turning, but have been using one of the friction polishes from PSI to finish off my pens. The finish has been pretty nice. But I don't see much mention of it. Is this not the perferred way? Or is CA the best finish? Either way just looking for some info from all you more experinced ones out there. Also when using ca is there a particular brand, or "thickness" that is perferred/works better? Thanks for the help in advance, and am sure i will have more questions on the topic.


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## texasfootball21 (May 25, 2009)

First of all, welcome to IAP. Always nice to see new members. I've only been a member a short time and IAP has been my most valued tool in pen making. 

CA is the finish of choice by the majority of pen makers here. Friction polish, in my experience, wears off quickly. It is not a great finish for pens as they are held constantly, and need a durable finish. 

CA finishing generally provides a nice looking durable finish. There are tons of different ways to get a good CA finish. The best advice is to experiment until you get the results you want. 

Check out this method, it is easy to do and yields good results. It was one of the first methods and tried and I was impressed with how easy it was. 

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43539&highlight=utube

Good luck! Keep asking questions.


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## JimMc7 (May 25, 2009)

+1 re William Young's CA/BLO finish technique. I'm a newbie pen turner and had some problems with ridges using CA only -- no problems since converting to the method William shows in his video.


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## leehljp (May 25, 2009)

Welcome Shelt.

CA is the most preferred finish. Lacquer, liquid acrylic, and polyurethane are also used. CA is the fastest with liquid acrylic second. Those that do lacquer are well pleased by it, but it and Poly does take more time to dry/cure.



Since you are new and haven't posted in the introduction forum, I will give you a standard welcome (a link) that goes to those in that forum:
 Below is a link to a PDF file that goes over many aspects of pen turning from finish - to pens - to tools - to methods etc. It is not in detail but a good overview for pen turning. Hope it helps.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42446

Also included is a link to a new post that gives some information that people wished they had known earlier in pen turning. Some good information by those that make pens.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46654


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## Shelt71 (May 26, 2009)

Thanks for the info! What ca glue do you all use? Do you all use the ca from sites like PSI or woodcraft (i think it is called hotstuff) or do you just go to walmart? Just wanna make sure i am using the best stuff possible, to turn out great pens. Thanks again!


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## leehljp (May 26, 2009)

Shelt71 said:


> Thanks for the info! What ca glue do you all use? Do you all use the ca from sites like PSI or woodcraft (i think it is called hotstuff) or do you just go to walmart? Just wanna make sure i am using the best stuff possible, to turn out great pens. Thanks again!



We purchase from different places. On line many of us order from Monty (IAP regular) at:
http://woodenwonderstx.com/WWBlue/NewGlueWS.html

Great service from him even overseas.


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## rwyoung (May 26, 2009)

+1 on Monty's stuff.  Very good prices.


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## DurocShark (May 26, 2009)

Don't be afraid to experiment with your CA finishing techniques. OR with other finishes.

The big benefit to using CA is it's a quick finish. With sanding and polishing I am usually done in 5-10 minutes. Poly is *easier*, but takes much longer, on the order of days before you can put it in a case and sell it. 

I have a couple of different ways I apply CA, and William's BLO/CA method is a great starting place. But it's certainly not the only way, and not always the best way. So experiment and find the way that works for you.


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## mdburn_em (May 27, 2009)

Welcome to the IAP.

Make sure you check out all the info in the library.

If you use the search function, you will find a lot of information on the site about most anything, especially the CA finish and problems associated with it.  

Do get a couple extra sets of barrels and take a day, or a week and play with CA.  Try the CA only and then try the BLO/CA method.  You'll find something that works.

Check out the bushing to bushing method of applying CA.

Good luck.


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## bitshird (May 27, 2009)

CA is the most durable finish, also the most frustrating it can vbe affected by humidity, ambient temperature, the worst is oi;l contend of the woodThe easiest way to apply a decent finish was mentioned as the William Young video It is the bomb, I tried for over a year to get a BLO/CA finish , reason being while straight CA is great BLO pops the grain of most dark woods, even maple, CA doesn't do much but add an extremely hig and durable gloss. user Monty has the best deals on EZ Bond CA works great.just don't expect fantastic results the first few pens, 
You can ask 100 turners how to apply it and get 99 answers,


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## Moosewatcher (May 27, 2009)

Shelt,

Take a look at this video also.  I have been using it with great success.  Does away with the clouding issue that you can get with BLO.  Biggest issues:  Uses more CA, and you have to develop a good wiping technique to keep the glue smooth.  Once you get good at it though you can apply six coates in under two minutes and then take about 5 minutes to polish.  Do both barrels at same time.

Ken
http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=71248&highlight=finish+video


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## wdcav1952 (May 28, 2009)

bitshird said:


> CA is the most durable finish, also the most frustrating it can vbe affected by humidity, ambient temperature, the worst is oi;l contend of the woodThe easiest way to apply a decent finish was mentioned as the William Young video It is the bomb, I tried for over a year to get a BLO/CA finish , reason being while straight CA is great BLO pops the grain of most dark woods, even maple, CA doesn't do much but add an extremely hig and durable gloss. user Monty has the best deals on EZ Bond CA works great.just don't expect fantastic results the first few pens,
> You can ask 100 turners how to apply it and get 99 answers,



So Ken, are you saying one turner refused to answer???? :biggrin:


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## Shelt71 (May 31, 2009)

Thanks for all the info! Just got back from a business trip and gave it a try last night. Worked great. Had a couple dull spots, but i am sure better results will come with pratice. But the finish is outstanding, way better than the stuff i was using. The info on this site is outstanding, glad i found it. Well off to go master this technique with practice, then one day will try my hand at casting my own acrylics!


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## nava1uni (May 31, 2009)

I learned to apply CA using the video by DJ from the Woodworks forum, then found a method that works for me.  I do use Myland's friction polish on some of my pens that are real oily wood.  I also use it on other things that I turn or Liberon friction polish as I like the look of the wood and how it feels.  I am not a fan of highly glossy wood like satin or semigloss finishes.


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## gingerwood (Jun 14, 2009)

Newbie here.  I've had my lathe for less than two months, but some of my first pens which I finished with friction polish are already losing their shine.   I watched the youtube video which demo'd the BOL/CA finish and after reading all the rave reviews of that technique I thought I'd give it a try.  

I went to woodcraft and bought a half-dozen mystery wood blanks to practice on, I figured that it couldn't be as easy as it looked, but it worked great.  Ok, I wrecked the shape of the blank, because I was also practicing with my skew, but the finish turned out fabulous.   I tried it on two more blanks of good wood (brown mallee and walnut) and they both came out looking wonderful.


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## Rangertrek (Jun 14, 2009)

*An option*

Another option to BLO/CA is Turners Magic (TM).  TM is a friction lacquer that heat set while on the lathe.  I use both types of finish and on some woods I can't tell the difference.  TM has a different 'feel' than CA.  The finish is a slight bit softer than CA but not that noticeable.

TM comes as a gloss sealer, a semi-gloss top coat, and a gloss top coat.
Some people say that TM will not 'shine' like CA.  I find that people I have shown both finishes, really cant tell much difference.

No problem with glue on the bushings with the TM and the results are more consistent than with CA.  Again, I have tried both, I like both finishes and will continue to use both.

TM is available from an IAP member at this link http://www.woodwriteltd.com/turnmagi.htm


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## NewLondon88 (Jun 14, 2009)

wdcav1952 said:


> So Ken, are you saying one turner refused to answer???? :biggrin:



Sure. That one turner was also the dentist who recommended against
sugarless gum for his patients who chewed gum. :tongue:


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