What type of pen finish?

So i

Gregg, what you described IS CA finish. I don't think anything is likely to match it for durability.

Perhaps others will be able to shed more light on this topic, but I use CA on all my nicer pens and it works fine for me.

Bill

What consistency of CA glue do you use for the pen finish? I haven't used CA before but am interested in trying it. I have been using a turners polish but probably don't even need to use that as most of my pens are made with "stabilized wood". I am fortunate enough to have a fellow nearby whom has a stabilizing outfit.

Bernie Bober.

Hi Gregg,

I've run the gamut with pen finishes, from Crystal Coat (ugh...wears off in minutes!) through the thick, syrupy, glossy poly finishes. My current favorite, and one I use for nearly all of my pens, is a couple of coats of cellulose sanding sealer, or if it's a denser wood, sanding sealer cut 50% with turpentine. I buff this out with a paper towel and follow with some pure carnauba wax, buffed with a piece of old flannel sheet. I sometimes subsititute EEE Ultrashine for the sanding sealer, and sometimes use that between the sanding sealer and the wax, but I always end with the pure carnauba, which lasts for a long, long time, and can be buffed out easily when it gets finger-marked. CA glues are okay, but they _do_ wear off, and besides, you're not really touching the wood, but a layer of glue. My wife has one I made for her a couple of years ago with a CA finish, and where the glue is wearing off it looks splotchy. You won't get this with a wax finish, because as the wax wears away, it is replaced by a natural patina, which is better than any artificial finish anyhow.

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September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

Based on some short experience, I either start out with thin (to 'stabilize' questionable wood) and progress to medium or start with medium and stay there.

I fire the lathe up to its maximum speed (2,400) to apply the CA by trickling a tiny amount of CA on the back (rising) side of the work and wipe it smooth on the front (down) side of it with a folded up piece of paper toweling. Each end of the toweling is good for EXACTLY one pass. Refresh the end for the next pass with a pair of scissors. I've learned how to judge how much CA to apply from experience. I look for a small ridge of it leading the toweling with no ridge following. That's how I know when I am wet enough without making a mess of things. If you are going to stand in line with the working edge, wear a face shield that you don't mind throwing away. Otherwise, stand to the right hand side of the work (I am right-handed and work right to left with the toweling in my left hand and the CA dispenser in the right). In either case, give serious thought to wearing a respirator. During curing the CA gives off some fumes that are simply NASTY. There aren't many, but they are harsh.

One reason for using the paper toweling is that it is fairly easy to just rip it off my finger if it glues itself to the finger and then heats up. I don't know what the final temperature is, but it's too darned hot to leave in place! ;-)

If you aren't a member of the penturners group on Yahoo, I'd suggest you join and take a long hard look at the FAQ articles about CA. There are several methods of using it and you may find that some other method is better suited to your tastes. Whether using straight CA or mixing it with boiled linseed oil (BLO), CA sets up almost immediately.

I usually apply two coats (we are talking perhaps one minute per coat, including hardening time), sand until smooth again with 600 grit wet / dry aluminum oxide (used wet), then apply one or more coats as I finish sand with Multi-mesh (MM). I wet sand until all the ripples are out using

1500 or 1800 grit MM and then work my way up to 12000 grit, checking for blotching after each grit. I stop the lathe, inspect the work and, if there is no blotching, sand lengthwise with the current grit. I then start the next grit with the lathe on. If, on the other hand, there is dull blotching I wipe the blank dry and reapply the CA. The CA isn't very thick and is fairly easy to sand through. That seems to be what causes the dull blotching. If it gets a white blotching, I drop down to the 600 grit and sand until the white stuff is gone. I suspect that the white blotching means I didn't get all the previous dust off and that it got trapped in the CA, contaminating it. Being scrupulous about cleanliness seems to prevent the white blotching and being light-handed with the abrasive seems to reduce the other sort.

The result? It will look as if the pen were dipped in glass. I apply it both over bare wood and also over BLO that has had a day or two to set / dry. The combination of CA & BLO is hard to beat for apparent depth of wood grain (I use a lot of burls and spalted woods) and durability. I've carried the same pen to work and used it many times a day for the past couple of months and it still looks like the day I assembled it. Some days it shares the pocket with my cell phone. It doesn't get babied at all.

Bill

When applying Ca, I often use the plastic bag the small pen parts come in. I put it over 1 or two fingers, put a couple of drops of CA on the pen while its turning, and spread it around with the bag. The bag will slide right off my fingers if it gets caught (hasn't happened yet).

John

When these questions about pen finishes and longevity of finish are posted I'm often reminded of rod building - i.e. fishin' poles. I don't recall reading about using epoxy as a pen finish, but it's flexible and very durable as it's used over the thread wraps that hold the guides and stuff on the rod shaft. With rod building, one puts pretty heavy coats of epoxy on the wraps and uses a small motor to turn the horizontal rod slowly to keep the epoxy from sagging and dripping off the bottom edge. Seems something similar could be done with pen finishing though not as thickly applied.

Hello Owen,

I'm just back from a demonstration in Orlando, Florida and got in on this thread late... I have been using a binary epoxy as my primary pen finish for several years. It is in fact, a signature finish of my on all of my high end writing instruments. It offers the best longevity of the film and lustre on a pen, but it is none too easy to apply. I use the same method as fishing rod manufacturers, in fact, that is what got me thinking about using epoxy one day as I watched some rods being finished.

Through the years, I have perfected the epoxy pen finishing process, although it took a bit of trial and error with getting the protocol setup correctly. CA can come close to achieving the best that epoxy can offer, but it must be applied correctly. Most turners do not apply the CA with the optimum applicator (I experimented with numerous materials until I found the least reactive) and experience difficulties in laying on an even film. I have met numerous turners at my demonstrations around the U.S. that are following my CA protocol and report it is producing consistently excellent results.

All my R&D work on perfecting woodturning finishing protocols really pays off, but the experimentation and failures you experience until you achieve success can make you feel like you're banging your head against a steel reinforced wall at times... :-0 Back to my laboratory! Take care and all the best to you and yours!