Superglue and Pens

[mudman]

Well, cyanoacrylate to give it its posh name.
Over in the Finishing forum I posted on using CA as a finish on pens. It didn't seem to generate much interest which I was surprised at but I promised to post a couple of photos so here they are.

First up is an African Olivewood pen that has been finished using a boiled linseed oil and CA. There were three coats of this followed by a final coat of friction polish.

Here is the samepen next to a pen in spalted beech that has been finished with three coats of melamine lacquer that has been burnished and then a final coat of friction polish.

Not a lot of difference I think but the CA finish is much faster to apply.

Tonight I made another pen in yew wood.
I started with two coats of the BLO and CA mix and then applied a few (can't remember how many ) coats of CA only applied by adding a drop or two of CA to a paper pad.
This is it still on the mandrel.

I then burnished this with Chestnut's burnishing cream:

And here is the final result after assembly.

I didn't bother with any friction polish on this as the finish was very nice already.
I like this finish. It is quick and easy to apply and give a high gloss, hardwearing finish that gives a depth to the wood that is very pleasing.

 

[Philly]

Very nice, Barry. So how exactly do you apply the CA? Like varnish?
Philly

 

[NickWelford]

Looks very good - but how do you stop the CA from sticking the paper pad to the pen?

 

[Alf]

Nice pics; thanks, Barry. Still haven't got round to reading it up.

Cheers, Alf

 

[mudman]

Very nice, Barry. So how exactly do you apply the CA? Like varnish?
Philly

You can either hold the pad under the revolving blank and drip it on to the top of the blank or add a drop or two to the pad and then wipe it on to the blank whilst it is revolving.
The important thing seems to be to keep things moving and to spread the CA over the surface evenly.

 

[mudman]

Looks very good - but how do you stop the CA from sticking the paper pad to the pen?

So long as it keeps moving it doesn't stick.
However, it can go a bit wrong

 

[Taffy Turner]

Nice pens Barry! I really like the spalted beech one - that must have been "interesting" to turn and sand evenly with that amount of spalting!!!!

The CA finish look interesting too. I imagine it would be nice and hard wearing, which is a prerequisite for pens I would have thought.

I must admit that I have a pen turning kit and some blanks, but haven't got around to turning any yet. I will certainly give the CA finish a try though.

Fingers crossed I will have some time over the holidays to knock out a few pens.

Regards

Gary

 

[mudman]

Nice pens Barry! I really like the spalted beech one - that must have been "interesting" to turn and sand evenly with that amount of spalting!!!!

The CA finish look interesting too. I imagine it would be nice and hard wearing, which is a prerequisite for pens I would have thought.

I must admit that I have a pen turning kit and some blanks, but haven't got around to turning any yet. I will certainly give the CA finish a try though.

Fingers crossed I will have some time over the holidays to knock out a few pens.

Regards

Gary

Thanks Gary.

Yes it was as you say, interesting but not too bad. I gave it a load of sanding sealer to harden it up and a really sharp skew and it came out okay.
The real awkward one was the olivewood. It is absolutely rock hard and even with a really sharp skew lumps kept ripping out of the surface. I ended up using a scraper and then a lot of heavy sanding. Pleased with the result though.

Don't forget to post some piccies.