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I HATE CA!!!
I tell you what - I've done wood working my entire life, and I've never seen a finish such a pain in the a$$ to work with. Unevenness, lots of sanding, and the worst, instantly gluing the latex glove to the scales.
Two identical applications, two completely different outcomes. One application and the CA smooths out well, I have working time, everything going great. The exact same applicx glation, the moment my glove hits the stream of CA, it is instantly bonded to the scale.
Sanding...well, there's an interesting art - sand it one time, and it smooths out nicely (when I'm not sanding latex glove off the scale), sand the next time, I have white patches that don't seem to go away.
I think I'm going to be using Tung Oil or Conservator's wax in the future, because even though the scales may come out shinny and waterproof, it really can't be worth the effort.
...or, I'm perfectly willing to hear that I'm obviously doing something wrong?
Mark
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The f'ing stuff is sensitive to temperature and humidity.
It doesn't like oily woods very much and you don't want to oversand your surface or it tends to sand right off.
That and if you put it on too thick it makes a mess and if you put it on too thin you end up sanding it all off.
I have a hate hate relationship with CA but I haven't given up on it yet.
-Bob
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CA seems to take the patience of Job and abilities beyond the mortal man :D
Might I suggest a wipe on Poly, the difference is the time it takes, a good wipe on Poly finish takes 24-36 hours, then another 24 hours to set, however the application part is way easier.....
If you have the time to let it sit for 2 hours then apply another coat, sit for 2 hours etc: etc: the Poly is a great finish, CA is just faster!!!!
JMHO
And I just read that you have worked wood so you probably already know all this.........
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Welcome to the club. We have T-shirts. :D
I gave up on CA a while ago for all the reasons stated. The white blobs are spots where the glue is gummy for whatever reason.
I don't find CA to be fast at all. It used to take me several days of applying coats, sanding out mistakes, reapplying to spots where I'd sanded through... What a nightmare.
Josh
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Welcome to the club. We have T-shirts. :D
Where????
I don't find CA to be fast at all. It used to take me several days of applying coats, sanding out mistakes, reapplying to spots where I'd sanded through... What a nightmare.
Ummmmm I meant faster in theory :roflmao:roflmao:roflmao
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Thanks Glen - I wasn't sure if wipe on Poly would work...I've been letting the CA dry about an hour between coats, and it's taken 4 days thus far to get this far...I think I'll keep the CA to glue things back together, while using Poly to finish scales. Just a quick question, how many coats of Poly do you put on?
Josh, I want the T-Shirt!!! I want into the club! Forget the Boker Brotherhood, I want then CA Catastrophe!
Mark
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I live in Florida, and my "workshop" is next to a lake. Needless to say, it is quite humid. I run a dehumidifier in the room with the door closed for about two hours before I start working. They are pretty cheap and help with CA application. While I have not yet made razor scales(coming soon), I use CA for other applications. Doing this helps out with the application, and keeps the white from forming, for the most part. Hope this helps.
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Mark:
I do 10 nice even thin coats, then after that I start looking for the finish coat, that one last coat that just is so much better than all the others.... usually between 12-20 depending on the grain of the wood.....
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Hehe, when I saw the title of this thread I thought it was about California :roflmao
But I agree, CA is nasty... I doesn't agree with me at all...
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Yeah, pain the ass. But I just love the look and feel of a good smooth CA finish :)
Having done several dozen CA finishes, I think I have my technique down :)
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IMHO CA holds no advantages over Polyurethane other than curing time. All the same effects are achievable and it's way more forgiving with respect to imperfections. I personally use spray-on Poly for scales after sealing and pore filling, but the wipe-on product Glen raves about is every bit as good. Drying time for unexceptional woods under my exhaust hood is about 2 hours for a light coat, 5 for a heavy one, 6 for brush on poly.
On a side note, some people claim thin inhibitted CA is better than poly because it penetrates the wood more (I say inhibitted since the regular thin CA has a tendency to cure before it has time to penetrate). If you dilute your first coat of poly with varsol about 5:2 it will soak right in. Or just use the CA for the first coat.
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The main reason I started with CA was because I was working with spalted woods and needed a cost effective way to stabilize it.
I use it now because it is waterproof and durable. With that said, it is a royal PITA!
I finally figured out to put on several thin coats before sanding, then add more. I use a paper towel to use as a "brush" to avoid the latex sticking issue.
v/r
Allen
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The CA t-shirt
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As for using a paper-towel as an applicator....
I tear off a small piece of paper towel, then cut the edge to get a clean edge (less frays to get in the CA). The width of the scrap is only about an inch.
I then apply the CA heavily to the piece and use the scrap of towel to event spread it and eliminate drips/runs. The CA will soak into the edge of the towel some and I spread it quickly before it dries/hardens.
I use only a scrap at a time per coat since the CA will harden on the towel and it becomes unusable.
As another note, I will drill the tang pin hole before coating. I then put a tooth-pick in the hole to act as a handle while applying the CA. Between coats, I have a block of wood with a small hole drilled in it, so I set the toothpick in the hole in the block to hold the piece while drying. Once I am done coating them, I just snap off the toothpick and carefully re-drill the hole. Repeat as needed!
Hope that helps....
v/r
Allen
