Thread: Scale Painting and Finish

Originally Posted by BKratchmer

Using something like CA or a hand-rubbed oil finish will fill the pores of the wood, making it feel smoother. Otherwise, that open grain is going to stay open.

Thanks for the advise, you do really nice work. I hope to get close to that level. CA would have never figured that one.

Robby

How do you apply CA finish. I tried it once and the brush got hard before I could finish. Left a terrible streaked finish.

Originally Posted by mackie

How do you apply CA finish. I tried it once and the brush got hard before I could finish. Left a terrible streaked finish.

Apparently the secret is debonder. In this thread, Mastersmith Bruce Bump describes his CA finishing method: A couple tips on hidden tang construction - Page 2 - BladeForums.com

Interesting stuff. I can't wait to see the finished product bingo. I'm thinking of doing some custom scales as well. I just got a blade on ebay with no scales, and thought it might be a fun project.

Good read and info here, I've never really thought about painting some wood for some krazy reason, i've always left the wood showing. Now new ideas are popping like popcorn in the microwave....dang-it!!

Originally Posted by PDobson

Unfortunately oak is always going to have that open grain (unless you completely cover it up). If you don't like the open grain, get something like maple, or numerous other species with tighter grain. I wouldn't bother with staining the wood either, just get a piece of wood that looks right to begin with.

CA is cyanoacrylate, or superglue. It can be used for a hard, high-gloss finish.

Really superglue? How do you apply it? I keep hearing CA on SRP. Do you pour it over similar to epoxy resin and sand it between coats. This is interesting to me Im a painting contractor and I am familar with alot of finishes but not cyanoacrylate

Originally Posted by Brando

Really superglue? How do you apply it? I keep hearing CA on SRP. Do you pour it over similar to epoxy resin and sand it between coats. This is interesting to me Im a painting contractor and I am familar with alot of finishes but not cyanoacrylate

Check out the link I posted above. In it, Bruce Bump describes his method for applying CA finish to a knife handle. I haven't tried his method yet, but I plan to very soon (as soon as I order some debonder.)

CA is a relatively expensive and time consuming finish. I've only heard of using it on smaller objects like knife handles (the biggest things were custom pool cues). The stuff is also kind of annoying to work with. I'm picking superglue off of my hand as I type.

Finger cots (they look like baby condoms) work great. Some others have used tape...