Thread: CA finish on walnut scales

My first attempt at rescaling will be in American walnut, but I would like a shiney finish. Is CA recommended over a liquid plastic?, and has anyone written a tutorial about techniques, application and soforth? Thanks in advance for any help.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

The Sticky at the top of the workshop forum has so much of this stuff it is worth a look,...


Inside the lists of info you will find

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ints-tips.html

Thanks, Glen. As I have stated, this site is information overload! And I'm woefully computer underload! Once I get my sealegs I'll be alright! Thanks for the response.

CA on walnut is jsut fine and turns out nice if you take your time and do it right

I think CA is one of the best finishes for scales and brush handles, wood or course, there is. In a matter of 20-30 minutes you can build a very thick durable finish. I was taught a little different way of doing it than most guys seem to talk about here so I will give you the quick run down. With my part in the lathe and turning about 600 rpm I take a clean folded paper towel and apply 8-9 drops of slow dry super glue, (has to be slow dry) to my spinning part. Quickly pick up another folded clean paper towel and apply 10-12 drops of boiled linseed oil and rub that right over the CA just applied. Rub in in well so they mix on and in the surface of the wood. Go to a clean spot on the towel and wipe off the excess oil and kind of "polish" the surface until you get the nasty oder of curing CA. By the time you put down your towel and cap your bottles you can sand with wet/dry paper 400-600 until the surface is smooth. Repeat the above until you have the thickness of finish you desire. When done with the 600 use some extra extra fine synthetic steel wool to get a very fine finish. Now you can either wax; or if you want a high gloss finish polish your part with polishing compound on a towel. I will post some photos of some brushes I made today using this method and you Will see the high build finish you can get in just 3-4 coats one right after the other with very little sanding in between. Good luck with your project.

I just tried CA finishing some scales for the first time this week, and I was shocked at how easy it was to do. As takedeadaim said, you can build up a thick and glossy surface in a VERY short time.

I was working on some scales that I had previously finished with nothing more than soaking them in hot wax until saturated, and then sanding up to 600 followed by 0000 steel wool and buffing lightly with a little more wax. Then I used them regularly for a year or so.

So, we're talking about scales that you wouldn't expect to take a finish very easily. All it took was two coats, sanding up to 600 in between, and they are BEAUTIFUL. On the top coat, I followed up the 600 with more 0000 steel wool, and then I used what has become my replacement for MAAS.

I took my CrO crayon from SRD, rubbed it lightly on a paper towel, and then used that paper towel to polish the scales. The finish came out almost glass-smooth. I think the total time, including application, drying, sanding, polishing, and taking a break to eat dinner was about 2 hours for two full sets of scales. Frankly, I don't think I'll ever use anything else again for scales.

One of the two sets was mahogany, which looked rather dull with the wax, but has almost iridescent grain with the CA.