Thread: Finishing wood scales

I haven't done much work with wood, I made one set of scales about a year a go and that's it.

On my regular antique round today I found a box made of some beautiful wood I'd like to use for some scales, not sure what type of wood it is, I'll upload a pic later if anyone can help me identify what type of wood it is.

As the title say I'd like some advice on finish, I've read Glen's post about finishing with CA glue, but I'm not sure what CA glue is, is it the same as superglue?

CA is superglue. It is available from Rockler and other woodworker suppliers in 3 grades - 1, 2 and 3. Most of us would recommend the 1, or thin, for the first coat, and 2 or medium for the rest of the coats. See the stickies for application info. Pictures would help in identifying your wood. Good luck with your project!

Thanks, I got both the thin liquid type and a thicker, almost like gel type in my workshop so I should be covered then

Here's a pic of the lid from the box, should be big enough for two, maybe three sets of scales.

That is one fine looking piece of wood - should make some great looking scales. The gel type CA might be too thick - try it on a sample before you use it on your scales. Make sure you finish the inside of your scales to protect them from water. Be sure to post your results.

Wow, very nice piece of wood! I am 99% sure it is thuya burl, I have a piece of it that looks almost identical to this.

Good advice on this wood: be very careful! It snaps and breaks very easily, leave it thicker than the usual, if you use CA than use a lot of coats, or even better, use some harder material to use as a liner. For example 1mm thick G10, or something similar. Also be careful when peening in the end, I had a set of scales snap when I did the last few taps.

Very nice Zeph, i also would like that kind of wood just floating around To bad that many dont reuse the wood instead of throwing it out, so nice to see that this box is beeing used again.

I like using Tung Oil because of it's ease of application. Just wipe on and let dry, no sanding/polishing afterwards necessary.