Thread: CA Finish Add Strength?

I picked up some thin wood pretty cheap. It is about 3/32, but figured with sanding would bring it to about just over 1/16. I thought if it was to flimsy I could use a liner or use it for something else, but was wondering if just a CA finish would be enough. I haven't done a CA finish yet except for testing it out on some scrap wood, but never finished it. Since I am not sure all the specifics of exotics this is what I picked up, yellowheart, zebrawood, chechen, cocobolo, purpleheart and some padauk.

All good stuff, but keep in mind you'll want to work it only when wearing respirators. You definitely don't want to breathe that dust. some of that wood will do nasty things to you if you let it. And either work outside, or run a vacuum cleaner or dust collection system neear the place where you produce the dust.

CA itself does not add strength, but by applying CA, you will keep the wood from splintering and treating. The CA will make the wood behave more like a solid instead of something fibrous. 1/16 is still thick enough for scales.

Thanks and yea I always wear a respirator. So far out of all the different woods only yellowheart has given me any sort of reaction so far and that was to my skin, but it looks so good so I have to wear long sleeves in some pretty warm temperatures now. Its worth it though

Might want to do a test with the CoCo and CA,sometimes that stuff is so oily nothing will stick to it.

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

Just a quick note about wood types. I have used CA on some extremely soft and spongey spalted maple and I have no doubt that it dramatically increased its strength. *However* that was due to the very porous nature of the wood. My first coat was a very liberal soaking with thin CA ("Hot Stuff") that just soaked right in. The effect was kind of like making a composite of wood/CA that is now very strong and tough. I liken it to making micarta out of wood fibre and CA.

But the important thing with this wood was that it was very very porous, and it soaked up a lot of the CA before it had a chance to cure. So it wasn't just a CA finish - it is in effect CA-impregnated wood. Less porous wood would not work in this way.

And man, do I hate working with that stuff, but it does look great when it's done.