Hi Bob, There are numerous ca techniques on You Tube (some simple / some complicated). The decision to move to a ca finish was made for us. Andrew used to work at Newcastle Dental Hospital and as a result a significant number of our pens go to doctors, dentists and nurses. We found out very quickly that pens finished with wax looked nice on the day of sale but after several weeks became dull and lifeless. The wax surface couldn't withstand the hospital enviroment and we identified the use of bactericidal hand gels and scrubs to be the cause of the problem. After a bit of experimentation we found a ca finish to be more durable and have had no complaints since.
The video above makes it look so easy and some people may find it works for them. However, when I tried it the paper towel got stuck to the blank and the ca glue spun off onto my jumper. A note of caution always use a visor or goggles (full eye protection) when using ca. Some use protective glasses but even with these on accidents happen. Trust me on this one, I've seen several people in Accident & Emergency with ca glue in the eye over the years. Google search ca glue eye accidents and once you've seen the pictures you'll never touch ca without eye protection again.
Our technique for the inlays is as follows:
a) finish wood with a chisel - we don't sand as the dust / debris from the dark coloured woods discolours the light coloured woods.
b) set the lathe at the lowest setting (we have a Jet mini lathe which requires the drive belt to be moved by hand - I'm not sure what the exact speed is but I can find out if you want more detail)
c) apply medium ca glue on piece of cheap white kitchen roll (avoid colours they can come out / also avoid loo paper it breaks down and bits go everywhere!!!!)
d) two or three drops is all that's needed - drop on the paper - folded as in the above video - wipe lightly up and down your blank 2-3 times only as quick as you can (dilly dally and it will go off and stick the paper to the blank yuk!!)
e) keep the blank turning and spray with ca accelerator (idealy you should have suction behind the lathe for this unless you want to get high as a kite)
f) wipe off excess with a fresh piece off kitchen roll (this can be used again for the same job later)
g) apply second coat and then repeat use of accelerator and excess removal (the use of accelerator is not strictly necessary if you are prepared to wait for it to dry - we use it after messing up several blanks as a result of being impatient)
h) repeat again, ca, accelerator, wipe (depending on the wood porosity - sometimes only 3 coats are necessary other times 6 or 8 coats may be needed).
i) stop lathe - remove blanks - remove any flash with sandpaper 300 grit - remount on mandrel after cleaning up bushings
j) sand with micromesh and finish with plastic polishing paste (we use micromesh wet - don't leave your micromesh pads in water longterm as the abrasive cloth comes off the white backing material otherwise)
k) buff up on a slowly rotating cotton buffing wheel (the type your dentist polishes dentures with)
Apologies for the lengthy explanation - we do modify the above for certain woods and use linsead oil - normally for very porous wood which absorbs the ca like a sponge (eg spalted beech) three drops of linsead plus one drop of ca glue in the middle of the three. (application of this mix takes longer to set and gives you more time to apply). The only other point I would like to mention is that sometimes with dyed woods the colour will run when ca or linsead is applied on a turning lathe. Andrew's technique in these cases is to take a plastic lid from an ice cream tub, run a wooden kebab stick through the brass tube and drip thin ca onto the wood surface. Rotate the blank using the kebab stick as you do so, and use the lid to catch the drips. Once covered roll gently in the ca glue caught in the lid, adding a little extra if needed - allow to set naturally (we avoid accelerator here as there's lots of ca around and it gets hot when accelerator is applied) You'll need to sand the blank smooth with 300 grit at a faster speed (avoid exposing the wood surface) then finish with micromesh and polishing paste etc at slow speed.
Hope this helps these techniques work for us - others may suggest alternatives experiment till you find what works best in your hands. Kind regards. Fiona
Just thought I have some alloy wheel sealer thats laquer. I wonder if that'll work - maybe a test on some scrap coming on.
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