Hey rat fookerz do I have something for y’all!
I did this little write up on this finishing technique in 2011 for what its worth I thought it was posted here but I ended up finding it on my Facebook timeline lol I knew I had it kept safe for prosperity somewhere.
Enjoy and don’t forget to breathe
“Finishing turnings with CA(superglue) & BLO”
Written in 2011
IMOP CA by itself is only "good" because its cheap, fast turnover and no equipment really needed like spray booths and such.
CA is noxious so make sure you have good ventilation.
You also need the right sandpaper grits or better yet high enough grits. CA needs either polishing up to 12,000 MICRO GRIT or you can go to 2000 and then use polishing/buffing compounds.
When sanding the CA spin the lathe and make a pass then turn it off and use the same grit traveling LENGTHWAYS up and down the shaft in smooth even passes. When spinning the sandpaper will leave ring scratches around the circumference of the cue, when you stop it and sand lengthways it removes the circular scratches and will leave the finish "scratches" running with the grain of the wood.
If you don't go through the proper grits in this fashion your going to have swirls and fine scratches in the finish and that really shows up when the cue is polished out.
WATER IS A NO NO!!!!!! KEEP WATER OF ANY KIND AWAY FROM WHERE YOUR WORKING...........don't breath on the CA, don't touch the CA with your bare fingers..........WATER MAKES CA TURN FROST WHITE!
As for the statment that CA flashes b/f it penetrates the wood, thats variable from type to type and brand to brand. YOU CAN FIX THIS PROBLEM VERY SIMPLE..........and the technique fixes another innate problem with CA, its BRITTLENESS.
The best CA would have a somewhat controlled drying time as to get maximum wood penetration and be somewhat flexible so as not to bubble when hit....the bubbling when it gets hit is for two reasons
A) either they didn't use a sealer and the CA dried b/f it penetrated the wood
its too brittle/hard
Now here's the fix:
You can adjust the drying time of CA very simply. All it takes is OIL. Olive Oil, Corn Oil, Baby Oil, Vegetable Oil, Danish Oil.
The yellow oils such as Corn/vegetable/olive even help to add that little tint of honey that you find in old growth maple..........if you don't want any tinting of the finish then use a Baby Oil/Mineral Oil as its clear.
I cover the bottle of oil with a cloth and turn it over so as to get a nice silver dollar sized oil pad on my cloth. Then with the lathe spinning I add a layer of the oil, IMMIDEATELY after I grab my THIN CA and again with the lathe spinning I keep my cloth on the wood and drip the CA onto the workpiece right on top my cloth going up and down the workpiece for a min or so untill the cloth is stiff from the CA drying, and the finish is "SET"
The finish is already very very smooth so only if necessary i hit it with a light grit steel wool. DO NOT DO THIS IF THE FINISH ISN'T DRY YET, you will strip it all off if you do........as the oil makes the CA's drying time increase drastically.
If my coat is smooth I'll forgo the steel wool and grab another cloth put the oil on it and repeat the same exact process i described above.
You can use thin, you can use thick CA with this method.......it doesn't make a diff since the drying time is lengthened so that you have plenty of time to smooth it out without your cloth instead of sanding.
Depending on if you use a Thin or a Thick you could need anywhere from around 7 to 20 coats to complete the process.
After its done and you have it thick enough to work with let it sit for quite a few hours b/f sanding as to be certain that the finish has dried fully.
Sand & Polish the finish like i have described.
These finishes have more "depth" than auto clears/epoxies/UV this is b/c of the OIL........
Another thing to know is that the OIL is going to fill in any small scratches and such on the top layer before your next layer is applied. This is another reason that I really don't sand b/t coats since A) Its already smooth/even.
There are no scratches.
Also sanding can leave little white spots in the low areas that can easily be missed and those will show up if you don't watch your surface cleanliness....the spots are just DUST sitting in the tiny low spot or scratch.......if you sand or use whatever then hit it with a piece of TACK CLOTH to remove the bad dust and debris from the workpiece.
After its clean then start with your oil on the cloth again and make a pass. INSPECT IT and check for particles in the oil coat on the workpiece....anything will show up very well as the oil makes the surface glossy so trespassing particles will be easy to see and remove before continuing with the process.
DONT USE ACCELERATOR IT WILL DEFEAT THE PURPOSE OF THIS METHOD AND MAKES CA AN EVEN WORSE PRODUCT OVERALL FOR USE ON A CUES FINISH IMOP
Overall the method i described above does take longer than "normal" application methods but its just WAIT TIME as opposed to Work time
There is one great benefit that helps the method is that IF PROPERLY DONE and IF the start surface is already smooth and sealed SANDING PRIOR TO FINAL SAND WILL BE NONEXISTENT........this makes less time making any dust that can harm you or dirty the work area.........I really don't want to sand at all untill I'm finished since the particles can find their way into your work really easy.......drop something and it could go airborne and land in your finish.....so at least for me I don't really sand I take the time to make sure I don't have to.........
If and when I do sand I use a piece of angle iron as my sanding block to get everything perfectly flush...........I switched from wet sanding with a little water to just using a light or clear oil such as the mineral oil.......it reduces friction and heat which an excess of can damage a CA finish IMOP along with making a nice slurry which makes for less scratches as your going through the grits, which makes for a higher mirror shine.
When I'm done I wipe down the cue with windex or some other household cleaner to remove the oil and slurry mixture on the surface, I then hit it with Meguires Swirl X and then a carnauba and KAPOW shine shine shine.........
This finish is deeper, bonds better b/c of extended drying time so it can penetrate the wood, the oil also bonds with the CA and makes it flexible so it doesn't ding and bubble up from separation.
For those that try it PM me with your results or any questions you may have.
have fun,
-Grey Ghost-
