Finishing Blunder!

cuetrip

Rob Hardman Cues
Silver Member
Hi guys,
I've only finished a couple cues so far, and they've gone pretty well but I screwed one up pretty good last night.
I'm doing a CA finish. Here is my procedure. Maybe you guys could offer some tips or tell me if I'm doing something wrong:
4 coats of thin.
lightly dry sand smooth with 320.
3 coats of medium. I waited a few minutes after each coat, then hit with accelerator. After accelerator I wait a few more minutes and clean the accelerator off with a damp paper towel, then a dry paper towel.
Wet sand with 400. I'm thinking maybe I should start with 320 as 400 took a lot of time and effort to smooth it out.
Here's where I screwed up. Everything was looking great. I made it about halfway down the cue wet sanding when my paper grabbed HARD. Now I've got a light/milky/hazy colored spot under the finish about 3" wide going around the circumference of the cue. I tried sanding it down a little but no luck. Am I correct in thinking I need to completely remove the finish down to the wood on that area? If I do, should I strip the whole cue and start over?
I'm having a ***** of a time sanding through all the CA. Is there a better way?
So what happened? What causes the discoloration? I have a theory that when the paper grabbed the finish that it literally moved the finish and broke the bond with the wood. Is that crazy?
By the way, thank you to all who contribute here. For an inexperienced guy like me, the information is invaluable.
Thanks,
Rob
 

captainjko

Kirk
Silver Member
Personally, I would strip it down completely and start over... I have learned that when it comes to the finish, you need to take your time and don't rush through it....You need to make sure the CA has set up completely before sanding... And, you need to be sanding lengthwise of the cue from end to end with the grain.... Not sanding it with the lathe spinning.....
 

Ssonerai

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Never done cyano finish, so take this with a grain of salt.
(I do have a ton of woodwhacking finishing)

Basically at this point you have nothing to lose: if you are certain all the finish applied so far is set, then take your thinnest cyano, say the stuff for wicking into furniture joints to consolidate, and give it a coat over the white area. But don't baby it in any way. Get it on, smooth the drips, let it go for 24 hrs. Well, at least 6 or so. It will either blend in the porous disruption that causes the white, or it won't.

As others noted, it is virtually impossible to sand a cue correctly with it spinning. Put it in the finish lathe but sand lengthwise with a spiralling motion to concentrate on defects and high spots. Turn it gradually & back & forth as necessary with one hand, sand lengthwise and spiral with the other. For a bad (knobby, buggered) application, this may require a backer. Ideally wet sand. Not going to recommend it, it is extremely flammable and probably bad for you - I use naptha since i only use french polish and it won't cut it whereas alcohol (ETOH) will. For cyano you can use Ethanol because it won't cut it & is less harmful than naptha/"white gas".

smt
 
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aphelps1

Phelps Custom Cues
Silver Member
Sounds like the finish lifted. If that is the case, then yes you will have to sand it down and start again.

Alan
 

Dave38

theemperorhasnoclotheson
Silver Member
Hi guys,
I've only finished a couple cues so far, and they've gone pretty well but I screwed one up pretty good last night.
I'm doing a CA finish. Here is my procedure. Maybe you guys could offer some tips or tell me if I'm doing something wrong:
4 coats of thin.
lightly dry sand smooth with 320.
3 coats of medium. I waited a few minutes after each coat, then hit with accelerator. After accelerator I wait a few more minutes and clean the accelerator off with a damp paper towel, then a dry paper towel.
Wet sand with 400. I'm thinking maybe I should start with 320 as 400 took a lot of time and effort to smooth it out.
Here's where I screwed up. Everything was looking great. I made it about halfway down the cue wet sanding when my paper grabbed HARD. Now I've got a light/milky/hazy colored spot under the finish about 3" wide going around the circumference of the cue. I tried sanding it down a little but no luck. Am I correct in thinking I need to completely remove the finish down to the wood on that area? If I do, should I strip the whole cue and start over?
I'm having a ***** of a time sanding through all the CA. Is there a better way?
So what happened? What causes the discoloration? I have a theory that when the paper grabbed the finish that it literally moved the finish and broke the bond with the wood. Is that crazy?
By the way, thank you to all who contribute here. For an inexperienced guy like me, the information is invaluable.
Thanks,
Rob
If you can provide some pictures of the issue, it will assist us in assisting you. Without a visual, we can only offer opinions, or educated guesses.
Dave
 

Michael Webb

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cuetrip:
Did you wipe the cue down with any oil before you started. Linseed oil, baby oil etc etc.
You should.
I would Strip the cue completely and begin again.
 

cuetrip

Rob Hardman Cues
Silver Member
Sounds like the finish lifted. If that is the case, then yes you will have to sand it down and start again.

Alan

I think that's exactly what happened. Sandpaper grabbed so hard that it shifted the finish and broke the bond with the wood.
 
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cuetrip

Rob Hardman Cues
Silver Member
I've since sanded the entire cue. I was having a hard time getting through all the CA when I had the brilliant (possibly super stupid) idea of using my random orbital disc sander on it while the lathe was spinning at about 300rpm. I figured the finish was ruined anyway, so what the hell? It worked GREAT. Got all the finish off with 220 grit in about 10 minutes and it hardly left any sanding marks. Didn't take much effort at all of linear sanding to have it ready to finish again.
Mike, I used a coat of BLO before the first coat of thin. Thank you.
So, if I'm correct, the take-away here is KEEP YOUR WET SANDING PAPER WET!
I'd had this happen to me once before on a cool old snooker cue butt on the chamfered part at the base when my sandpaper grabbed during wet sanding and never bothered to fix it as it was just a beater cue that was so warped when I started that by the time I had turned it down far enough to be true the joint was at .600 and the butt at .800.
All sanded down:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mNk4Ng6eRWfEMnQP6
 

cuetrip

Rob Hardman Cues
Silver Member
Sorry for my lack of image posting skills. Anyone know how to make that work?
 

Michael Webb

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
sorry for my lack of image posting skills. Anyone know how to make that work?

IMG_20190804_172759.jpg
IMG_20190804_172750.jpg
 

Mcues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Finish

Because you were aggressively sanding while the cue was turning it is hard to estimate the thickness of the finish thus I would take it down to an even level and start again :( Not knowing how this came about whether the finish was still wet at that spot or all the points are burnt through at the same spot it is really a do over.

One of the advantages of CA is that you can do a lot of spot fixing. It's best to sand length wise(cue stationary) until you get a better grasp on what you are doing. CA will adhere to itself. You can start with Medium and keep adding after dry to the touch. Do a search on CA finishes here and you'll learn about adding oil at first to raw wood.

Mario
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
About sandpaper: Not all sandpaper is created equal, you usually get what you pay for..
When you get up to about 1000 grit, I highly recomend the Trizact sanding pads.
 

CuesRus1973

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi guys,
I've only finished a couple cues so far, and they've gone pretty well but I screwed one up pretty good last night.
I'm doing a CA finish. Here is my procedure. Maybe you guys could offer some tips or tell me if I'm doing something wrong:
4 coats of thin.
lightly dry sand smooth with 320.
3 coats of medium. I waited a few minutes after each coat, then hit with accelerator. After accelerator I wait a few more minutes and clean the accelerator off with a damp paper towel, then a dry paper towel.
Wet sand with 400. I'm thinking maybe I should start with 320 as 400 took a lot of time and effort to smooth it out.
Here's where I screwed up. Everything was looking great. I made it about halfway down the cue wet sanding when my paper grabbed HARD. Now I've got a light/milky/hazy colored spot under the finish about 3" wide going around the circumference of the cue. I tried sanding it down a little but no luck. Am I correct in thinking I need to completely remove the finish down to the wood on that area? If I do, should I strip the whole cue and start over?
I'm having a ***** of a time sanding through all the CA. Is there a better way?
So what happened? What causes the discoloration? I have a theory that when the paper grabbed the finish that it literally moved the finish and broke the bond with the wood. Is that crazy?
By the way, thank you to all who contribute here. For an inexperienced guy like me, the information is invaluable.
Thanks,
Rob

Get away from CA finishes. CA WILL kill you. Not if but when.
 

GoldCrown

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Get away from CA finishes. CA WILL kill you. Not if but when.

I'm not a cuemaker:
I have been working with CA for pen finishing on 2-3" by 3/8th or less and for gluing the brass tubes inside the blank. Sometimes it hits me....choking and burning eyes. It is brutal. A respirator is a must have, CA is no joke.

To the OP....What brand of CA is being used. Some CA are better than others.
I just started using Starbond thin. After x amount of coats I use 0000 steel wool with EEE cutting wax. The result is a beautifully finished low gloss sheen. It can be brought up to a high shine. As others said....take your time...thin even coats and let dry. Short cuts and rushing takes longer.
 
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