Other finishes OK under CA ?

[rtyuiop]

Hi folks,

I have some bloodwood which is a little plain for my liking for pens - would like to try some oil or shellawax glow on it to see if I can get what figure there is to pop a bit more, but I also like the idea of a nice durable CA finish.

Am I likely to have issues if I put a CA finish over the top of something else ?

Regards,

Danny

[Les in Red Deer]

You can put CA over BLO or Polyurethane.

Les

[woodPixel]

I just put a CA finish over a EEE ultrashined egg yesterday.

Have to admit, it didn't make much of a difference compared to the non-EEE'd eggs, which surprised me. Finishing in EEE then shellawax gives a fantastic finish, amazing and a favourite, so when the EEE/CA combo was given a go the end result was visually the same as the usual CA finish routine...

... Which is to sand to 400, maybe 600 (doesn't make much difference), "sand" with a fist of shavings, then 3 coats of thin CA and 3 of medium. Wet sand with 800, then 8000 and 12000. Finish with Meguiars ultrashine hologram remover.

The first thin coat is where 100% of the magic is. It gets right in and pops that figure.

[rtyuiop]

Noted, thank you gentlemen!

As it turns out I think I've found a better solution - I noticed the grain on this bloodwood did have some depth after sanding, although it still didn't look very exciting. Rubbed a silver cream filler in and I think it now looks great, with silver highlighting what grain it has... Will post pics once I get it finished.

Danny

[TongueTied]

This sounds exciting. Can't wait to see the picture.

[rtyuiop]

So I really like the effect (did it with a coolabah burl sierra as well), but it's pretty difficult to get a good photo of! My best attempts here, but I do think they look better in person. Both of them are shown in a pair, the other is from the same bit of wood with a similar CA finish, but no silver.

Red bloodwood longwoods (annoyingly I screwed up the sizing on the nib end of the silver one, please ignore that!):

http://rtyuiop.net/workshop/bloodwood-longwoods.jpg

http://rtyuiop.net/workshop/bloodwood-longwoods-2.jpg

Coolabah burl sierras:

http://rtyuiop.net/workshop/coolabah-burl-sierras.jpg

http://rtyuiop.net/workshop/coolabah-burl-sierras-2.jpg

The coolabah burl is pretty nice without any embellishment, so I don't know if I'd do it on a piece without any voids - I was mainly using it to fill a gum vein (at least I think it's a gum vein)... But the bloodwood is definitely a bit boring as a pen by itself, the silver really picks it up.

Cheers,

Danny

[woodPixel]

What's this silver cream you use?

I was half thinking you could use Artic Silver, which is used as a thermal paste for PC CPUs ! :D

[rtyuiop]

It's this stuff:

WoodWorld of Texas — Jimmy Clewes Metallic Cream Filler (http://woodworld-of-texas.myshopify.com/collections/jimmy-clewes-finishing-embellishment-products/products/jimmy-clewes-metallic-cream-filler)

I was in Dallas earlier in the year and bought some on a whim. Quite handy to have around the shop, I have to say.