Thread: reinforcing with CA glue

I guess I have too much of an attitude problem. When mine crack, I teach them how to fly...that is until they make unexpected contact with my brick wall. At that point, no amount of CA in the world will help...but at least I feel better.
Seriously, I have tried to use CA to reinforce spalted maple and it really didn't help. What I would have needed to do is put on a thin coat. Let dry. Turn a fraction..put on another coat...etc. For me it wasn't worth it. I too would be interested in a method that actually works without using a vacuum chamber to actually stabalize the blanks.

Rick

You may find that the cause of cracking/splitting has more to do with heat buildup through sanding too much at high speed. The wood is very thin on pens and if the glue has not adhered to all the surface of the wood and tube, the expansion will pull the wood and cause the crack. CA glue afterwards is probably saving this situation. More carefull attention is required at gluing stage.

You can use ca on any blank that looks a bit suspect so before you do any think put on your "SAFETY GLASSES" l have a fan to blow away the fumes, now you ready to stabilize your blanks use a thin ca before you cut your blanks and then after you cut your blanks cover the ends with it and let it soaks into the blanks, then after you drill your holes run ca down thru the holes coating all the inside of the blank you can redrill your blanks after the ca has dried if the brass tubes are to tight, ruff up the brass tubes with 120 grit,cut a slice of potato 1/4 inch thick push one end off the tube into the potato, l do this to stop the glue entering the brass tube, push it out after the tube is in place, l use a 5 min two pack glue to glue in the brass tubes it gives you time to get it right, you can use medium ca and other glues, once your tubes are set, next square off your ends, then run thin ca over the ends again l use a cotton bud to rubbed over the ends to pick up excess ca if l have put too much on' also keep it away from your eyes when doing this cotton is a accelerator which causes fumes you do not want fumes in your eyes ie use a fan' make sure you fill any cracks in the ends then spray the ends with a NCF accelerator you might have to square the ends again it does not take too long' then make sure theres no glue in the tubes now your ready to turn your blanks, while your turning keep stopping and checking your blanks for cracks if there any cracks fill them with ca if there really big cracks you will have to use a filler; mix up ca with sawdust and fill the crack or hole there are lots off different fillers you can use, this seems like a lot to do but if your blank has some really nice figure its will be worth the bit off extra work to save it, l hope this helps you out .

The others have pretty well covered cracks in "normal" pen blanks, but you can also use CA to stabilise "punky" or spalted woods that'd otherwise disintegrate at the first touch of the tool.

Coat the outside of the blank liberally in CA, particularly the punky areas, let it dry, then start turning... very carefully and switching off the lathe frequently. It'll penetrate different parts of the blank to different depths, normally most deeply in the spalted areas. Once you've turned away the CA in the stronger parts of the wood, apply more CA and repeat the process until you get down to final sizing.

The obvious drawback to this method is you'll have to use CA as your final finish... as oils and most other finishes won't key properly to the CA-soaked. I also consider the fumes to be a serious health hazard and prefer to not work with it unless I'm out of options...

If the blank is really seriously "punky" wood or you don't want to finish in CA, then you can soak it in a jar of PolyU, Danish Oil, etc. (something compatible with your planned finish) until it sinks to the bottom (ie. becomes water-logged. Or should I say PolyU-logged? ) Putting the jar under vacuum or pressure will speed this up to a matter of hours, but patience & time works just as well if you don't have the appropriate gear. Put it aside for a few weeks to let it set, the longer the better. It may need to be turned in stages if not set all the way through... when you turn down to a damp spot just put it aside for another day or two for more drying.

It may sound like a slow, tedious process... and it is... but the results can be more than worthwhile.

So the poly will set deep iside the punky stuff?

Originally Posted by echnidna

So the poly will set deep iside the punky stuff?

Depends on the mix of the PolyU. I've found that "pure" PolyU won't, nor will pure Tung Oil. But some of the so-called Danish's will set without a problem... I imagine it depends on the metallic driers.

But even when it doesn't, in general it will set to a depth of around 5mm, which means you can turn that much off before needing to put it aside for another drying session. Considering that pen blanks are generally in the area of 20mm diameter and a finished pen in the 7-10mm range, that usually means only one "rotatus interruptus" to finish the pen.

I do the same thing with my more esoteric goblets & bowls, but use CA to "spot-stabilise" until I have the form roughed to about 10-15mm, and then soak in Danish so I can finish the way I want. eg. This one was done that way... all that punky stuff is the orig. filling left by rot, worms and nature in general.

As I said, it's a slow method... but I'm a hobby turner and can take my time.



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so thinning poly say 50% with turps and doing it several times might be a reasonable practice.

Another way is to use resin under pressure I believe. I haven't used it myself yet, there was a post about it some time back. You do need a pressure pot of some sort connected to your compressor. Place your blanks in a container, cover with resin, then place open container into the pressurised pot. The resin is then forced into the timber under pressure.

Neil you are on target about the resin, but a better one is disolving plexi glass in acetone get it to thin CA consistency and draw a vacuum and you end up with plexi reinforced blanks

Thanks for all the good information. I've been working on some cross cut spalted cedar that I've had minimal luck with. The one pen that did survive, I had to fill small pits with thin CA and sawdust. It worked but I'm totally happen with it. I used EEE and Shellawax for the finish and you can tell where I had to patch the wood. It sounds like whatever method one prefers, it's a slow tedious process.
I've tried the CA finish yet. What's the best way to apply the finish?