Thread: CA glue finish

Originally Posted by RSD

I've been able to get the CA glues, but not any accelorator (Amazon was out of stock). Any thoughts on how long to leave it between coats if not using the accelorator?

Gary Pye has everything in stock. It is labelled with his brand, but it is made by BSI. I know this because I ordered some yesterday, and received it today.

Originally Posted by brainstrust

Is BSI the manufacturer of the glue? There seems to be a few companies putting their name on the same bottles. Are these just the same glue?
If you happen to know!!!!

Sorry, I know nothing of these things. I only really care about the chemistry and the "what" of it.

The things that I look for are clarity, longevity and availability. I've used BSI for a while. While it can be expensive, it goes a bloody long way. I use thin CA for the first 3 coats, to get it "wicked" into all the capillaries and gaps, then medium or thick (whatever is at hand) to rapidly build a good coating.

I only made the recommendations I did as they were easily available from the local hobby store PLUS it worked exactly as I claimed.

CA is CA is CA. Its a simple chemical. The hard part, mostly, is getting a bottle that's a decent size!


The first one to three coats with thin CA are super important as they give the timber the colour, strength and adheres everything properly. After that its just slapped on to build volume. The first sanding process very quickly removes any hills. It is ppeerrffeecctt after a few seconds of sanding. No need to grind it all back, or over-processs it. Its just like clear on the cars paintwork.... thick enough is good enough... more is not better.

I honestly think people over think the entire process and surround it by arcane mysticism and hoodoo.... CA is set in seconds after a whiff of activator. If one can't do 10 to 12 pens in an hour they are playing around with it.


One but in all of this rhetoric is that I believe that the CA does get a bit harder during the 24 hours after setting, or at least that is my perception of things. It may not be so either

Woodpixel have you tried the CA glue at Hobbyking.com
They have "bigger" bottles that are very cheap.
I'd be interested to know what people think of them.
I've been using them for years but for pen finishes I have been "talked into" using far my expensive stuff!
I seem to be getting better results but maybe its more in the technique then the glue.

There are many people here who are vastly more experienced than I on these things.

My opinion is only one perspective, so do shop around.

The CA offered by this mob is a nice selection GOOOOD prices too! Hobby King - 'CA glue'



My use of finishes is one of simply getting a nice presentation with a minimum of fuss. There are a few threads here where I talked about the time and process taken to thump out a few pens. I dont remember it exactly, but if you said less than 10 minutes from glued-blank-to-finish I wouldn't be surprised.

Others swear by other finishes such as BLO, Livos kunos, waxes and such.

These are excellent for boxes and other objects - my personal opinion is that hands are filthy things, the pens are used in hostile environments, thrown into handbags, and not particularly cared for either. The tougher the finish the better. CA can easily be cleaned and refurbished.

I need some help here to sort out some confusion - what CA glue in the BSI range are you all calling "Thin"? I couldn't get any thin from Amazon so ordered thin from Gary Pye - and received Super thin - its all getting a bit confusing!