Russ Fairfield's CA/Blo finish - a summary

**Doc Ron** · 31st December 2006, 04:42 AM

Hello all. I have been using Russ Fairfield's method for Cyano acrylate/boiled linseed oil finish with some success as long as I do everything in order. To make this happen, I looked at his videos, made notes, typed them out and posted them near the lathe. Here they are, ( with Russ' permission).

CA/BLO Pen Finish – Russ Fairfield

SEALING WITH CA

1. Sand blank to 150
2. Set speed to 500 (low speed)
3. Wet sand with CA
a. If soft wood, harden with thin CA – put on, then wipe off excess with paper towel
b. remove excess with 150 grit
4. Put thick CA on piece of 150 grit, coat blank
5. With dry portion of the paper, make a slurry with the glue and sanding dust.
6. Wipe off excess with a paper towel.
7. Smooth with 150 grit, if needed.
8. Complete sanding to 12000 MM.

FINISHING WITH CA/BLO

1. After sanding to 12000 MM, burnish with brown paper if desired.
2. Speed 700- 800
Use thick CA.
3. Put CA on paper towel, wipe onto wood.
4. Put BLO on towel, wipe on wood until curing odor is noted.
5. Wipe off excess with clean towel.
6. Sand lightly with 600 grit to remove the gloss.
--------------------
7. Repeat above steps 1 through 6.
--------------------------
8. Repeat steps 1 through 4.
9. When curing odor is noted, speed up lathe to high speed
while wiping with paper towel until dry.
10. For high gloss, may use paper bag paper, or buff with white diamond.

Here is Russ' page.
http://www.woodturnerruss.com/WoodturnersPage.html
Ron

**dai sensei** · 31st December 2006, 09:06 PM

Interesting, I have noted a few people state using a CA/BLO finish, but I had always assumed the BLO went on first to bring out grain then the CA.

What is the advantage of BLO between layers of CA? Does it improve the lustre or something? I thought it would lead to the CA debonding. I use wax over CA to get that extra shine, but never tried BLO.

**Skew ChiDAMN!!** · 31st December 2006, 09:14 PM

Only a dab of BLO is used, not as a coat in itself but as a catalyst to speed/modify the CA curing. Any excess is buffed away before the next coat.

Or so I believe.

**ss_11000** · 31st December 2006, 10:46 PM

thanx for that. i think i'll print it off and chuck next to my lathe so i can try a CA finish

**bdar** · 1st January 2007, 12:09 AM

BLO also acts as a lubricant to aide in the smoother application of the CA and as skew said acts as a catalyst to set the CA. If I remember what Russ has said, if you use BLO first you need to cure it first. Either with time or heat, and if you fold a paper towel to 8x thickness and wrap around the blank and apply pressure until your finger tips get hot, that will be pretty close to curing the BLO. If the BLO is not cured properly it may lead to clouding issues.

Neil I polish with Dilux and then use a s**thot waxstik for final protective finish over the CA.
Darren

**NewLondon88** · 1st January 2007, 02:39 PM

I did a few pieces wiht the BLO and CA today. Perfume atomizers. came out so-so. They are walnut, and even with the BLO, the color and grain didn't excite me. So I bumped it up a little with analine dyes and then the BLO. Still just so-so but better.

but I did a set of darts for a friend of mine. I did them in cocobolo and thought about the CA because they'll get a lot of wear. But decided to try NC lacquer on them. I had read about a lacquer based friction polish and made it up in the shop. Stuff looked congealed. I had to shake it up for abouut a minute to try to get it sort of homogenized. Then I put my glasses on and noticed the container I THOUGHT said 'lacquer thinner' actually said 'mineral spirits' .

oops.

Anyway .. remade it and tried it as a friction polish. Didn't like it, so I must have missed something in the recipe. It was equal parts thinner, lacquer and BLO. Never wanted to dry. (usually NC alone would dry in minutes, but you can't touch it) This just seemed to go on like thin oil. But I put on several coats and then buffed it dry. Gradually it took on a wet look.. seriously wet .. had to touch it to see if it was dry or not. So I'm letting it dry overnight now. I'll go sand/buff tomorrow and see hwo that works.

I don't expect it to hold up that long, but hopefully longer than shellac ..

**Doc Ron** · 3rd January 2007, 12:54 AM

Originally Posted by NewLondon88

but I did a set of darts for a friend of mine. I did them in cocobolo and thought about the CA because they'll get a lot of wear. .

New London
Interesting. I seldom. if ever, put any finish at all on cocobolo. The stuff is so inherently oily that just sanding to about 600 or better ( I now use micromesh) will bring out the shine. After that, it seems to stay pretty good with just the natural oils from your hand.

I appreciate the oops. I've been there.
Ron

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