# Finishing Stabilized Blanks



## elijahhenry10 (Jul 7, 2015)

I've never had to deal with stabilized blanks before, but I got my hands on some pen blanks and am wondering the best way to apply a finish. I use Mylands friction polish on all my turnings that aren't calls, but will it hold up on a stabilized pen? These are dumb questions but I'm at a loss here...


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## Fsyxxx (Jul 7, 2015)

The only finish I've ever had hold up to the abuse a pen gets is a ca finish. It works well on stabilized and cast blanks. Some folks just buff out stabilized blanks I think.


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## Schroedc (Jul 7, 2015)

You can sand to a fine finish and use Mylands and it'll look good on them but for long term wear I'd recommend a CA finish on them.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tclem (Jul 7, 2015)

Ca

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Sprung (Jul 7, 2015)

I'll echo the above - CA.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## elijahhenry10 (Jul 7, 2015)

Dadgumit. That's what I was afraid of. My last rendevous with CA ended with a burn, 2 fingers glued together and a papertowel glued to another... But apparently that's all in the fun of it so I guess I'll give it another try. Thanks everyone!

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 2


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## Schroedc (Jul 7, 2015)

elijahhenry10 said:


> Dadgumit. That's what I was afraid of. My last rendevous with CA ended with a burn, 2 fingers glued together and a papertowel glued to another... But apparently that's all in the fun of it so I guess I'll give it another try. Thanks everyone!



I haven't glued a finger in a long time and it's all I do. I'll try to take some photos tomorrow as I finish some stuff to see if I can give you some pointers.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Sprung (Jul 7, 2015)

elijahhenry10 said:


> Dadgumit. That's what I was afraid of. My last rendevous with CA ended with a burn, 2 fingers glued together and a papertowel glued to another... But apparently that's all in the fun of it so I guess I'll give it another try. Thanks everyone!



I had a few incidents like that in my early attempts with CA, but am very happy that I took the time to work on getting a good CA finish that I was happy with. But you can get used to working with it pretty quickly. I also suggest wearing rubber gloves - don't get any CA on my fingers that way, and if something gets glued together, it's just to the glove or two fingers of the glove glued together.


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## elijahhenry10 (Jul 7, 2015)

I'll have to hijack some gloves off my dad and try it again. I had pretty good looking results with the call I did, I just never made another attempt.


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## manbuckwal (Jul 7, 2015)

elijahhenry10 said:


> I'll have to hijack some gloves off my dad and try it again. I had pretty good looking results with the call I did, I just never made another attempt.



Use vinyl or latex gloves ( like medical gloves)

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Tclem (Jul 7, 2015)

I move my ca on the blank fast. To slow and stuff starts sticking to other stuff


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## kris stratton (Jul 7, 2015)

you can use the little plastic bags that your pen parts come in,just stick it on your finger and apply the ca and throw the little piece away.,seemed to work pretty good the time i tried it.less waste as well since the paper towel doesnt soak it up.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Sprung (Jul 7, 2015)

manbuckwal said:


> Use vinyl or latex gloves ( like medical gloves)



Elijah - exactly as Tom said here. I buy the big package of them at Costco or Sam's as I use enough of them for various things.


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## kazuma78 (Jul 8, 2015)

elijahhenry10 said:


> Dadgumit. That's what I was afraid of. My last rendevous with CA ended with a burn, 2 fingers glued together and a papertowel glued to another... But apparently that's all in the fun of it so I guess I'll give it another try. Thanks everyone!


Theres many different ways to do ao CA finish too. I started out applying with a paper towel but then started using wax paper to apply it instead because the CA doesnt have anything to soak into and the wax paper wont really stick to the blank if you accidentally apply too slow. Definitely wear gloves though. I use nitrile gloves. I learned after burning the crap out of my fingers with the CA. You can also use different thicknesses of CA and methods of applying and curing it.


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## elijahhenry10 (Jul 8, 2015)

My dad buys large boxes of the disposable gloves to stain trim and doors with, they should work perfectly for this. There's a lot of knowledge here, thanks again everyone!


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## duncsuss (Jul 8, 2015)

elijahhenry10 said:


> Dadgumit. That's what I was afraid of. My last rendevous with CA ended with a burn, 2 fingers glued together and a papertowel glued to another... But apparently that's all in the fun of it so I guess I'll give it another try. Thanks everyone!



Yup ... but you won't do that again for a while  (It's been several months since my last incident)

Nitrile (or latex, or vinyl) gloves make it a little more comfortable if the CA splashes around -- as does a foot of masking tape wrapped around the tip of whichever finger you use under the applicator (outside the glove).

Reactions: Like 1


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## VotTak (Aug 7, 2015)

Stabilized wood is still not plastic. Resin gets into the wood in proportion opposite of wood density. So when finish it you still need to consider it as a wood to avoid failures in finishing that piece. Just do a regular procedure of fine sanding and apply your favorite finish(I prefer CA as it is durable and have high gloss). You might want to use straight CA, no BLO, no accelerators. Yes it will dry longer but at least you will have not that brittle finish that might crack and ruin your pen. Also, using craft foam while applying CA will help. 
I know that CA is not universal for all the woods. Example is bog oak, for which you want to see pores in wood but using CA pores are filled and wood is not looking as nice as it was just when you sand it. But those are rather exceptions than rule.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Graybeard (Aug 13, 2015)

Colin, I'm looking forward to your tips. IMO you've got it figured out.
Graybeard


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## Wildthings (Aug 13, 2015)

kazuma78 said:


> Theres many different ways to do ao CA finish too. I started out applying with a paper towel but then started using wax paper to apply it instead because the CA doesnt have anything to soak into and the wax paper wont really stick to the blank if you accidentally apply too slow. Definitely wear gloves though. I use nitrile gloves. I learned after burning the crap out of my fingers with the CA. You can also use different thicknesses of CA and methods of applying and curing it.



Try using the nitrile gloves to apply the CA. It's what I do. Drip the CA onto the spinning blank with a gloved fingertip underneath. Work the CA back and forth with the gloved finger until it starts to set. Squirt some accelerator on it and repeat

Reactions: Like 1


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