Plenty of Finishes in the Sea

Recently I have been having a difficult time with my finishes turning out. For those who aren't sure what I am talking about, let me explain. To keep wood looking "nice," you have to do two things to it:

1. You have to sand the wood to smooth out the grain and seal the pores of the wood so that moisture doesn't get in and cause the wood to swell and eventually rot.

2. You have to seal the outside of the wood with some sort of finish that will:

• bring out the natural beauty of the wood (or hide it--> i.e. Stains). 
• Protect the wood from dings, dents, smudges, and the natural oils found in the human hand.

There are many different varieties of polishes, stains, laquers oils and such for preserving the finish of the wood. There are also (I learned) many different ways that woodworkers apply these finishes.

So, like I stated earlier, I have been having trouble with my finishes. I typically sand the wood starting with a 150 grit sand paper and then move through the various grits (200, 300, 400) until I hit 600 grit. At this point I switch from sandpaper to micro-mesh sanding pads that let me bump up the sanding to much finer  sanding (1200, 1400, 1600, 1800 and 2000). At this point I switch again to a friction wax which is simply wax with very fine particles in it. This heats up and literally melts and infuses the wood with wax (part of the sealing aspect) while at the same time giving it a super fine sanding.

Up until this point everything has been going fine. Its the last step that has me flustered. There are two methods for sealing my turning projects that I prefer to use. On my pens, I use a cyanoacrelate or CA finish. This is simply a glue that bonds to the wood and then provides a hard finish to protect against dings, dents and such. You may know this better by its more common name...Crazy glue or Super Glue. On my other turning projects I like to use a hand rubbed poly-urethane finish. It goes on smooth and lasts a very long time. The latter is not the problem...it is the former.

My CA finishes, lately, have been looking...off. They don't seem to coat the way they did earlier. It could be one of a myriad of issues (type of glue, lathe rpm, friction, etc.), but I think I have a few solutions.

As I said earlier (what you are still reading this? WOW!) there are many ways and means to finish your wood project. So I did what every red-blooded American handyman does in my situation...I went to Starbucks, got a grande double shot espresso with extra foam and hazelnut flavoring, and Googled a solution!

So here is what I came up with: Check it out it is a pretty good solution.

There were others but I liked this one the best.

I know I usually post pictures of things I have made...and I will be doing so this weekend, so settle down!

I have a classic chrome and gold cigar pen made of East Indian Rosewood I finished this past weekend and I have a special project I did with my daughter (the purse-wand fanatic). It is a bit old fashioned and probably not much in use anymore but most people still have one (I actually have two!). Have I piqued your interest enough? Left you on the edge of your seat longing to find out what it is? Maybe I should have a midnight upload? Anyway, you'll see it soon enough!