Thank you!
I usually will sand to 600. Sometimes I will do a coat of CA in between grits if the wood has open pores that way the voids are filled before I get to 600. Also depends on whether or not i plan to do tung oil or BLO after I get to 600. I'm not sure if the oil works as well if CA has been applied, I've been meaning to ask on this site but haven't yet.
Once at 600 I'll wipe clean, apply 4 or 5 coats of thin. I usually try to let that dry on its own rather than using an accelerator. Not sure if that makes a difference but usually the thin only takes a minute or so to dry if you keep it spinning on the lathe. When I put the thin on I do a real quick back and forth once with viva paper towels. Some people are particular about the brand of paper towels, I've noticed viva is less patterned but not sure it really matters. The surface isn't smooth anyways after I'm done with the CA coats. I'll do the same with flex CA for 5 or 6 coats. if you don't have flex medium is pretty similar. Just one drop And quick back and forth again. I try to minimize the ridges but I always have them. I use accelerator after application of the flex Bc it will take a lot longer to dry on its own.
after these coats are done I'll wet sand 1500-12000 with the micro mesh pads. I also sand with the grain After each grit and wipe off any slurry. I've found I spend by far the most time on 1500. I make sure the surface has no ridges and is smooth (albeit pretty dull looking) before moving past 1500.
You won't see a real pop in shine or anything until you get way up in grits, like 8000 and beyond, so don't get discouraged before then!
That's what worked for this finish and I finished another pen last night and it worked well for that pen too. Again, this is the first success I've had with CA and I'm sure there are more knowledgeable people on this site, it seems everyone has their own regimen. This (knock on wood) has seemed to work for me.
