Jon-wx5nco
Member
I learned a few things yesterday. I have been wanting to improve my CA or CA/BLO finishes. Mine haven't been up to par IMHO, so I have spent the last few days watching videos and reading all the material I could find on this site. Here are a few things I learned yesterday:
1) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
2) When applying BLO, it it one drop at a time. Don't saturate the wood. A light coating will do.
3) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
4) When applying CA, do a few drops at a time. A 8-10 coats of med CA put on sparingly looks a LOT better than 4 or 5 HEAVILY saturated coats of med CA.
5) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
6) Spend the extra time waiting on the CA to cure before putting on the next coat. It doesn't take that long. Its well worth the time to sit back and relax for a minute.
7) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
8) Spend the extra time polishing the CA with MM.
9) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
10) Meguiar's plastic cleaner/polish (found in the motorcycle isle) will make that CA finish shine like a diamond in a goats... well, you know
11) If this is the first time you are putting a kit together, READ THE D@$% instructions. Read them carefully. Lay your parts out, in order, facing the correct direction. If you put a decorative band on a part backwards and press fit the parts into the tube, its impossible (at least for me) to get them out without tearing something up.
As you can see, I learned quite a bit last night. I am well pleased with the CA finish I achieved. Now I need to keep doing it that way until it becomes second nature. I had hoped to show you a Navigator FP w/ walnut. But, since I tried to put it together in a hurry, while tired, and glancing at the instructions, I have broken pieces and some usable parts on my table. I will go get a few more kits tomorrow. Hopefully I will have a pen(s) that I can show off!
Jon
1) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
2) When applying BLO, it it one drop at a time. Don't saturate the wood. A light coating will do.
3) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
4) When applying CA, do a few drops at a time. A 8-10 coats of med CA put on sparingly looks a LOT better than 4 or 5 HEAVILY saturated coats of med CA.
5) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
6) Spend the extra time waiting on the CA to cure before putting on the next coat. It doesn't take that long. Its well worth the time to sit back and relax for a minute.
7) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
8) Spend the extra time polishing the CA with MM.
9) Don't go into the shop when you are tired.
10) Meguiar's plastic cleaner/polish (found in the motorcycle isle) will make that CA finish shine like a diamond in a goats... well, you know
11) If this is the first time you are putting a kit together, READ THE D@$% instructions. Read them carefully. Lay your parts out, in order, facing the correct direction. If you put a decorative band on a part backwards and press fit the parts into the tube, its impossible (at least for me) to get them out without tearing something up.
As you can see, I learned quite a bit last night. I am well pleased with the CA finish I achieved. Now I need to keep doing it that way until it becomes second nature. I had hoped to show you a Navigator FP w/ walnut. But, since I tried to put it together in a hurry, while tired, and glancing at the instructions, I have broken pieces and some usable parts on my table. I will go get a few more kits tomorrow. Hopefully I will have a pen(s) that I can show off!
Jon
