# CA finish cracking?



## blaineo (Dec 29, 2012)

Anyone have problems wirh their CA Finish on wood blanks crackling..kind of like how safety glass breaks...10-12 months after finishing them?


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## BassBlaster (Nov 21, 2010)

Got any pics? I havnt ever finished a pen with anything but CA and Ive yet to have a finish crack. Im thinking it may be something like old CA.


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## preacherman (Nov 29, 2011)

I have seen one do that. I think what had happened was the end of the pen was not sealed and the wood got wet and expanded. The CA will not expand and therefore breaks like safety glass, spider web effect. That particular finish was not very thick only a few layers of CA.
I seal the ends with thin CA just to keep moisture from entering the end of the pen blank.


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## JTTHECLOCKMAN (Dec 31, 2011)

Absolutely. Remember one thing. Wood moves. Some woods are more prone to crack naturally such as snake wood and some ebonys. Woods will move if they were not completly dry before finishing. Wood can crack from stress especially on the ends when kit parts are pressed in due to too tight or poor pressing method. So you have many many things that can go wrong that will promote cracks in a CA finish. Good luck.


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## BassBlaster (Nov 21, 2010)

Yeah, Im thinking the moisture thing makes a whole lot more since than my theory of old CA. I also seal he ends of my blanks with thin CA so that I know the wood is completely sealed off from the elements.:thumbsup:


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

I sure wish you guys wouldn't have brought this up cause it had never happened to me before but here is one of two that cracked on me like he was talking about


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

I have had this happen to me a few times. I think for me it happened during the pressing together from separate causes. If after finishing you dont re-square the ends the CA will sit proud of the end of the pen. When you press the pen the hardware puts pressure on the finish itself before the wood or the brass.....crack...you're done. Or I have had this happen from parts being slightly misaligned during assembly.


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## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

PSDkevin said:


> I have had this happen to me a few times. I think for me it happened during the pressing together from separate causes. If after finishing you dont re-square the ends the CA will sit proud of the end of the pen. When you press the pen the hardware puts pressure on the finish itself before the wood or the brass.....crack...you're done. Or I have had this happen from parts being slightly misaligned during assembly.


But the funny thing is it happened on 2 pens made from walnut made the same day


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## Alan Sweet (Aug 16, 2013)

*There is a creat article in in Woodturning Design...*

which covers a lot finishing problems.... and I can't find it. But if I think Russ Fairfield wrote it. I read it and it was good. I just can't find it now.


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## blaineo (Dec 29, 2012)

I don't have any pics, but the one Robert posted pretty much is the same thing. And this did NOT happen when I was assembling the pens/stylus. As far as I know the wood was dry...was just a basic pen blank, 3/4"x3/4"x3", so actually quite small. It just made me cringe, all I could think about was other pens I'd done about the same time and sold or given as gifts might be doing the same thing....*sigh*


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