SG finish for Dave

W

Will Leavitt

Joined
Jul 28, 2006
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3,953
ddavelarsen said:
Will, could you go into a bit more detail on that? I use a bristle paint brush to "paint" the SG over the handle after dropping a bit on the surface. How do you apply the SG? Drops on the surface and them pull them around with the tissue? Or do you wet the tissue somehow and use it that way? I know Scott Slobodian does something similar to your method, but I've never been able to actually figure out how to do it.

My method gets the stuff spread around fine but it is not a smooth surface. I have to sand it off, reapply, sand etc until the wood or whatever is filled, then buff it for its finish.
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I didn't want to hijack that beautiful knife thread :D

Dave, here's how I finish using super glue.

First off... VENTILATION!!!!! cyanide is an ingredient of super glue, when it cooks off there's cyanide in the smoke vapors. VENTILATION!!!!

Make sure the handle is clean, I wipe down with a tech-wipe and alcohol. Don't use latex or nitrile gloves, the cheap plastic gloves work well for me or use some wax paper on your fingers to keep them from getting glued up.

Edited to add: You can mask off metal with crayon or shoe polish, pretty much anything waxy will keep super glue from binding to the metal, I usually run a crayon or wax covered q-tip down the tang, bolster, guard.

I use thin Zap.... THIN ZAP formula, don't use cheap super glues. I have a glass plate that I'll pour a small puddle on and heat up in the microwave about 10 seconds. Be careful of fumes!! super glues have cyanide in them... fumes are very bad!!!! I'll also gently heat up the handle with a heat gun if I can safely do so.

Take a LINTFREE lens tissue (probably could use a tech-wipe but I feel they're coarser than the lens tissue) and just dab it in the puddle of glue.

Wipe with straight lines from guard to butt or other way, rotating knife to ensure full coverage. Re-apply more glue as needed, turn, tear or w/e you need to do when the part of the tissue you're using becomes unusable. Use overlapping strokes and get a nice complete coverage.

I'll usually do 1-2 coats of sg then gently sand with either XXXX steel wool or 600x sand paper. Make sure that you clean after you sand. Then continue until you get a nice build up of super glue. I usually do 20-30 coats.

I often buff very gently with some white rouge, 100% carnuba or even clear shoe polish. It seems to add some depth to the finish.

I've also used some felt from a Christmas thingy with pretty good results. Make sure whatever you're using is lint and/or dust free. Dust will make the super glue cook off. Lint will create finish problems later.

Not saying I'm an expert, just the way I do a super glue finish. Please remember to keep a lot of ventilation if you're using super glue for a finish.
 
Good process.

I will put your heart to rest (and those who read your post).

THERE IS NO CYANIDE IN SUPER GLUE. The name, ethyl cyanoacrylic monomer , sounds scary, but is very safe and non toxic. The monomer is made from formaldehyde and ethyl cyanoacetate. Ethyl cyanoacetate is made from ethyl, cyanide, and acetate that is reacted to combine. One bonded together, the ethyl cyanoacetate is quite stable, and safe. After it is reacted with the formaldehyde to create monomer and polymer chains, the polymers are removed, leaving behind the unconnected monomers. Stabilizers and inhibitors are added to prevent the chains from hooking up and curing the resin. It is these stabilizing chemicals that you smell. The vapors are irritants, but not toxic. The accelerants used to speed up the polymerization in use are heptane based and the resulting flash off of the stabilizers and accelerant during rapid cure gives off an irritating gas, but again it is an irritant (and thus should not be breathed), but is not cyanide.

Hope that helps.
Stacy
 
Will, Thanks! Man I feel like a freakin idiot! :o I started a thread about this subject this morning before reading through here, for the same reason. I knew it would be a long discussion and didn't think someone else's thread was the place to do it. I'll put a link to this thread in the one I just made. Sheesh! :o
 
Will that's an excellent description - clear enough I think even I can follow it! I'll give it a shot and whenever I get good results I'll post them here. I admit I'm a little daunted by thinking of 20-30 coats of SG, but I imagine they're very thin, which is what I want. Your polishing regimen sounds excellent. Can't wait to give this a try!

Thanks a million.
 
I had better get a small piece of glass, some lens tissues and get to work on that piece of Oosic.
 
Thanks for that info Stacy, I used to work in a hobby shop and was told a long time ago that bit of disinformation. I do know I don't like the fumes. You ever get that nice little burn when you drop some thin on your leg when it's got sanding dust on it?
 
I hate when that happens!
The curing reaction when it polymerizes is very exothermic. A drop on a moist surface, or on certain synthetics, will get HOT is a split second.
Stacy
 
Great post Will :)

Have any of you tried the synthetic "steel" wool for this? I know you can buy it in places like WoodCraft. It looks like steel wool and scotchbrite's offspring.

It's supposed to work similarly to steel wool, but without any of the finishing issues that can come up from the small amount of oil in steel wool, and is not supposed to leave any fragments in the finish like steel can.

I have NOT tried it, but I'm interested in it.
 
There was a product I used a couple of years ago but I can find it. It came in sheets but was like a combination of felt/steel wool/scotchbrite.. it worked awesome but I can't find it any more or even remember who made it. It worked beautifuly for "shoe polishing handles" and getting that last touch of blending the wood handle material with metal portions.
 
Nope, good try though Dave... this stuff looks like a felt pad with strands of metal woven in it. It was freaking awesome, left a lint free and polished look to the wood. I would often use the super fine (like XXXXX steel wool) with a little wax in it for my final polish.
 
bladsmth said:
The name, ethyl cyanoacrylic monomer , sounds scary, but is very safe and non toxic. The monomer is made from formaldehyde and ethyl cyanoacetate. Ethyl cyanoacetate is made from ethyl, cyanide, and acetate that is reacted to combine. One bonded together, the ethyl cyanoacetate is quite stable, and safe. After it is reacted with the formaldehyde to create monomer and polymer chains, the polymers are removed, leaving behind the unconnected monomers.
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>>>>>Stacy E.Apelt >>>>>>> nerd<<<<<<


:D
 
Will Leavitt said:
Nope, good try though Dave... this stuff looks like a felt pad with strands of metal woven in it. It was freaking awesome, left a lint free and polished look to the wood. I would often use the super fine (like XXXXX steel wool) with a little wax in it for my final polish.
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Would this product be called something like Nev-R-Dull? Comes in a can and you tear off pieces of it? The stuff you describe sounds like the stuff I used to polish decorative brass with many years ago...Hopefully that is what you are looking for as I believe that it is still available.

HTH

Bill
 
bhyde said:
Would this product be called something like Nev-R-Dull? Comes in a can and you tear off pieces of it? The stuff you describe sounds like the stuff I used to polish decorative brass with many years ago...Hopefully that is what you are looking for as I believe that it is still available.

HTH

Bill
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Sorry Bill... I'm very familiar with Never Dull... 16 1/2 years in the Army ;)

This was a finishing product like sandpaper or scotchbrite pads... I'll look around some more when I get a chance, maybe there's some left somewhere out here in the country.
 
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