Bamboo Style FP in Walnut with Thin CA Finish

Well, this isn't the first Bamboo style pen that I've made out of Walnut (of which I have a pretty good stock), but while the others have been finished with Danish Oil, this one was finished with thin (ie low viscosity) cyanoacrylate.

For those who are wondering about what in the world cyanoacrylate (CA) is, it is the same stuff that is in the various brands of super glue.  It is a liquid that undergoes a chemical reaction upon exposure to air and moisture to form an acrylic polymer - that is, a hard plastic.  Makes a great bond between hard surfaces, which is why it sells as super glue, but interestingly, it also has one other very useful property - that it can be polished.  For a thick, glossy, glassy finish, I usually apply about 8 - 10 coats of medium CA, having to cure each coat in between, and then polish using the usual 12 steps (400 grit through to 12,000 grit, followed by a polish),  The problem lies in the fact that on prominent surfaces, the finish wears through much faster than in other spots, making it very difficult to do such a finish in places like, for instance, the inset ends on my Bamboo style pens.  For this reason, I have only been offering an oil coat finish for these pens before now.

This particular pen is indeed finished using CA, but instead of building up a thick coat before finishing, I am using a few coats of low viscosity CA to soak into the wood, and seal it - in just the same way that oil would.  The difference is that it takes very little time for the CA to cure, and even the penetrated coats allow the wood to be polished to a nice shine - which unlike the oil finish, is pretty durable.

I have also finished the inside of the cap and barrel with the same penetrating thin CA to seal and protect against ink leaks.

One of the really nice things about wood with a strong grain, like walnut, is that I can cut cap and barrel from one piece, and line up the cap and barrel grain, preserving the natural flow of the wood from cap to barrel.

Alright.  Time to write-test and smooth this nib to make it an awesome pen.

Thanks for looking!

Ken