Scale Finish Question

Good afternoon gentlemen, I have a question for all of you restorers. I am in the process of restoring an antique Wade & Butcher Celebrated Rattler. When I received it, it had a fair amount of pitting which polished and buffed out for the most part quite nicely. The old scales were black horn, and the tip on one side had broken off at the pivot pin. I am making a new set of scales for it in desert ironwood and have seen beautiful examples here that were finished with a CA finish. My question is, what exactly is this CA finish, and where can I find it? Thanks for your help!

CA stands for cyanoacrylate which is really just superglue. There are two main kinds: the thin and the thick. You use the thick to fill any voids or what have you and the thin for the final coat. Woodcraft is where I usually get mine. http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/20...-Hot-Stuff-Instant-CA-Glue-Thin-2-Ounces.aspx

The application is simple enough. I use an accelerating agent so I don't have to let it dry. Just wipe it on and sand it smooth.

Dessert ironwood might look nice with tung oil and wax then buffed. Just a thought

Thank you for that, PapaTony! I would never have thought of super glue as a finish! So after you have it applied and sand it smooth after drying, do you buff it, like on a cloth wheel, to give it shine?

The way I've done it is to use a sanding progression from coarse all the way up to super fine. Woodcraft sells a little progression of sandpaper that works really well: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2004014/9147/Micro-Mesh-Small-Sanding-Kit.aspx

That'll put quite a bit of shine on it. Sand it wet so the CA doesn't load up the paper. From there you can buff it, but it really shouldn't need it. I don't think I'd use any rouge on it if you do buff it. Not sure what that would do the the finish