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Oldgreybeard
5th March 2017, 11:10 AM
My very first bowl turning is now 21 years old and has been used and abused on a daily basis for the whole of that time. It has sat on the kitchen bench holding fresh fruit with an occassional fall to the floor for good measure. Not sure of the type of wood, it was bought from a wood worker in Caulfield in 1995 who was selling most of his turning blanks and moving house.

It is now in need of some serious repair and re-finishing.


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My thoughts are to fill the cracks with fine sanding dust (Jarrah) and CA glue then sand back the old traditional wax finish and refinish using Aussie Oil. It has been rejuvenated on a sort of regular basis using "Ecowoodoil"

Am I on the right track or is there a better approach?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Bob

dai sensei
5th March 2017, 11:17 AM
Approach sounds good to me. It will be interesting to bring back the original colour, hard to tell what it is at present

Oldgreybeard
5th March 2017, 11:32 AM
Approach sounds good to me. It will be interesting to bring back the original colour, hard to tell what it is at present


Thanks Neil

Paul39
5th March 2017, 11:45 AM
As it was waxed when made and oiled later, I expect the wax and oil have gotten into the cracks. I don't think any glue will stick to wax and oil.

The cracks do not appear to threaten the structure, and I think the color and finish are beautiful.

If there is a buildup of wax / oil you could use steel wool to get some off, but not down to wood. Other than a light application of steel wool, I would leave it alone.

hughie
5th March 2017, 02:31 PM
I guess for it would depend on what I wanted the platter to look like when its finished.

Right now it has some very good aged patina thats hard to replace. In order to keep the patina I would fill the cracks with CA, but only to secure them not to fill completely up. It would take a few goes especially if your using the very thin stuff. If it was me I hop down to Bunnies and buy the cheapest CA going as long as it was not a gel and use that. One thing I would recommend is to blow all the offending cracks out with compressed air to remove as much accumulated crud as you can.

But if your going fill them with wood dust etc get the darkest you can, ideally ebony dust is the best as the dark colours will blend with the parent wood well. Ebony is very good as it will not discolour it will remain black .

pommyphil
5th March 2017, 03:45 PM
I've been using powdered charcoal as a filler with CA glue, seems to work very well. Phil

Kidbee
5th March 2017, 08:56 PM
My very first bowl turning is now 21 years old and has been used and abused on a daily basis for the whole of that time. It has sat on the kitchen bench holding fresh fruit with an occassional fall to the floor for good measure. Not sure of the type of wood, it was bought from a wood worker in Caulfield in 1995 who was selling most of his turning blanks and moving house.

It is now in need of some serious repair and re-finishing.


407727407728407729407731407730407732

My thoughts are to fill the cracks with fine sanding dust (Jarrah) and CA glue then sand back the old traditional wax finish and refinish using Aussie Oil. It has been rejuvenated on a sort of regular basis using "Ecowoodoil"

Am I on the right track or is there a better approach?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Bob
I say give it the flick, turn up a new one that's twice as good and admire the new one for the next twenty years.

Oldgreybeard
6th March 2017, 09:26 AM
I say give it the flick, turn up a new one that's twice as good and admire the new one for the next twenty years.


I was wondering how long it would take before I got this advice. You are right, it is not really worth the effort - even when new it was nothing more than an average first effort.
But it was MY first effort and it has become part of the scenery for 21 years.

After reading the comments which all have thier good points, I have decided to try to clean it up a bit with 0000 steel wood and 'Ecowoodoil', let it dry and buff it. I will then make a final decision on its future.

Thanks to everyone for thier comments and advice.

Bob

Paul39
6th March 2017, 11:13 AM
Oldgreybeard,

If you don't put it back to work in the house, set it up in the shed where you can look up from the lathe and see it. A piece that has earned its keep for 21 years should not be discarded.

Oldgreybeard
9th March 2017, 10:31 AM
Here is the result of my restoration attempt. Started by cutting back with steel wool but was not happy, so sanded 150 -400 grit trying not to remove too much of the natural patena, then applied 3 coats of oil and finally buffed. I an pretty happy with the result.408066

Comments and suggestions welcome

Bob

lovetoride
9th March 2017, 10:45 AM
Nice work!

Paul39
10th March 2017, 01:58 AM
Very nice. I like the color, the figure and the nice smooth surface. You have kept the look of a nice old piece.

Mr Brush
10th March 2017, 07:08 AM
Nicely done, sir :2tsup:

Character retained, cleaned up beautifully.

NeilS
10th March 2017, 04:01 PM
Comments and suggestions welcome

Bob

If it were mine I would be adding a few stitches to any large cracks. This is a traditional thing to do to an old bowl that is valued.

eg, these two from Robin Wood's wooden bowl book.

408120

408121

The second bowl was retrieved from the Mary Rose.

Also, done in Hawaii to their lifetime Poi bowls using wooden butterfly stitches.






Stay sharp!

Neil

Oldgreybeard
10th March 2017, 08:55 PM
If it were mine I would be adding a few stitches to any large cracks. This is a traditional thing to do to an old bowl that is valued.

Neil

I did consider a similar approach using wooden "bowtie", but really the cracks are not that serious at this point. I hope that decision doesn't came back in bite me in a couple of years.

Bob

Simplicity
10th March 2017, 09:25 PM
Sorry Bob
I should have replied before
It looks great now
Did you re mount it on a lathe
Or finish it off the lathe this time

Cheers Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Oldgreybeard
11th March 2017, 08:18 AM
Sorry Bob
I should have replied before
It looks great now
Did you re mount it on a lathe
Or finish it off the lathe this time

Cheers Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Finished of the lathe

Bob

NeilS
11th March 2017, 12:11 PM
I did consider a similar approach using wooden "bowtie", but really the cracks are not that serious at this point. I hope that decision doesn't came back to bite me in a couple of years.


If it doesn't get any big bumps it should be OK.

You can always add a 'bowtie' anytime later, they are not hard to do.


408150

Christos
11th March 2017, 05:49 PM
It is hard to say what I would do as I tend to refinish a piece that I am not happy with.

It is always a matter of personal opinion and I think you have selected the right option.