Thread: Finishing Bowls Trouble

Use only the Shellawax

Extra Info

Try this. I would say that you are using too much. Don't use any thing else under it.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/usi...llawax-131234/

I have been sanding to 320 and using many coats of Tung oil rubbed in over a period of days and days with the bowl turning on the lathe. This gives a soft sheen.

I recently tried dipping a cloth pad into polyurethane satin floor finish and rubbing that in the same as the Tung oil. Let it dry overnight, lightly sand with a 600 grit sponge, again apply poly, let dry overnight, burnish with a soft cloth while mounted on lathe.

Same sheen as the Tung oil in much less time.

Hi Paul, do you wet or dry sand

Many woodturners , and even more finishing techniques , sounds like the oil is leeching to the surface .

I sand to 320#, apply 3 coats of BLONDE Shellac, then Shella wax.

Originally Posted by clarky

Hi Paul, do you wet or dry sand

I do both. I prefer a soft smooth feel, like a baby's skin, and I like the finish to be in the wood not on top, with a slight sheen.

With a hard wood I turn inside and out using a bowl gouge, touch up using freshly sharpened and honed scrapers, then sand starting at 150 - 180, then 220.

I then vacuum and / or brush with a clean, dry paint brush and carefully inspect.

If there is any scratching, tool marks, bruised grain, I further sand, starting at 220 and If that is not working I keep going coarser until the flaw is removed, then finer until I am back at 220.

I have some power sanding stuff in 1 1/2 inch size and drive that with a battery powered drill drive. I have also tried a die grinder but find it goes too fast (25,000 rpm) and is hard to control. I had some excitement when the sanding disk hooked a notch in a natural edge bowl.

I make a pad of cloth about 1 1/2 X 3 inches, about three thicknesses of an old sheet or old T shirt, moisten it with Tung oil or Danish Oil and rub it all over the bowl turning by hand until it is covered with oil.

I stand aside and turn the lathe on at slow speed, and let it sling off the excess oil. Using two fingers and the pad rub all over inside and out until the cloth begins to drag. I stop the lathe and have a look.

Now all the imperfections will be revealed. Some folks wet the piece with mineral spirits, var sol, turpentine, etc. which will show the flaws, which can then be sanded wet with what ever was used, wiped off and left to dry a bit and then finish applied.

When I notice an imperfection like a scratch all the way around from a single grain of course paper, I may wet some 220 with the finish and hand sand at right angles to the scratch, or with the grain in the area of the scratch.

After wet sanding I dampen a piece of cloth with finish and carefully wipe the area and discard the cloth as it has some abrasive in it. Lay the cloth out flat to dry, or put in the wood stove.

If the bowl looks OK with the first coat on, or has been corrected, I run the lathe at slow speed and dampen the cloth pad with finish and go over the in and outside of the bowl, adding oil so that a shine is all over the bowl , then keep going over inside and out until the rag begins to drag.

Shut off the lathe and let sit overnight. If using a chuck carefully remove and set aside on a clean cloth, so that you can rough out the next piece.

The next day Wet a piece of 320 or 400 grit with finish and lightly wet sand the bowl in and out. Wipe with a clean cloth dampened with finish and discard. Again apply finish all over and turn until the cloth gets warm, let set overnight.

Make a 3 X 3 inch pad of soft cloth, run the lathe and polish the finish until the pad get warm. Inspect again. With hard wood, the piece should be done. You may repeat until you have the finish you like.

With soft, spalted, or semi-rotten wood, after turning I slather the piece with cellulose sanding sealer and let dry several days before starting to sand. Very often there are tear outs and shredded grain, so I will start with 80 grit. If I get below the hardened area, I will again slather with sealer and dry.

If there are lots of small tear outs I may wet sand with sanding sealer and 150 grit, wipe out and let dry. The sanding dust mixes with the sealer and fills the tear outs.
This can be messy. I have a bunch of spalted maple that has a wonderful figure, so I am willing to put up with the difficulty.

Wow, thanks very much for the great info. I will be in the shed later to try your advice. I will let you know how I get on.
Thanks again, Clarky

Originally Posted by Paul39

With soft, spalted, or semi-rotten wood, ..... I have a bunch of spalted maple that has a wonderful figure, so I am willing to put up with the difficulty.

Do you have any pictures of the maple?
I have a bunch of "VERY" spalted silver birch that has great black fuguring, but is a swine to turn.

Kwors,

Here are two mushrooms that were marked but not too soft. They are finished with the two coats of satin floor finish.

The bowl was quite soft with bug holes which filled in with wet sanding with tung oil as the lubricant. It is finished with a bazillion coats of tung oil.

The soft pieces are best roughed with a freshly sharpened bowl gouge, handle well down so that you are slicing off the wood. Stabilize with cellulose sanding sealer, diluted carpenters glue, polyester resin, varnish, cyanoacrylate glue (CA), or whatever suits your fancy.

Continue with sharp bowl gouge and sharpened and honed scraper, taking the tiniest bit off. If you get tear out or rough grain, apply more stabilizer, let completely dry and sand starting at 80 until you get below the tear out, then go up in grades until you are satisfied.

I find that boiled linseed oil takes a very long time to dry and does not really harden up enough to hold mushy wood together.

There is some information on the pen making forum for using casting resins for pens, which would apply to making bowls with mushy wood.