How to finish pitted burl bowl

[clarky]

I am making some red gum burl bowls, which have lots of small fissures and small cracks. If I use eee and shellawax, the fissures and cracks fill up with the finish, although I like the finish in general. Any ideas?

[Picko]

I brush the polish out of the cracks with a boot brush and then re-buff with a soft clean cloth.

[joe greiner]

If my mental picture is correct (e.g. random pattern), I'd fill the cracks and fissures with a "mortar" of epoxy and a contrasting powder. Fill them slightly proud of the final surface and sand flush. Then polish and wax.

Cheers,
Joe

[Pat]

You can sand to 1200 and oil the burl. I do not use eee and way for the reason stated. Normally if I finish the bowl including the bottom and the off the lathe will oil, 1 coat a day for a week, 1 coat a week for a month, then leave for a month. This gives a polished semi gloss finish. If full gloss is required, leave it to dry for another month and then spray poly. 3 light coats, 1 per day and leave dry for another month.

Or you can sand to 1200 and then on the lathe burnish in the oil.

[Chief Tiff]

Tightly wrap a handful of shellac flakes in gladwrap and then tightly again in a cotton bag. Throw the whole thing into a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes then squeeze it into a sausage shape, let it cool.

You now have a stick of solid shellac that closely resembles a dog poo.

Using a cigarette lighter or similar melt the end of the poo and allow the drips to fall into the voids, use the softened end to rub them in. Repeat for deep voids.

Once cooled down sand them smooth but DON'T let the friction melt the poo again!

The shellac fills the voids and closely resembles gum.

This method was taught to me by Willie Nelson over in WA; check out his posts of bowls etc. Unfortunately they're made from WA woods such as Jarrah and Sheoak but his turning skills are such that even these mediocre timbers come alive on his lathe :p<strike></strike>