plates

[weisyboy]

I am planing to make a set of dinner plates and am wondering whatfinish i should use ( i was thinking sompthing water proof and highly glossy)

also what timber do you suggest?

[Ray153]

It is your choice of course, but I would never put a high gloss finish on anything I was planning to eat off. For that matter, I would rarely have a high gloss finish on any turned wood, it is wood, not plastic. Some prefer the glossy look, I am not one of them. It is a personal preference. But I digress...
You are probably going to be using semi-serrated knives and forks on these and your highly glossy finish is going to last less than one meal. The first stroke with the knife and it is now a high gloss surface with a dirty great big scratch in it....
As soon as you washed them, water will seep under the finish and soon you will be noticing the finish coming off in larger and larger flakes. And as Gollum said, "they don't taste very nice at all do they?"
These are going to be utilarian items, designed for daily use, not something to sit in a display case as a visual piece of "art". Look around for a product that is food safe such as a natural oil, beware of using vegetable oil as it can go rancid. I would be using a oil and wax mix, wash after each use and re-oil on the odd occasion when you think they need it........

[TTIT]

It is your choice of course, but I would never put a high gloss finish on anything I was planning to eat off. For that matter, I would rarely have a high gloss finish on any turned wood, it is wood, not plastic. Some prefer the glossy look, I am not one of them. It is a personal preference. But I digress...
You are probably going to be using semi-serrated knives and forks on these and your highly glossy finish is going to last less than one meal. The first stroke with the knife and it is now a high gloss surface with a dirty great big scratch in it....
As soon as you washed them, water will seep under the finish and soon you will be noticing the finish coming off in larger and larger flakes. And as Gollum said, "they don't taste very nice at all do they?"
These are going to be utilarian items, designed for daily use, not something to sit in a display case as a visual piece of "art". Look around for a product that is food safe such as a natural oil, beware of using vegetable oil as it can go rancid. I would be using a oil and wax mix, wash after each use and re-oil on the odd occasion when you think they need it........

Well said Ray - good advice.:)

[Ray153]

I have given the second part of your question some thought and I have come up with several suggestions. Some light timber and some dark timber. Again, personal preferences will dictate your choice. Lighter tone in timber may well get stained by foods more readily but could hide wear a bit better in some ways. Darker timber will tend to hide food staining a bit better perhaps but will likely show wear a bit more.
I think a fairly dense and close grained timber is the ideal here. Some worth considering might be Rock Maple aka Hard Maple, Sugar Maple, White Maple and others. Another light timber worth considering is European Beech. This timber is often sold as English, French, Danish or other EU country name. I would never use what is called spalted beech. Spalting is nothing more than rot. Extremely attractive, it is very easy to spot, it is a black line that zig-zags throughout the grain. The jury is still out on the subject of whether or not the spalting is poisinous, so unless the plate is for your Mother In Law, perhaps better avoid any spalted beech. Any Ash would be very good as like the others, fairly dense, tough and hardwearing.
In darker woods, perhaps European Oak or American Mahogany. Any of the Myrtle specie is worth considering. Kauri Pine will darken considerably with oiling but is perhaps a little soft.
I don't know what access to craft shops or timber suppliers you might have, but if you can get to a gallery, have a look around for items designed for food usage and see what timber/s have been used. It is likely that the turner will have branded the base or otherwise indicated the timber.
All this has probably helped make the situation even more confusing in many ways but this is half the fun........So I am told.......

[weisyboy]

thanks boys

i have taken into account what you said and agree an oil would be best

and i was thinking of using grey gum, iron bark, blue gum or floded gum.

i dont know what they are like to turn

[Auzzie turner]

excellent advice ray, will keep it in my help list.

Let me know if you ever turn plates out of flooded gum, as i have a flooded gum burl(see pic) and I want to know what it is like to turn, if anybody else has turned it before, let me know

[rowie]

thanks boys

i have taken into account what you said and agree an oil would be best

and i was thinking of using grey gum, iron bark, blue gum or floded gum.

i dont know what they are like to turn
The timbers above will be quite hard on you and your chisels:( , but will be worth it in the end;) . Just make sure your timber is well seasoned or KD, but most importantly, and I stress this, use only quartersawn material:mad: otherwise after a few washes they will bow,cup and twist leaving you with unusable wobbly discs that leave you open to comments like " Did you PEA on the table?":p