Thread: My first Burl and eccentric turning

Nice vase,I like the colours

Nifty little vase. It shows the nature of the burl very well. Well done on the knife too.

Nice turnings Frank

For small checks and fissures, thick CA will do the job....for larger cracks and knot holes I like to use polyester resin (tinted) to fill them.

As far as the DO is concerned, air is the cause of it thickening up to a jelly state. To avoid this in future, squeeze the metal can until the oil reaches the top of the pour spout, cap it and your good to go. To my knowledge, I don't think you'll be able to re-constitute the already ruined product.

BTW...the letter opener is neat, but don't try going through airport security with it !!!!!

Nice litle vase!

Originally Posted by efgee88

which reminds me, why has my Danish oil suddenly turned to jelly and is there a recommended thinner to reconstitute it to its original state? - or is it now destined for the bin.

Bin it. It can be semi-reconstituted, but will always have annoying lumps and will never be as good as a fresh batch..

Why? Would I be correct in guessing that the tin was only about 1/3 full? There comes a point when there's enough air in the tin for the remaining solvents to evaporate and the DO to gel.

I used to fill my tin with glass marbles as I used it, but as I began to use DO more often I bought in bigger & bigger tins, until it got to the stage I was straining to lift a half-empty tin for the weight of the marbles.

(And then I didn't replace the lid one day and had the stress of trying to recover my marbles from a mass of jelly encased in tin. )

[Edit: beaten by Ed. And he made a good point about CA...]

Would something like this work for storing DO?

Looks good to me

There are supposedly environmentally friendly cans of compressed gas that does not contain oxygen. Office supply places have them. A squirt of this in the DO container before capping for the night will displace the oxygen. Propane works too. It is used in spray paint cans as a propellant.

You could also break down larger containers into small high density plastic bottles.

If you normally buy a quart, get a 16 oz., an 8 oz., and 2 4 oz. bottles. When you bring the new batch home, immediately break out into the small bottles, filling right up to the top. Or just get a bunch of the small bottles of a size that you would use before it congealed and fill them as soon as you open a new batch.

I like free, baby food jars, olive jars, etc. Look around in your food market and find things that you like in the right size bottle or jar. A little bigger opening lets you pour without using a funnel.

VERY nice vase!!

Yeah, once it's jelly it's cactus.

On the other hand if there are just some bits of jelly you'll get a bit more mileage out of it by straining it through a stocking (pref with the missus out of it but you never know ... ) and then adding some White Spirits to thin it a bit.

As for checks, to add to Ed's advice: squirt some $2 shop CA in first, then use coarse paper with the piece spinning to push sanding dust into them. One at a time. Cover your ways and stand aside as the CA will likely fling out a bit.

That may take several goes. Beyond that, use epoxy tinted with coffee grounds or else dust from the piece.

Burls will are likely to check when stresses are relieved and heat from friction builds up.

The little vase is very pretty! Lovely shape and the wood is amazing. Good luck with the cracks.

The letter opener!!!!!! Love it! Looks vicious

Originally Posted by rsser

On the other hand if there are just some bits of jelly you'll get a bit more mileage out of it by straining it through a stocking (pref with the missus out of it but you never know ... ) and then adding some White Spirits to thin it a bit.

Thanks Ern,
It is obvious to me now that a man with your experience has done it all - and here I was thinking you'd have the spirits before the jelly!

As for CA, whatever turns you on.... as for me I haven't a clue what CA is - maybe you could enlighten an innocent like me?

Cheers,

FrankG

CA = CyanoAcrylate glue = superglue.

For sealing cracks, etc. the cheap 6-pacs from a $2 shop will do. I'm pretty sure I'm single-handedly keeping our local $2 shop from bankruptcy during these times of economic crisis.

If you want to use it as a finish, as do pen turners, then you should buy the more expensive good quality stuff.

Originally Posted by rsser

On the other hand if there are just some bits of jelly you'll get a bit more mileage out of it by straining it through a stocking (pref with the missus out of it but you never know ... ) and then adding some White Spirits to thin it a bit.

I'll admit that there've been times when I've realised my DO has gel'd so I simply wrapped my finger in the cloth, splooged it around in the tin and then applied the gel as a friction finish.

Not as good a finish as Shellawax, but it did the job. (Obviously not for jobs I care greatly about though; just quick knockoffs of tops for kids hanging around the lathe, etc.)

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Why? Would I be correct in guessing that the tin was only about 1/3 full? There comes a point when there's enough air in the tin for the remaining solvents to evaporate and the DO to gel.

I used to fill my tin with glass marbles as I used it, but as I began to use DO more often I bought in bigger & bigger tins, until it got to the stage I was straining to lift a half-empty tin for the weight of the marbles.

(And then I didn't replace the lid one day and had the stress of trying to recover my marbles from a mass of jelly encased in tin. )

I lost my marbles a long time ago!
You're right though Skew, the tin was about 2/3 empty. I always thought Danish Oil was like Skandinavian Teak Oil, which lived in my shed for 25 years no problems - come to think of it its still there! I used to finish my timberwork with 2 coats of matt estapol and then rub SkTO into the dry surface with steel wool. It created a beautiful satin finish which was very durable and still revealed the texture of the wood.

Cheers,

FrankG

100% Tung Oil is like that, but DO has metallic driers added to help it set.

That's the main advantage of DO over Tung (or Scandinavian) Oil - you don't have to wait years between each coat, while getting essentially the same finish. Of course, it introduced the problem you've just encountered...

I repeat!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Grumpy John

Would something like this work for storing DO?