finished unfinished...er unfinished finished bowl

[Michael Armstrong]

Well you know what I mean. This is the bowl that I had requested help in turning. I'm fairly pleased with it. It has nice grain and lots of bark inclusions. Now the question is how to finish it? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Michael

[curtis rosche]

i like to use WaterLox finish, i think it does very well bringing out the grain. it work great. thats about the only thing i use. great looking bowl too. i relly like all the bark inclusions.

[Michael Armstrong]

Thanks Curtis. I'm sure my niece (-in-law) will appreciate it. It was fun trying to figure out how to do the bottom and I finished off the hollowing using my mini-monster from Randy. I was struggling too much with the only bowl gouge I have which is a 3/8"

I've got Minwax antique oil or wipe-on polyurethane or water-based lacquer available for a finish - guess I should have stated that in the original post. I'm not sure there is anyone nearby that sells Waterlox and it has to be ready to go back to Florida by a week on Wednesday.

Michael

[curtis rosche]

go to the local paint store or the local woodworking store, they normally have it. ive tried the stuff you have, and i like waterlox better. its is also food safe, at least thats what it says on the one bottle i have

[Michael Armstrong]

Unfortunately living in a small city I have never seen anyone selling waterlox but I'll check it out.

Michael

[Steve Schlumpf]

Michael - great looking bowl! Over time everyone's finish of choice changes. For the last couple fo years I have been using Minwax Wipe-On Gloss Poly and have been very happy with the results. Which ever finish you decide on - be sure to post another photo to showcase the end result! Very nice looking bowl! Your niece-in-law will be thrilled to get it!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Like Steve I use mostly AO on mine but have used wipe on poly. I would go with either. By the way the bowl turned out nice. Be sure to post after you finish.

[Dave Schell]

Lately I've been using several coats of spray on gloss lacquer (available even at walmart). If you do light coats, each coat will dry in literally just a few minutes and the piece will be ready for another coat. After about 3-4 coats, I apply a liberal coat of lemon oil and rub the piece down with 1500 grit paper. This smooths out any dust nibs and takes down the gloss a bit. I then hand buff it with a cotton cloth. With this method, I can competely finish a piece in less than 30 minutes and have the finish "dry" and ready for handling.

[Bill Blasic]

Michael,
Use your Antique Oil. A heavy coat the first day(keep putting it on till it does not soak in) then wipe excess off. Let it dry 24 hours and then another coat on for five minutes then wipe and again let dry 24 hours and repeat each day till you get the finish you like.
Bill

[Rob Cunningham]

Nice looking bowl. I think either the Antique Oil or the wipe on Poly would really bring out the colors and depth of the wood.

[Maria Alvarado]

Really nice bowl, Michael. The inclusions give it a horsehair pottery look.