"Cup of Despair"

[Scott Hackler]

This piece was frustration from the get go. Riddled with bark inclusions and holes, it was a little stressful to turn this $16 chunk of burl. I ended up wrapping it in filament tape after the outside was shaped, before hollowing.

I originally I finished it with my usual BLO, waited 24 hours and applied 3-4 coats of lacquer. The next day the finish was HORRIBLE. The lacquer looked like it had separated, like oil and water! Ugggg. I used a different brand lacquer so I blamed it on that brand. So with 400 grit in my hand, I sanded ALL the lacquer off this super delicate wood cup (and the rest of the piece), just knowing that I was going to break it at any time. Bought another can of the usual Minwax high gloss lacquer and gave it 3-4 new coats. The next day.... similar results! Controlling my rage.... I spoke with several people locally and our resident artist, John Keaton, for advice. It was suggested that I remove the lacquer off AGAIN and use either WOP or shellac.

Tonight I had a wild idea, how about lacquer thinner? It worked!!! It took a little while but the thinner took all the lacquer off. YEAH! But now what? I finally decided that a soft finish was what I really wanted, so I applied a heavy application of tung oil finish and I'M DONE!

Here is the end result. I am fairly pleased with the end result and it may end up as a Christmas present for some special friends.

This is red box eucalyptus burl finished 3-4 different times (as noted above), african blackwood pedestal with a red box foot. Cup is 3 3/4" in diameter and about 1/16" thick. Entire piece is 8" tall.

Comments are always welcome. Thanks

173861

[Rick Markham]

It's stunning Scott, I would say it was worth the "extra" finishing effort. I'm sure the look on your friends' faces will ease the hassle you went through while finishing it. What did you conclude was causing the laquer to separate is red box eucalyptus really oily?

[John Keeton]

Scott, looks like it came out fine, to me!! Excellent work, and glad you were able to get the finish removed and redone to suit you. Also, looks like you are developing a signature pedestal!

[Ken Whitney]

Nice save!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Every once in a while we get pieces that challenge us! Glad to see you conquered this one! Beautiful work! Really like the wood combination - especially in the pedestal!

Very nice work! Thanks for sharing!

[steven carter]

Scott,

It may have been a cup of dispair, but I think it also has at least 2 cups of good wood, 3 cups of great execution, and 4 cups of determination! Great job, and I am sure the recipients will treasure it.

[Peter Lamb]

This craft we engage in teaches us humility and if we work at it long enough we can be rewarded. Great effort! Beautiful result.
Your friends will love it.
Peter

[Cathy Schaewe]

That is stunning -

[bob svoboda]

Super job on the goblet. Love the combination of woods.

[Michael James]

Nice one! Certainly worth the struggle in my opinion. The contrast of woods is "perfect", for whatever that's worth. You seem to be on an artistic roll, keep em coming!
mj

[Tim Rinehart]

I thought the same thing with regards to his pedestal. It's a nice pleasing shape that I can't recall seen used much by anyone before.
Scott, looks like it came out fine, to me!! Excellent work, and glad you were able to get the finish removed and redone to suit you. Also, looks like you are developing a signature pedestal!

[David Reed]

Little more can be added that was not already stated. This is indeed a very fine piece and you should be very proud of the turning and the final(ly) finish.

[Don Alexander]

perseverance pays off Scott in this case it paid off handsomely

[gary Zimmel]

Beautiful piece Scott. Real nice work.

[Steve Mawson]

Great job, good work takes time and patience. Glad you had both.

[Mark Hubl]

That is a good looking goblet. I think you nailed the pedestal on this one Scott. Glad to hear you saved the finish. One of the beauties of lacquer is it is so easy to strip off with thinner.

[Scott Hackler]

.......One of the beauties of lacquer is it is so easy to strip off with thinner.

I sure wish I was smart enough to have thought to use the thinner the first time around! It seriously took me 1 1/2 hours to hand sand the first lacquer off! It took all of 15 minutes to use the thinner. Live and learn..... :)

Thanks for all the comments, everyone.

[David DeCristoforo]

"I sure wish I was smart enough to have thought to use the thinner the first time..."

Where is that John Hart when you need him? That's the "fun" part of life. For lack of a better term, we call it "experience". But "all's well that ends well" and this one ended very well indeed....

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice cup Scott. Both stem and form flow nicely into each other. I will have to remember the lacquer thinner trick for removal. (not that I would ever have to use it:rolleyes:)

[Scott Hackler]

...... What did you conclude was causing the laquer to separate is red box eucalyptus really oily?

Sorry Rick, I missed your question. I am not for sure. I use BLO on my Christmas ornaments and after just a quick drying with a paper towel and the air hose, I immediately spray lacquer and it works great. I am thinking that the density of the red box burl didnt allow the BLO to be absorbed like the native woods I am used to. Even waiting overnight, I am guessing that there was oil present on the surface. I kinda wanted a gloss finish on this piece, at first, and polyurethane would have probably worked but....... at that point I was unwilling to risk it! The surface looks pretty decent, even up close, with the tung oil finish. I will be hand buffing it tonight with some 0000 steel wood and then its done for sure.

I really liked working with this wood and the wood itself is awesome looking. If the Woodcraft wasn't 2 1/2 hours away, I would be picking up the other 3 pieces they had in stock. :)

[Mark Hubl]

I sure wish I was smart enough to have thought to use the thinner the first time around! It seriously took me 1 1/2 hours to hand sand the first lacquer off! It took all of 15 minutes to use the thinner. Live and learn..... :)

Thanks for all the comments, everyone.

Just for future reference. When you need to sand off shellac, try some denatured alcohol. I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful looking piece Scott. You should be proud.

[Rick Markham]

I think the finish you ended up with is perfect. I think gloss would have distracted from the natural beauty of the burl. I don't blame you for not wanting to try the poly after all of that. I'm a huge fan of Tung oil as a finish, it lets the wood speak for itself, and so far every piece of furniture I have used it on, the finish has lasted. (One is going on 10 years now) Heck even the finish on my workbench top is going strong and that isn't for a lack of being beaten on. I feel ya on the woodcraft thing, I've been needing to go for several weeks now, the closest one is an hour and half away.

That really is an inspiring piece Scott!

[Roland Martin]

Very well done piece Scott :) Life's full of challenges, isn't it? I really like the pedestal.

[David E Keller]

Very nice, Scott. I wouldn't change a thing.

[Rich Aldrich]

Scott,

This is really a nice piece, after all the frustrations.

I was wondering about the compressed air and the peeling issue. If your air compressor is oil free, this isnt an issue, but have you ever had issues with the compressed air and oil? I dont know if it could cause this problem or not. The oil might cause the problem to show right away. This would be like fish eye when you are painting - it happens right when you put the paint on a part. Just a thought.

[allen thunem]

scott
after many failed attempts at trying to introduce lacquer over any finish other than lacquer it just dont work regardless of drying time
lacquer will dissolve almost any finish
once you applied the lacquer over your oil it began to dissolve the oil and that is probably what made it blotchy
and as you discovered using thinner disolved the top coats of lacquer yo had jsut applied and even took the oil that hadnt been absorbed by the wood off.
there are many qualities of lacquers out there.
big box stores dont carry the good ones
for future use try a paint supply house and get a pre-catalized lacquer, this is the same stuff that cabinet companies have applied to your kitchen and bath cabinets. you dont have to mix it but it does have a shelf life. some companies even have rattle cans of the stuff
one more thing about lacquer is if too many coats are applied and it is subjected to prolong exposure to sun light and heat from the sun it will CHECK. it doesnt have the expansion properties of other finishes like polyurethanes or marine varnishes
friend of mine learned that one the hard way

lacquer is a solvent and a very harsh one at that
spoke with some finishing pros and they concurred that lacquer over lacquer over lacquer is the only way to apply lacquer:)
that is my two cents worth
take it with however many grains of salt you wish
oh and sorry for rambling am sure there will be some who disagree and if so i would love to hear why im wrong
thats how i learn

[Jeff Lewis]

Just a sidelight, but I recently learned that a refinisher I do repair work for uses lacquer thinner as his standard stripping solvent! Who'd a thunk?

[Ron Stadler]

Sure is nice Scott, looks pretty thin too, nice job.