More Pecan...

[Steve Vaughan]

I'm glad I've been able to get some pecan. Beautiful wood it is. This pecan bowl is 12" in diameter by 4" deep and was the most punky-ist wood I've every fooled with. The punky wood was almost crumbly to the fingernail, very soft. So, I soaked the whole bowl in some old laquer thinned out a bit before the final turning. That made all the difference in the world as far as turning. The final finish is Watco Danish Oil, natural, wet-sanded the second coat followed by spray Deft semi-gloss, several coats, sanded to 400, 0000 steel wool buffing and then dark Johnson floor wax, thinned and buffed on with steel wool followed by a final buffing on the lathe.

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[bob svoboda]

Just beautiful, Steve. Nicely done!

[Roger Chandler]

Steve,

That one is a real looker! Nice technique to stabilize punky wood........most likely it would not have been possible to save this if it were not for your lacquer concoction. Do you know what ratio you used? [how many parts lacquer and how many parts thinner?] That would be a good reference to have on hand for punky wood in the future should I come across some.

[Bernie Weishapl]

That is a beauty Steve. Nice color and finish.

[Harry Robinette]

Steve
Very nice,love the wood and the shape,might have made the base a little smaller but just beautiful.

[Richard Madden]

That's a fine looking bowl, and you handled the punky parts well. Thanks for sharing.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice bowl - great looking wood! Glad you took the time to save it!

[Steve Vaughan]

Thanks everyone.
Roger: It was seriously punky, I'm certain it would never have held up. Chipped out very easily with a scrape of the fingernail. No magic formula on the laquer ratio. Being a typical guy, I didn't use any directions and probably wouldn't have if they were around. :D
I had two and and a half quarts of older Deft laquer laying around and I wasn't sure that it would even dry well. I put my rough-turned bowl (probably roughed out 90/95% of the way) in a trash bag and nestled it in shavings and then poured the laquer in along with 1/2 to 1 quart of thinner, mixed it all around, let it soak, mixed it all around, let it soak. Total soak time was probably 2 days to be sure it soaked as far as it would.

Harry: The smaller foot would have made a great difference, and I thought about that. Good suggestion.

Forgot to add, I left the walls on this thing at about 5/16" because of how punky it was. Thanks again for the thoughts, etc.:)

[David E Keller]

Great looking bowl from some really colorful wood! I like the lift that the little foot gives.

Just curious... How much color change did you get with the dark wax? I've never used it, but it's an interesting idea.

[Steve Vaughan]

David, thanks. I usually use the dark wax over my laquer finishes on dark woods, and in this case, the worm holes were a bit dark from the finishing process, so the dark wax would not be so obvious. I'll use a light colored wax on lighter colored woods. I do this on almost every piece I do. Even flatwork.

I finish my stuff to 400 to 600 grit sandpaper as well as #0000 steel wool. That makes for a nice smooth finish, but I find that when I also apply the final wax (thinned with mineral spirits) on the piece with #0000 steel wool, rubbed about the same as rubbing out a laquer finish with it, and then buff with a rag and then on the lathe with a polishing buff, it really gives a silky smooth, slick and almost soft-to-the-touch feel.

[Cody Colston]

That's a nice bowl. I love the simple but elegant shape and the Pecan is awesome. Nice work.

[John Keeton]

Steve, I missed this one! Very nice work - and, great save on the wood. It sure has some beautiful color and character.

[dan carter]

Pecan has a warm feeling. Your bowl was worth it. Good job.

[Baxter Smith]

Beautiful wood! I will have to try and remember that process Love the result!

[Bill Hensley]

Great bowl, love the simplicity of the shape. Also appreciate the effort you put into finishing it.

I can relate to your comment about feeling soft. My neighbor's son was handling a project in the shop I had just finished and his comment was "it feels soft". Never forgot that comment and try to make that my goal for a lot of projects.

[Michelle Rich]

very nice bowl..the pecan is pretty..you can also use a much less toxic product to stiffen fibers..shellac..

[Ron Stadler]

Very nice bowl Steve, I've yet to come across a chunk of wood to turn something this large. The Pecan has a lot of character and sure it just exploded when you put on the finish, great job.