Spalted Maple

[cal thelen]

Was at a woodworking show a couple months ago, one of the booths there had some spalted maple pieces for sale i bought 3 pieces roughly turned to 2-1/2 to 3 inches, by about 6 inches long. so heres a couple projects i got out it so far. still have 2 pieces left. was my first attempt at a lidded box. not sure i like the foot but its too late now. I finished it with rattle can laquer. Any comments/Suggestions especially on finishing would be welcomed thanks for looking
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[David E Keller]

Nice work and some pretty wood, Cal. I think the knob might look better in matching wood or black, but that's just me. I think your finish looks good, but Hart is the resident expert on all things lacquer.

[Jim Burr]

Nice lookin' stuff Cal. Rattle can always does an orange peel on me so I wet sand it. Might help, might not

[Dan Forman]

Nice looking pieces and wood. I agree with david about the knob.

Dan

[Chip Sutherland]

Echoing previous comments. I think a dark wood knob would accent better. Whenever, I use rattle can lacquer...I wet sand. Pretty wood. Make sure you align the box lide with the body when you display it. You want the grain looks continuous which means it will look more harmonious.

[John Keeton]

Cal, another vote for a dark knob. Beautiful wood, and nice work on both of these.

[David Reed]

Love the spalted maple and put me in the black knob column also. Nice execution

[Michelle Rich]

seems the knob bothers folks..not me, but if you had a piece of spalted left, and made a knob, I'd like that as a knob. Spalted wood is hard to finish: soft/hard wood. your finish looks ok from here

[bob svoboda]

Looks nice to me as is.

[cal thelen]

Thanks everyone. I never thought of the knob being black. now that it is mentioned I wish I would of thought that. I do believe it would made the piece look better. As far as the finish goes I wasnt asking about the finish I did use. I was more asking what other types of finish would of worked well. I am pretty limited in the use of finishes, Having only used rattle can laquer, spray on and wipe on poly, and a little tung oil. I guess I need to do a little more researching on the different types of finish and thier best applications. Thanks again for all the comments.

[Donny Lawson]

Love the spalted maple box.

[Baxter Smith]

Nice looking wood and nice looking work!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Nice work on everything! Sure is some pretty wood!

When I started turning I used Watco Danish Oil, then tried Minwax Antique Oil and finally moved over to Minwax Wipe-On Poly. I stuck with the poly as it seemed easier to apply and I could vary the gloss when desired. I have used a brush-on lacquer for small items like the bottle stopper. That works quite well and can be applied while still on the lathe!