Utility bowls: mundane

[Eric Gourieux]

I've been working on some sets of salad bowls for gifts. I'm using curly hard maple with Mahoney's Utility finish. I'm curious to get any comments on your experience with Mahoney's and what you've learned about applying it. I've been sanding to 320-400 grit and applying one coat of M's. I've given several bowls a test run in our kitchen, and they seem to develop a slightly rough finish. Do you apply water or mineral spirits to raise the grain before applying M's? How many coats of M's? What about Mahoney's Oil Wax finish? Has anybody used this over the Utility finish? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[charlie knighton]

Eric, certain woods react more pronounced than others, i do not believe it is the specific finish that raised the grain, but the wood itself with any finish.....that said, i saw Mike Mahoney recently do a rotation and he uses his finishes ....if you wet your wood first, let dry and then sand back with your highest grit you sanded to, it will probably help

another wood that needs wetting is china berry
hope that helps

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Charlie in that there are several woods like Elm, Chinaberry, Sassafras, and others that I do sprtiz with water then after it drys sand the raised grain back with the last grit I used. I have never had trouble using his oil. I have several plates and bowls we use with the oil on it. I generally put 3 coats on letting each coat dry for 24 hrs. He did say at a demo he did that ambient sunlight helps the walnut oil cure. I generally use the oil/wax mixture as the last coat and like to put it on while on the lathe to burn it in.

[Reed Gray]

Raising the grain is old school in flat work. Get it damp, and what you have sanded will fuzz up a bit as in some of the fibers will lay down while sanding, especially if you hand sand, and don't reverse. With power sanding drills, this is less of a problem.

With the walnut oil, I really drown the bowl with it, one very heavy coat only. It takes a week or so to cure out. If you put on several coats, the under coat must cure out first, or you end up sealing it under another coat before it has a chance to cure, then if it sits in the sun for a bit and gets warm, the under coat will bleed out to the surface.

I used to use the wax, but don't any more. It leaves a nice warm finish, but shows finger prints really easily. Maybe because I used too much.

robo hippy

[Hayes Rutherford]

I would think that two or three cycles of dampening and sanding is the best assurance that a salad bowl would remain smooth after washing. I usually do this at the 220 stage, and use a hair dryer to speed up the process. Going to 400 grit must be driven by the thought that a woodturner is going to be scrutinizing your bowl, so I occasionally do it.

If you have the time, wet sanding with the oil and 400 or even 600 wet dry sand paper then buff off with a towel is a good way to go.

The oil/wax mix works better than rubbing bees wax over the oil in my opinion. My problem rubbing the wax on and melting with a rag, is it solidifies in streaks.(applied on lathe) For me, the problem increases with the size of the piece.

So one approach would be: dampen and sand a couple of times, apply a coat of walnut oil, a few days later apply walnut oil using 600 grit wet/dry sand paper (wipe off excess when done with each application), a few days later apply the wax/oil rubbing it in well and buff off with a soft cloth.

[Prashun Patel]

I believe the grain raising is happening because you are applying a single coat of oil which is not providing much protection. When yr bowl gets water from the kitchen on it, it's raising the grain.

If it were me, I wouldn't bother raising the grain before. I'd just rub it down after normal use raises the grain.

[Baxter Smith]

I read somewhere, that oil has to be reapplied every day you use it for the first week, then once a week for the next month etc. etc. The madrone bowls that Reed sent me were used last night and got their 4th or 5th coat after they were put into use. I put on at least 3 coats before I started using them. They are a little rougher than they started so I need to try a little sanding perhaps. The apple bowls that I finished with AO and use are still smooth to the touch.

[Reed Gray]

Some times I think any wood will still try to fuzz up after getting wet, even if you have raised the grain before. When cleaning my bowls, I use a plastic scrubby pad. It takes care of it in short order.

After the initial oiling, I don't oil mine again.

robo hippy