Finish suggestions

[Kathy Marshall]

Had a nice surprise at our club meeting on Saturday. A fellow member told me he had turned and bleached a hf from river birch, and asked if I'd like to have it to finish up. He then proceeded to pull a very large piece from his bag! I just thought, wow!

It's about 10 1/2" x 8" and it's a blank slate.
I'm thinking some dye and maybe some pyro. Any suggestions? One color, multi colors, no colors, pyro designs?

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Thanks for looking!

[John Keeton]

Kathy, that is a beautifully white form! I would find it difficult to change it. IMO, dye should be reserved for figured pieces, or the occasional piece that lacks character and needs a bit of warmth. Sometimes dye can enhance the wood tone of a bland piece. Here, you have an ivory look that I would preserve! Nice work, BTW!

What are you doing up at this hour of the morning??????

[Michelle Rich]

I'm terrible at decorating, so If it were mine, i'd call it "whiteout" and love it as is!

[Gary Max]

Another vote for keeping it white----- that is just to cool.

[Paul Williams]

Another vote for white. Use a water based finish to avoid turning it yellow.

[Bill Hensley]

Ditto - Another vote for keeping it white. I would add the finish should be non-yellowing.

[Tony De Masi]

Yep. Let it be.

[Ken Glass]

Kathy,
I think dying it would make it look too much like pottery. I have done some black forms and vases and have always just used a flat clear lacquer on them. If you are looking to add some color to it, a contrasting Finial might do the trick, but otherwise, it does stand on its own with just a clear sealer or finish coat. A very nice piece, and a great gift.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree to leave it as is. I would use something like General Finishes Woodturners finish or a water based finish to keep it from yellowing.

[David E Keller]

That's too cool! I'd use the Krylon spray acrylic for a few coats then briefly sand with 2000, buff, and ren wax. Somebody like Cynthia Gibson could make this amazing with pyrography, but I'd ruin something like that if I tried. What a cool piece!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Another vote to keep it as is! There is nothing in the wood to enhance with color... so I would preserve this just as it is - including the matte finish!

[Jeff Fagen]

I might try a tie dye so to speak using large rubber bands to mask between colors and finish with lacquer.

[Gary Sichmeller]

I attached a picture of a River Birch vessel I turned. I didn't bleach mine, but died the natural wood purple and sanded back and applied a lacquer finish.
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[Marty Eargle]

I do love a nice, white piece and I agree that keeping it as is would be your best bet, I'm sure.

Though if you were feeling creative, think of the vessel as a blank canvas. Stand a few feet back with a few cups of paint and channel your inner Jackson Pollock. :D

[Peter Blair]

Hey Kathy, just wish I had someone who would give something as nice as this!
I hate to fly in the face of Creeker artists but like Marty, to me this looks like a blank canvas.
Yes is it great as is but with something like a winter scene. I can see some graceful trees without leaves . . .
You must understand of course that I am not much of an artist so this whole idea should probably be discarded but as has been said on another thread, without our feedback a lot of the value of this Forum would be lost.

[Jason Clark2]

I think that's prime for a Chris Pytlik style dye job.

Who was the original turner?

Jason

[Kathy Marshall]

Decisions, decisions. He did actually say "paint it or whatever", and now that Jason has mentioned Chris Pytlik, it does seem like it was prepped just for that.

I attached a picture of a River Birch vessel I turned. I didn't bleach mine, but died the natural wood purple and sanded back and applied a lacquer finish.
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Gary, do you have a brother named Vince? If so, this was from you're brother.

I think that's prime. for a Chris Pytlik style dye job.

Who was the original turner?

Jason
It was from Vince Sichmeller.

[robert raess]

Another vote for white..I think renaissance wax might be clear and stay clear, then rub it back to satin/matte.

[Gary Sichmeller]

Yeah Kathy, that's my brother. The picture I posted was from the same wood.
In discussions I had with him about that piece, he mentioned the pytlik dye process as a potential for that piece and thought you would be the one that would be able to carry it off. But, I do agree with the others that it is a blank canvass to do with as you please.

Also, I won't tell him this, but he's a much better turner than I am. He does give me a lot of pointers. The irony of it all is that I was the one who got him interested in turning.

[BILL DONAHUE]

Wouldn't touch it.

[David DeCristoforo]

I have spent a lot of hours on several pieces trying to get them that white. Another vote for leave it as is...

[John Spitters]

This one was turned from Ash, with no figure to speak of and the wood was a real off color so I bleached it till it was as white as the piece that you show.
Did a bit of texturing around the rim, dyed the textured area black and for the body of the form I applied a dark red dye ( did NOT sand back) then once the red had had lots of time to set I applied a yellow dye overtop of the red . Then wipe on poly over all of that.

John

[Steve Vaughan]

Well, you certainly have all the options available. I like it white just because how often do you see that? We're always wanting to do something to our wood in enhance it when sometimes it just stands out above all the rest on its own, as this piece. If anything, and it's a small if for me, maybe pyro a tree, not too detailed, just kind of an outline of the trunk and branches, no leaves cause the white gives it that winter look. I dunno now, maybe that's a big if now that I think about it.

[Baxter Smith]

Looks great as is though my first thought was a necklace or pyro'd collar of some type could be stunning. Not something I could come close to doing though!

[Scott Hackler]

While I love a pure white form, the turner did say to decorate it. I would think that was enough of a signal to "go for it". Without a strong grain or figure, I am not feeling the "dye the whole thing" deal. I kinda like the idea of splattering on very bold and vivid colors. With the stark white background, a spattering of several base colors, would look very cool.