once turning methods

[Wes Ramsey]

My wife has recently requested a warped bowl, and thinking through the process I realized that I have no idea how to finish such a thing. So far I've only twice turned when dry - always to remove the warping, checks and to get a smooth finish. I've seen some fantastic finishes on some once-turned pieces lately and was wondering how to go about finishing. I've gotten to the point where I can turn green wood and get a nice finish with minimal tool marks, but how do you go about removing the last of the tool marks? I tried sanding green wood once. Once. Do you go ahead and finish the bottom? Do you sand off the lathe after the piece dries?

[Tim Passmore]

Wes----Reed Gray turns almost all of his bowls this way and I bel he has at least one YouTube video regarding this method. I'm also interested to see what others have to say.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Let it dry, and then sand and finish it.

[Ryan Mooney]

Also interested in feedback on this one.

So far I've been trying to get as good as possible while green then letting it dry and finish sanding it. Be careful with to coarse of sandpaper while its still green because it'll pull the grain up on you and make the finish sanding worse.

I find the finish sanding to be a pain in the patoooeee because its all on curves off of the lathe. It got a little better when I picked up some smaller power sanding equipment (although you have to watch to make sure you don't dig in going around the corners especially inside) but its still not like the ease of sanding on the lathe.

[Bruce Pratt]

1. Turn to final dimensions, generally 1/2" or less wall thickness, uniform wall thickness, with best possible finish from tools.
2. If the piece is sufficiently dry, sand at this point. You should be able to start with 240 or at worst, 180 grit
3. Bag in 2-3 layers of brown paper grocery bags (fresh shavings optional).
4. Store 2 wks-2 months, weigh weekly to determine when the piece is "dry"
5. Remount on lathe, tenon may be somewhat oval, but should clamp ok in 4 jaw chuck
6. (Power) sand outside and inside to desired grit
7. Remove tenon with either Cole jaws or jam/friction chuck (headstock)/live center (tail stock)
8. Complete with finish of choice... personal preferences - water based polyacrylic, wipe on polyurethane, or bee's wax/mineral oil, depending on intended use.

Your mileage may vary depending on wood species, growth conditions, harvest time and moisture content......

[Paul Williams]

I read your question as you want to have the finished product warped. I think Leo has given you the best answer. The problem is your lathe may turn way to fast to sand the warped bowl on the lathe. It is tough to keep the sandpaper in touch with the bowl if it is too warped. A few months ago I had a large white oak bowl that was badly warped, nice and dry, but too thin to return. I rescued it from my burn pile and it really needed serious sanding. After trying a lot of things I asked my wife to turn the lathe hand wheel slowly while I held an orbital sander against the inside of the bowl. After I removed most of the ridges and other problems that I had left in the bowl after the first tuning I took it off the lathe and had sanded to finish. It came out great.

One other thing that you might try is wet sanding after you turn green. I often turn relatively green wood, and then wet sand with BLO and then mix in some shellac. My thought is that wet sanding works on the wet wood without plugging up the paper and the BLO shellac mixture helps slow down the drying. I don't think I have every done this on really wet wood, but I have done it many times on wood that was wet enough to warp after turning.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

I turn to finished thickness then I wet sand with foam backed abrasive and plenty of water. Wet wood sands easily with as long as you flush away the dust with water. The down side is you will get wet as will your lathe. I hand hold the abrasive starting with 80 grit through 320 grit making sure I completely remove the scratch pattern from previous grit. I remove the tenon and sand the bottom on a vacuum chuck then bag the piece for a few weeks. When finally dry I hand sand as needed or remount on a vacuum chuck if the shape allows. Finish as any other dry bowl. This system is particularly useful for wet burls that may "poc mark" as they shrink. By sanding prior to drying the areas that indent don't require sanding later. If you can possible seal the blank and let the "free" moisture dry a while, the bowl will warp less. How much wood will move depends on the specie, the time of year it is cut, the climate you live in and how the bowl is positioned in the tree.
faust

[Thom Sturgill]

I believe you have two options when turning green to final thickness:

1) Turn to 1/4" or more thickness (depends on species of course), let dry and then sand the warped bowl. If your lathe will go slow enough (less than 50rpm?) you might be able to sand on the lathe. Otherwise its hand sanding time. :( Either way, make sure your final cuts are clean, tool marks and ridges gone.

2) Turn thin. If turned thin enough the wood will dry while you are turning. Unfortunately, warping will be minimal, so your wife may not be satisfied.

I believe microwaving and boiling can both be done to speed drying and increase warping. The heat breaks down the lignum and allows the wood to move more freely while drying.

Another consideration is wood type. For example, what little oak I have turned was all turned green to final with a warped dramatically, other woods less so.

[Reed Gray]

All of my turnings are once turned. I usually go from about 1/4 minimum to 3/8 inch thick. Make sure to round over the rim, both inside and outside. You can sand them while green, but it takes a lot more time and effort. You can power sand when dry if your lathe will go down to about 20 rpm. Any more than that, and you can't keep your abrasives on the wood as it spins. I had my converter programmed to go that slow. When they first came out, they all would go that slow. Now, they shut off at 50 rpm. If you can't get yours reprogrammed, then hopefully you have a 4 position spindle lock. 2 position can work, but isn't as easy. I do wrap the rim with some stretch plastic film, and start them drying on the floor. They are dry in 10 to 14 days. I cover probably all of this in my video clips. Go to You Tube and type in robo hippy.

robo hippy

[Wes Ramsey]

Thanks for the replies guys. I've watched several of Reed's videos, but haven't come across this topic just yet. You know, learning to spin wood has taught me a great deal about patience and keeping things simple. I like the 'turn green with the best tooled finish you can, wait until dry, sand and finish' method. BLO, DNA, cellophane, boiling, microwaves and even paper bags are beyond my comfort zone right now. I have just been putting them on a shelf until dry with no special treatment and haven't had to toss but 1 dried turning so far. I seem to get more movement and cracks storing them in my temp-controlled office, so now they just stay in my shop and have had great success so far, but the drying is slower. I'll post some pics as I finish up some once-turnings.

[Thom Sturgill]

David Ellsworth told me that what is critical is to keep moving air off the piece while it dries. That's all burying it shavings or bagging it does.

[robert baccus]

Don't be afraid to sand wet/green wood. Use plenty of water with a bit of soap and dry carefully.