quick newbie turning question for Bill Grumbine

[Tom Sweeney]

Or anyone else that wants to answer :D

I'm going to carve a couple of hours out of my weekend to do some more bowl turning. Bill, I am going to make your plywood jig for turning the bowl around to finish off the foot. My really basic question is this:
How do you apply finish when using this jig? My thinking is that the finish might get a bit scratched up from the plywood, or does the rubber protect it enough that it doesn't? What I'm thinking is put 1 or 2 coats of oil on while turning, let it dry, then use the jig and take the bowl off & lightly sand it off the lathe & just wipe on another coat or 2 of finish. Does that sound about right?

Also what finish do you use on bowls & is it food safe - this is just a throw out there question.

Thanks

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Tom

There are several answers to your question. For myself, I apply my finishes off the lathe, so that makes it easy, right? ;) However, if you want to do most of your finishing on the lathe, you should still get good results with the jig. If you use a rubber pad, that will help quite a bit toward preventing scratches. If you do get scratches, oil finishes are easy enough to repair by just wiping on some more oil. At the worst, you will have to do some hand sanding in the area of the scratch.

Always keep the tailstock in place for as long as possible while turning away the waste on the bottom of the bowl. It adds stability to the whole thing, and keeps you from putting a nick in your almost finished bowl. Additionally, the tailstock will help you center the bowl in the chuck. Once you remove the tailstock, light cuts and patience are the key to success.

Good luck with it, and we will all look forward to seeing some pictures.

Bill

[Tom Sweeney]

Sounds easy enough!

I just came in from the shop for a water break & figured I'd check in to see if you answered yet - This place Rocks!

Of course I just took the tailstock off my first bowl cause I'm prepping another blank to rough turn - it's OK though I marked it in case I needed to put it back on :D I'm smarter than I look ;)

Here's a pic of my first bowl - so far. I posted it a week ago but in case you didn't see it.

<img src="http://www.realtymarketing.com/wood/bowlinside2.jpg"><br><br>

<img src="http://www.realtymarketing.com/wood/bowlside2.jpg">

[Bill Howatt]

Tom,

I often use the compression chuck and completely finish the bowl down close to the bottom. I then mount it in the compression chuck ensuring that the ring piece allows adequate access to both the finished and unfinished part. I turn the bottom, sand, and then apply the finish blending into the previously finished part. I have been very happy with the result.

I find that most hardwoods do not suffer from crushing the fibres by mounting in the comp chuck. Softwoods require more care and the use of a rubber pad would likely help. I find the compression chuck because of its relatively large grip circumference relative to the bowl does not have to be cinched extremely tightly.

Great device!

Bill

[Bill Grumbine]

Very nice Tom, especially since it is your first effort. It is a lot better than mine was, that's for sure.

Bill