What Finishes do you use on your bowls

[Garry Smith]

I have been using multiple finishes but would like to hear what everyone else is using. The last few I have used lacquer which came out great but these bowls for display only.

I have some Curly Maple blanks with great color and firgure and cherry burl.
What's the best finish to use that is durable and food safe that will pop the figure and color?

Thanks
Garry

[Chris Barton]

Hi Gary,

For me it depends on the finish I want as an outcome. If I want deep gloss and glass-like I go with water-based poly high gloss spray and then after completely dry (at least over night) use the Beal System to polish and buff the piece. If I want quick and more of a satin finish, then I go with either shellac and wax or just wax and buff.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I'm still new at this, to please take that into account.

I use a sanding sealer, then a friction polish, and finally a turners wax, buffed on, I like it, it is quick and easy, and looks good too!

Cheers!

[Don Baer]

I've been using a mixture that I picked up a while back for a flatworks project. It's the Mallof finish that they sell at rocklers. It's 1/3 BLO,1/3 Tongue Oil and 1/3 Rub on poly. I just rub it on and then rub it off. That I follow with a friction wax.

[Lee DeRaud]

I've got three "standard" finishes:

1. Buff and wax only. So far I've only done that on cherry, but I'd guess it would work on any really tight-grain wood. Probably also the right answer for oily exotics, but I haven't done much of that yet.

2. A coat or two of GF Seal-A-Cell, buff and wax. Works for anything the Seal-A-Cell will cure on, which is basically anything that isn't really oily (see #1). (Seal-A-Cell is an oil/poly mix, probably not that different from the Maloof stuff Don uses.)

3. Thin CA, applied with a paper towel (and a glove) on the lathe. Sand to 600, buff and wax. Pretty much the ultimate in instant gratification, great for open-grain stuff like walnut. But it's not cheap: it's pretty easy to use up a couple bucks worth of the stuff on a small/medium bowl...no way I'd try it on some of the big salad bowls you guys do.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Gary.......I've used BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system.

[Don Baer]

Hey Ken,
do you use BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system ?

:D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Yup...............Yup...............Yup!

[Lee DeRaud]

Hey Ken,
do you use BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system ?

:DNo, he uses BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system.

Try to keep up, will ya? :D

"I see everything twice." - Yossarian, "Catch-22"

[Tom Jones III]

Why BLO AND shellac? If you are using the shellac to seal in the BLO won't the carnuba wax in the buffing process do that?

Do you apply the shellac off the lathe?

[Keith Burns]

Wipe on gel poly, 1 or 2 coats, and buff. Exotics buff only.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Why BLO AND shellac? If you are using the shellac to seal in the BLO won't the carnuba wax in the buffing process do that?

Do you apply the shellac off the lathe?

Tom....I actually friction on a light coat of BLO on the lathe and follow it with a frictioned coat of shellac on the lathe. I take an hour's break and buff. The BLO pops the grain....the friction application helps it dry....the shellac seals it....the friction application helps it dry.....the buffing polishes the whole thing............

Some of the friction coatings used are shellac based. I ran out of Mylands friction polish and found that a local hardware company stocks Zinnser's dewaxed shellac...........I tried it........it works.....

[Tom Jones III]

I've got a bottle of Hut for pens that the neighborhood kids make. It is a friction polish combo of shellac and carnauba wax. I wonder how well this would work on a bowl, then buffed?

[Don Baer]

Tom,
I use the Hut friction polish on my bowls and realy like it. I just put it on, crank up the lathe to 1200 or so and with a soft cloth let the friction do the rest.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom....My first bowls were finished with Myland's friction polish which is shellac and wax, I believe and it worked well. The one thing I leaned when applying friction polish to something as large as bowl.....go lightly and keep that paper towel moving...Friction it until you know it's dry and then let it rest a hour or two .....then you can apply a 2nd coat....if you intend to appy more than 2 coats....let it set overnight between the 2nd coat and others. If you apply the coats too thick or two quick you sometimes have to sand it out with 400 or and start over.

Good luck!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Garry depends if they are show bowls or used for food. The bowls I have for show I use Waterlox original and/or Tung Oil or BLO with wipe on Poly on them. I really like the finish. If it is a bowl used for like salad I had been using Behlens Salad Bowl finish. I have since switched to Tung Oil and Gel Poly or BLO and Gel Poly. It seems to hold up really well to acids and alcohol. I have used Seal-A-Cell and then Arm-R-Seal on top. That works real well to.

[Joe Melton]

Could I ask what "gel poly" is? Lots of guys mention it. I assume it is a gelled oil-based polyurethane.
How is it superior to regular polyurethane?
Why not use water-based poly?
Does wax add protection or gloss or both?

Joe

[Andy Hoyt]

Hey Lee - In this instance, wouldn't Yossarian have said:

I can do it! ----------- I can do it!-----------I can do it!----------I can do it!

[Curt Fuller]

I have this idea that most all of the finishes that have been mentioned are food safe if given time to cure and evaporate the solvents out of them. So if you want a real pretty finish you can use whatever brings out the best in the wood. But for bowls that are for food use like salad bowls that get used and washed over and over, the finish is going to go bad after washing several times no matter what you use. So on those kind of bowls I use walnut oil or some other vegetable oil that can be re-applied easily by just wiping some on with a paper towel.

[Garry Smith]

Thanks all for the replys.
How well does shellac hold up and do I apply with a rag or spray like lacquer?
Thanks
Garry

[Tom Jones III]

Adding on to Garry's last question, what would happen if I just wiped on shellac to a bowl just like I would wipe on BLO, without being overly concerned with streaks, then went through the entire buffing cycle?

Second, what is it about HUT that looks so good? Is it the shellac, or the wax, or the friction polish?

What would be the effect of using shellac that has not been de-waxed? Would it look like a HUT finish?

[Raymond Overman]

I've used Watco Natural Danish Oil and buffed with wax with good results. I've recently started using Deft spray laquer (both gloss and satin) and I like it quite a bit. With my small shop I have limited space to store items while they are drying so the laquer is nice because it dries so fast.

I have a turntable that I use to spin the piece while I'm spraying so that I don't get build up on the lathe and I can get an even coat accross the foot of the piece.

I've also recently read up on Russ Fairfield's mineral spirits/boiled linseed oil/varnish mix and have thought about mixing up a batch to try it. Being able to dunk a piece seems appealing.

[Garry Smith]

I've used Watco Natural Danish Oil and buffed with wax with good results. I've recently started using Deft spray laquer (both gloss and satin) and I like it quite a bit. With my small shop I have limited space to store items while they are drying so the laquer is nice because it dries so fast.

I have a turntable that I use to spin the piece while I'm spraying so that I don't get build up on the lathe and I can get an even coat accross the foot of the piece.

I've also recently read up on Russ Fairfield's mineral spirits/boiled linseed oil/varnish mix and have thought about mixing up a batch to try it. Being able to dunk a piece seems appealing.

Raymond,
I apply lacquer with the turn table like you do only I use an HVLP gun to apply it. I like the looks of the lacquer, I'm just not sure how it will hold up.
Can you steer me in the direction to find more on this
Russ Fairfield's mineral spirits/boiled linseed oil/varnish mix you spoke of. It sounds interesting.
Garry

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Adding on to Garry's last question, what would happen if I just wiped on shellac to a bowl just like I would wipe on BLO, without being overly concerned with streaks, then went through the entire buffing cycle?

Second, what is it about HUT that looks so good? Is it the shellac, or the wax, or the friction polish?

What would be the effect of using shellac that has not been de-waxed? Would it look like a HUT finish?

Tom,

I've been wiping the dewaxed shellac on like a friction finish with a paper towel.

I'm not sure but I'd believe it's the combination of shellac, wax and frictioning polish that produces the shine.

If you use a dewaxed shellac, you could put something else over it if you so decided. So far, I've been happy with the dewaxed shellac.

[Dan Owen]

3-4 coats of tongue oil, lightly burnished with 0000 steel wool in between coats. Final finish is the Beall buff.

[Mike Jory]

I guess I have a few very basic finishes.
1) Flooded with Danish oil, then after a few days, wet sanded with more Danish Oil. Then dry.
2) Sanding sealer, then several coats of Wipe On Polyurithane, one per day. Sanding with something like 600 or 800 between coats. Last coat sometimes no sanding depending on weather glossy or satin is desired.
3) Spray lacquer. Sometimes right on the wood after fine sanding, sometimes after a sanding sealer. One coat every 30 minutes times three, then set for a day, then three more. After about three or four days, wet sanding with 800 to 1000. Or no sanding at all for a very glossy finish.
4) On pens, Friction Polish or lacquer. Tried CA, but I'm still not very good at that.

I'm thinking about getting a Beal Buff system for some more options in fine finishing.
Good Luck, Mike

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

I will address the "POP the grain portion of your question. I have found out that a light wipe of a clear oil like butcherblock oil will POP the grain. Then, you can pick whether you want a satin, semigloss, or high gloss finish.

(Note: High oil contact woods do NOT need to be oiled; just buff them before finishing.

Bruce

[Lee DeRaud]

3-4 coats of tongue oil...Dan, this is not a swipe at you personally, because it seems like about half the people here do the same thing.

The stuff you're talking about is TUNG oil.

I really don't need that other image in my head. :eek:

(And if there really is a finishing product made from "tongue oil", I'd just as soon not know about it. :p )

[Reed Gray]

On my utility bowls, I use Walnut oil applied with the grey synthetic wool, then take a stick of beeswax to it, and apply enough hand pressure to melt it in. It also makes a nice hand lotion to counter the drying effects of sanding. I have since started using Mike Mahoney's oil and wax finish and have found it to be very good. I don't like a surface finish on a utility bowl because it will eventually chip, crack and peel off. The oil finishes are easy to repair for me and the customers.

On my art pieces. I use Deftoil. Several coats, and it has a nice satin finish. I will add some Butchers Wax (carnuba and other waxes in turpentine and mineral spirits), and hand buff.
robo hippy

[Don Baer]

I would caution against using any oil from nuts. Some folks, LOML included, have severe alergic reaction to the protein in the oil from nuts. There are oils availble that have the protien removed but unless you know for certain then I'd air on the side of caution. also I have heard that nut oil and vegitable oils can attract bacteria. Thats why comercial folks who make wood products for food service use mineral oil.

Just my thoughts.

[Tom Jones III]

Just checking, but I assume that nut allergic people can eat from bowls made from nut producing trees (like pecan)?

[Lee DeRaud]

Just checking, but I assume that nut allergic people can eat from bowls made from nut producing trees (like pecan)?As far as I know...I think it's the oil in the nuts themselves that's the problem. On a related note, I am extremely allergic to pecan pollen (or at least used to be when I lived in places where it grew) but have no problem turning the wood.