Finishing bowls on the lathe

[Wolf Kiessling]

I was working on my new magnolia bowl this morning and I thought I might share this tip just in case there are readers here who don't know about it. It concerns finishing bowls while they are spinning on the lathe. I read about it somewhere earlier in the year, I think on WC but am not sure so I can't credit the originator of this, but I have done my last dozen or so bowls in this fashion.

I usually use some kind of oil for finishing so what I have done is put the oil into one of those mustard squeeze bottles. I get the lathe spinning, stand behind it, hold a folded paper towel on the side of the bowl away from me and slowly squeeze the oil onto the spinning bowl. It is just such an easy and convenient way to apply the finish and by doing it in this fashion you don't even get the splashes that result when you apply something to a spinning piece. I used to apply the finish with a brush or an oil soaked rag and it was a big mess. The folded paper towel catches the oil as it is slung off the bowl and, of course, also helps distribute it on the surface. I have two big streaks of oil on my shop floor, both in front of and behind the lathe, where the oil used to spin off but that doesn't happen any more. It stays off my apron, also. One other good thing, when I finish I just twist the top of the mustard bottle shut and the oil keeps from evaporating or jelling up. I don't have to put it back into the original container any more to save it.

Anyhow, for those of you who finish on a spinning lathe, this is a really good way to accomplish that.

Wolf

[Barbara Gill]

Since I use a oil that does best when it is allowed to penetrate I often finish sanding all of my bowls except for directly where the bottom of the bowl is going to be. I give the bowl a good soak and then I remount and wet sand with 600 wet/dry on the lathe. After it has dried, I reverse mount the bowl and finish the bottom, dry sanding to about 300 and then applying oil to the bottom. So far it works very well.
Since the lathe is not turning very fast, the oil does not get slung off the bowl.

[Jim Becker]

Wolf, I finish turnings on the lathe in a similar fashion, except the oil is applied while turning the lathe by hand. After it soaks in for a bit, the lathe is started and a soft paper towel is used to rub in the finish. The friction from that process helps to "push" the curing of the oil. Applying the material this way avoids spraying it all over the shop, the lathe and you, too!