When to finish the foot?

[Matt Hutchinson]

I have been wondering how many of us bowl makers turn the bottom of the foot after finishing the bowl, as opposed to completing the entire piece and then finishing everything together. I leave the tenon until after I have finished the body of the piece, then I turn the bottom of the foot and finish it separately. What do you do?

Hutch

P.S. Wow, I must have been asleep this morning. Talk about grammar issues in the poll!

[Ron Drew]

Matt, like you, I turn the tenon off after the body form is finished and sanded. Then I sand the base on the drill press with a soft sanding pad. I like a slight depression on the bottom instead of a foot, and this works well for me.

[Frank Kobilsek]

Matt,

I vote 'after finish' but to be more accurate its really in the middle.

I turn the outside, and often throw a coat of oil on prior to reverse chucking. Turn the inside a finish both inside and out of the bowl.

Generally I let the finish harden several days or unitl I have 4 or 5 bowls that need their 'bottoms' processed. Now I jam chuck the bowl tennon toward the tailstock and turn the base leaving a 1/8 to 1/2 nubbin on the bottom. I sand the area I turned of the base. Then I lay the bowl bottom up on an old golf towel (don't golf since I took up turning) and using a sharp chissel knock off most of the nubbin. Lastly I use my 2" sanding pads in the right angle drill to sand away the remain nubbin. A little sand handly and its done.

This is followed by burning my name, year, species of wood and if the piece has a name into the bottom of the bowl. Now I throw a coat of oil on the base and the entire outside of the bowl. Seldom do I give the inside another coat but it happens if I think it needs it. A week or more later I'll buff.

I think I let the 'bottoms' stack up so I can get focused and practiced to burn the 'signature' on the bottom. I have found that day job stress shows up in my woodburning skills. It has to be a happy day to do bottoms.

Frank

[Bernie Weishapl]

I finish the complete bowl on the lathe and then apply finish.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I completely finish the bowl, remove from lathe and then apply finishes.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'm one of those complete the turning and then finish the whole bowl folks....

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Sorry Math but your Questions" are not very clear to me :o
But if I read them right, than I would fit in all categories :D.
With me it just depends on, is it, large or small turning, finish turned green or returned after drying.
Most often with pre-turned bowls, I will do all the sanding on the lathe and apply my oil finish while the bowl is held on the lathe, if spraying (seldom) it's done off of the lathe.
As I do use a recess 99% of the time to hold my blanks, I don't have a lot of wood to turn away, (also less chance of splitting with less wood) I just clean and adorn the recess, and that is done on the lathe 99.9 % of the time.
The other times can be anything what's called for as I see it, vacuum or jam-chucks to hold the piece with sanding and finishing on or off (or both) the lathe.
I am a one piece at the time turner, and each is finished as a one of a kind piece, though the turning and finishing are often inter mingled time-wise with other pieces :).

[curtis rosche]

for me it depends on the bowl and how its mounted. if its on a face plate, it gets finished, then parted of unscrewed, and 1-2 coats on the bottom. if its on a chuck, i turn it, then i take the whole thing off the lathe and finish it all at once.

when i leave it on the lathe i leave it running while finishing and drying

[Matt Hutchinson]

By explaining what I have been doing to finish my bowls, maybe my question will be a little clearer.

I chuck my bowls using a tenon, not a recess. I turn the outside, including the foot profile, and sand it. I then true up the rim, turn the inside, and sand it. I then turn the final rim shape and sand it. I take it off the lathe, and finish it with the tenon still there. After 3 to 6 coats, I rechuck the bowl, sand with 320, 400, and 600 (with the lathe on). I then put on a final coat, turn the underside of the foot, sand, and finish the foot. After several coats on the foot, I buff everything, and wax.

Yes, I know this seems really tedious, but if I am not happy with the way things are going (which is frequent) I can still chuck the bowl for more work. On the positive side, I have been getting very nice results. I am still working on my methodology, and I may try to develop a more concise process.

Hutch

[Mike Peace]

I may wait until I have several turned bowls before I apply a finish.