How - not with what - do you finish your bowls + HF's?

[Dan Forman]

In searching, I've found lots of threads about what people use for a finish, but not much about the actual process. Things like :

On or off the lathe?
Both inside and outside at the same time? If so, what do you set the bowl on to dry? Do you do everything but the bottom of the foot, or set on a screen of some sort so that the bottom can dry too? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks,

Dan

[Cyril Griesbach]

I finish my bowls and HFs off the lathe and when I use oil or wipe on poly I just set them on the bench for a while and back on the bench when they're wiped off.

[Mike Minto]

dan, i finish my work (as much as possible) on the lathe. if i have lots of tearout, or just a crappy finish off the tool, i hand-hold rough sandpaper (even 80 grit! aargh!) until the surface is such that i can use my shop made inertia sander - i stop at 320 grit. as for the bottom of a piece, after it is parted off i sand with my orbital finish sander. after sanding, i usually put an oil or other finish by hand, using a cloth. i then hand-hold the piece and 3-wheel buff it. hope this helps, mike

[Jeff Nicol]

Dan, I have found that I do all of the above! It all depends on the piece, the wood the fact if I am going to add some carving, dye, stain etc. Some works just need to be finished on the lathe and some need the tweaking and love of off the lathe hand finising. Lots of small things are easier to do on the lathe with friction polishes or spray lacquer of what ever. But no matter the last thing is always done by hand to get the finish the best it can be. Hand rubbing and polishing or buffing is what makes the piece "Finished". Try everything that you mentioned and maybe even more. Finishing the inside of some things is not neccessary like a small opening HF, unless you want to slow down the drying of a moist piece. Some times I will tape off the top and spray flat black inside a HF so it is dark in there, kind of adds mystery!

Nothing is wrong and things work for everyone differently, so the variables are huge! Have fun and you will figure out the best way for you and what you are turning at the time.

Have a "Spinny Day",

Jeff

[Gary Max]

Heck-----the finish is the easy part.
I get my wife to do all my finish work-----
I am very happy with this arrangment.

[Harlan Coverdale]

I like to finish small pieces on the lathe with friction polish, and bigger pieces off the lathe with wipe on or spray finishes. I do both the inside and outside together, and unless it's finished on the lathe, I do the bottom at the same time, too. For off lathe drying, I use one of several drying stands I've got around the shop. They are simply three nails arranged in a triangle shape and driven through a board so the three points are sticking up, making a 3-point stand. The points have been rounded over with a file or grinder. Never had any issues with the nails leaving a mark in the wood or finish.

[Thom Sturgill]

I start turning between centers on most bowls (1220 lathe, so smaller bowls) and sand and seal the outside except the very bottom. I finish with lacquer most times so the sealer is brushing lacquer thinned 4/1 with lacquer thinner. I then reverse and remove the inside, and sand and seal the inside. Reverse again and mount typically in a vacuum chuck to finish the base and sand/seal it.

I then remove the piece and continue to apply sealer until it will not take any more, sand to 400-800 grit. At this point I should not have any (or not much) grain that needs filling, if so sand and seal some more.

Next, spray with rattle can lacquer until about 6 coats. It can be re-applied every 1/2 hour. Next day, hand sand starting 400-800 grit depending on conditions and sand to about 1500 using mineral spirits. Spray some more, building to 10-12 coats. I usually have no problem with orange peel at this point.

Next day (or better, next week) quickly run through the grits up to about 4000 using mineral spirits, then buff first with White Diamond and then with Don Pencil's PL compound. Finally, wax with micro-crystaline wax.

Result is a flawless, almost liquid finish. For some bowls, I will use #0000 steel wool on the inside to give a satin finish. I use Deft lacquer by preference. On Hollow Forms, I will sand as best I can and swirl some of my sealer on the inside a couple of times, and leave it at that, though I've only done three or four of them to date.

[Reed Gray]

I do everything I can on the lathe. Much easier to do a lot of rubbing with the lathe spinning and my hands still. Less elbow grease wasted that way. I use soft oil (walnut) on my bowls, and wipe on poly on my boxes and hollow forms. I can crank the speed up a bit and with a soft cloth, buff and dry the finish in seconds rather than minutes or days. I do apply some spray laquer and buff it the same way. I don't really like surface finished on my bowls, or anything too thick on the other things. I do have to finish the bottoms of the hollow forms off the lathe. Most of my boxes are threaded, so I just screw them into a block, finish turn, sand, finish, and polish. Friction polish and I just never got along.

robo hippy

[Nathan Hawkes]

Dan, you're going to get a lot of very different responses, because people do what works for them, and you should, too. You can't have too much light in this situation. I have 3 Moffat lights on the flex. arm setup, and a couple overhead high output fluorescent bulbs-96 watts each. The type isn't that important. Personally, I find sanding on the lathe easier than off. I do green turning exclusively, except for a few bud vases and of course tool handles. I wait a while before sanding--days to weeks depending on how wet it is and how much time I have, so that I spend a turning session on turning, then on sanding, etc. I try to sand several pieces at one time, so that I can work more efficiently. Anyway....I sand to 600, without skipping grits. I try to start as high as possible--at least 120, but with some tearout or crossgrain situations, I have to use 80 or even 60 sometimes, but only in the areas that really need it. I try to keep the bulbs shining from different directions, to highlight the scratches that I otherwise couldn't see. I use 3M scotchbrite gray---the "ultrafine" grade, then finish with Minwax Antique Oil using a folded paper towel to apply, and a dry paper towel to wipe off , . Often I have to go back to 600 or even 400 when I find scratches that I didn't see that are highlighted by the addition of the finish. I wait for it to dry, then use the same 3M scotchbrite to knock off the little nibs that happen from dust in the finish, ooze out from open grain, etc. I recoat at least a couple more times, then use the gray AND white scotchbrite--the superfine grade, then put the last coat on, hopefully not needing to sand off any more rough spots at all. The more coats I apply, the shinier it is....the important thing though is making sure that the surface is ready for the application--sand sand sand, and make sure you sand down the rough spots with either 4/0 steel wool or 3M scotchbrite gray or white before re-applying!!

[Richard Madison]

Sand, wipe on and friction buff lacquer sanding sealer, inside and outside, piece with tenon in a chuck. Reverse onto friction/jam chuck, finish shaping the very bottom and turn off tenon. Sand and seal bottom off lathe. Spray lacquer off lathe, on "lazy susan" table. Often smooth/level w/ 0000 steel wool before final spray coat(s). As Nathan said, not always same procedure and/or same finish material for every kind of work.

[Dan Forman]

Thanks for the replies. I'm just now getting my first bowls ready for finishing, started on a couple, couldn't see how to both inside and outside at the same time without messing up the fist side when doing the second, so did the outside and rim and let dry using wipe on poly. Turns out it was an older can, and had thickened considerably, probably should have thinned it with MS before applying. Turning the bowl over and finishing the inside would have left fingerprints on the outside. Is that not a problem with fresh WOP or AO?

Dan

[Nathan Hawkes]

Thanks for the replies. I'm just now getting my first bowls ready for finishing, started on a couple, couldn't see how to both inside and outside at the same time without messing up the fist side when doing the second, so did the outside and rim and let dry using wipe on poly. Turns out it was an older can, and had thickened considerably, probably should have thinned it with MS before applying. Turning the bowl over and finishing the inside would have left fingerprints on the outside. Is that not a problem with fresh WOP or AO?

Dan

Fingerprints are a problem; I wear gloves and make sure that I'm holding paper towels over where my fingertips are while I'm wiping the excess.

[Cody Colston]

I do most all of my finishing off the lathe except for friction polish finishes and CA finishes on pens.

For vessels, I do both the inside and the outside at the same time. I made a small turntable for finishing my turnings and I have several small squares of wood with three 1 1/4" drywall screws in them. I set finished turnings on the drywall screw points to dry.

When using a wiping finish like Danish oil, I also wear nitrile examination gloves. They keep the finish off my hands and fingerprints off the vessel.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dan - sorry for arriving late to the party..........

I finish bowls and hollow forms off the lathe after they have been totally sanded to at least 320 grit. Like Cody, I have a turn table that I use as an area to apply finishes. My finish of choice these days is Minwax Wipe-On Gloss Poly and my procedure is pretty straight forward.

Using a 1" sponge brush, saturate the turning (inside & out) for the first coat. Let the poly really soak in for a few minutes and then wipe off the excess. Then set it aside to let dry - usually 24 hours. Depending on how much the turning sucks the poly into the wood - I may saturate it again for the second coat as well.

After there have been 1 or 2 base coats applied - and dry - I use a folded up paper towel and wipe on a light coat of poly on one side of the turning. Instead of using screws to support the turning - I use the little plastic triangles that come with your pizza then you get take-out. They are placed in the center of the pizza to keep the box from contacting the food. Work great if you turn them up-side-down so that the 3 legs are in the air. Usually use 3 or 4 or them to support a turning.

Using a folded up paper towel, apply 3 or so coats to one side of the turning and allow to dry. Once you have a little finish built up (3 to 5 coats) - then touch the turning with a super fine sanding sponge or 600 grit wet/dry paper to remove any small bumps. After that it is just a matter of how much time you want to put into it and how many coats of poly it takes to get the level of gloss you are after. Repeat for the other side of the turning.

By using a folded paper towel and applying very light coats - I do not have any run problems. Another thing when it comes to the wipe-on poly - make sure you use a new can. You have already discovered that once exposed to air - poly starts to thicken up and that will add to your drying time.

[Michael Mills]

When the rough turning is dry, I remount it placing the bowl over the chuck and the tailstock in the original point on the bottom. I then re-true the foot and remove all wax from the bottom and little way up the outside. I then remount in the chuck and turn, sand, and finish the outside and then the inside.
My base coat for almost everything is ¼ shellac and DNA, then ½ shellac and DNA, then straight shellac from the can. All coats are applied with a brush with the lathe off. Yes there are brush stokes. Now to be weird, I take a towel and wet it (not dripping) with DNA. I hand rub, with the lathe off, to remove most surface shellac, then take another and rub with the lathe on. I now have a hard surface with no real sheen. This takes about half an hour with drying time in between coats for all the initial finishing steps. I do not wait for the last coat to completely dry (just tacky to the touch) before I start the removal of the shellac.
I then finish with beeswax, Mylands Friction Polish, or other to bring up the shine I want.
I then turn the bowl around and remount as I started (with two layers of leather in the bottom of the bowl this time) and finish the foot, removing or modifying the tendon, or adding circles.
Circles are nice because the innermost can be different from the rest of the bowl and it looks like you designed it that way.
I finish the same way up to the nub (or circle) and remove from the lathe, cut the nub off, sand, and finish by hand the little area where the nub was.
I do all the initial sanding before the first thin coat of shellac. Usually this is to 400-600.
You should be able to do the same with lacquer (and lacquer thinner) with would give a more durable surface but shellac is what I have on the shelf.
Mike