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Thread: epoxy finish for a bowl

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Lincoln Nebraska
    Posts
    123

    epoxy finish for a bowl

    Hello guys.

    I got a new lathe for Christmas last year so this year I'm making my sister a yarn bowl. This is a bowl with a spot for the yarn to come through while she knits.

    The critical finish element is that the surface has to be smooth as glass so it won't catch the yarn, and can have no possibility of oils getting on the yarn.

    So I'm thinking epoxy.

    Is there an epoxy that's thin enough that I can pour it in the bowl and spin it around to get even coverage?

    Is there a better option?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Shoreline, CT
    Posts
    2,923
    I would go with shellac. Its very hard, excellent at blocking oils and resins. For the hole for yarn to go through you would look at a ceramic ring such as used on fishing rods. That would be only way to get a guide smooth enough and sufficiently hard and durable.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Schoene View Post
    I would go with shellac. Its very hard, excellent at blocking oils and resins. For the hole for yarn to go through you would look at a ceramic ring such as used on fishing rods. That would be only way to get a guide smooth enough and sufficiently hard and durable.
    A yarn bowl typically has a curved slot instead of a hole.

    http://www.google.com/search?client=....0.vZ5tYu6RHqY

    If oil such as Watco Danish is used once dry/cured it is not the least oily, it is more like a varnish. It will not transfer anything to the yarn.

    I know of people who make them and finish with lacquer; one gentleman is a believer in pre-catalyzed lacquer and uses it on all of his yarn bowls. He gave me one and it is perfectly smooth inside and out and in the slot.

    I'd make sure it was heavy enough to keep from sliding around. I have a half-finished one in a chuck and I made it bottom heavy.

    JKJ

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    North Virginia
    Posts
    341
    I'm with Steve. Shellac is the way to go here. Very hard and can be built up to a fantastic smooth high-gloss finish.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Lincoln Nebraska
    Posts
    123
    Just a followup, I went with Shellac, and after 3-4 coats and sanding with 600 grit, we got it where we needed it. Thanks!

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