I wanted to use 2 pieces of wood I'd had drying out in the shop for a while, to make balated Christmas gifts for my sisters. (Thank you for not pointing out the fact I'm nearly 3 months behind schedule on these gifts!)
The first piece I made from a blank of hickory that another turner rejected because, for whatever reason, someone had taken a drill and made several approximately 3/8" diameter holes deeply into the blank. Go figure, right?! That piece featured some lovely bark inclusions that I felt needed to be highlighted... and I had a few ideas for covering up those holes. Here's what I started with, and the end result:
Bowl Turned 2 small.jpg Maple Leaves completed small.jpg
The second piece was made from a walnut blank I'd rough turned and set aside to dry several months back. Unfortunately there was a crack at the top, which still showed up a bit after I'd finished turning and sanding it. I had stabilized it with cyanoacrylate glue while turning it, but the crack still appeared after being turned. And because I didn't want to turn it down any shorter, I decided to cover it us in a manner similar to that of the hickory bowl. Here's the before, during and after photos:
Wlanut bowl showing cracked rim small.jpg Walnut Bowl with 1 leaf small.jpg Walnut Bowl Finally Finished 2 small.jpg
You'll notice that I elected to add a pair of smaller maple leaves to the walnut bowl after I'd put on the first one. The reason for this is that I felt it looked a bit too unfinished with only the large leaf on it.
Here's the technique I used to add the leaves:
I first drew a template for the leaves on a piece of paper, then I cut along the perimeter and discarded the centre.
I masked off the area where I wanted the leaf to appear, with masking tape, then taped the template over the area.
Using a small knife, I cut along the inside of the template, ensuring I cut right through the masking tape. I then picked off the tape from the inside, exposing the area I wanted to paint.
To highlight the leaf, I took my burning tool and burned along the perimeter of the leaf, which of course singed the masking tape a bit. Fortunately that didn't affect anything in the end. My burning tool is an inexpensive unit I purchased as Harbor Freight, which has only one heat setting. It's actually more or less a soldering unit that in addition to the soldering tips, has 3 of so tips useful for wood burning.
I then took my airbrush, selected paint colours I felt would mimic the look of maple leaves in autumn here in Canada, then layered on the paint. I topcoated the outside of the bowl with sprayed shellac.
I am not an experienced airbrusher, but was quite happy with the results at the end of the day. The most important thing, though, is that the two bowls were saved. And of course, I've got the belated Christmas gifts completed!
All the best,
Marty
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