I did a bit of turning this weekend as my other activities in the shop left plenty of time to stand in front of the lathe. This was a really enjoyable time! To top it off, the wild turkeys were chowing down right outside the shop so I could watch them while I waited for finish to...well...finish. The theme, for the most part, is bowls which is somewhat unusual for me...I normally concentrate on hollow vessels. But I was in the mood for functional pieces this time around. (Except for one as noted below)
Speaking of which, three of these turnings were finished with a new shellac product that Zinsser is supposedly bringing out...they gave me a sample bottle at the woodworking show and I have to say I'm impressed. It wipes on easy and after a short wait you buff it with a soft towel to a shine. I found that about three thin applications worked out beautifully. Unlike Myland's Friction Finish, this product is clear and didn't give me problems with build-up on the larger items. I'll be contacting the rep to find out more details and will pass them on when I have them. I believe I'll be using this stuff quite a bit on turnings, although I still need to see if it will stand up to buffing.
The Turnings:
1) This small cedar bowl, measuring 4" in diameter and 2" tall was fun to turn. It was also the first item I tried the Zinsser finish on after sanding through 600 grit. The finish is like glass and the color was not affected like the oil I normally used would have done. The piece was too tiny for my smallest vacuum chuck bell, so the bottom was finished off using a jam-chuck reversing technique.
2) This 9" box elder bowl pushed the limit on my OneWay 1018 for diameter as the blank was just a hair under 10" when I started. I believe the wood came from the 5-Barns Picnic this summer, but honestly, I forgot to mark it. Sadly, there is a bit of checking between growth rings in this piece and it would not be salable if I were into that kind of thing. The color is outstanding and again, the Zinsser finish left the white wood white and the red bright and clear. The shape goes along with the functional theme for the week.
3) This 8" cherry bowl was made from a hunk of wood I got from Bill Grumbine back in the summer of 2002 and it was a pleasure to turn. The top rim is slightly back-cut. The finish is oil and this piece has not yet been buffed out...due to the cold in my shop, it still needs to cure a little more and is now in the house. Again, the theme is functional.
4) This is a very special piece. As many folks know, the first anniversary of Palmer Sharpless's passing just occurred and a number of his rough turnings were distributed throughout the turning community. This piece was made from a rough ash blank that Palmer put on his shelf back in October of 2001. He was well known for "functional turnings" and this is no exception...I hope I captured what he might have done with the same piece of wood had he lived to complete it. I did take the liberty of applying color to the platter via dye prior to application of the Zinsser finish I was testing. This item, because of its open grain required more thin coats, but still came out great.
5) The last piece is the one "deviant" from "functional". I've had a bunch of chunks of mountain laurel root on the shelf for a few years and the blank for this turning always intrigued me...it was where two roots twisted together. Due to it's nature, the entire process had to be done between centers so a weed pot was chosen. The shape somewhat reflected the contour of the original root. Since I could not hold it in a chuck safely, a small tenon remaining on the bottom was sanded off before the hole was drilled on the DP. This piece will has an oil finish that will be buffed after it's cured.
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Oh, that was two questions, wasn't it? At any rate, wonderful work! Like Julie said, I need to get my mitts on some Elder. The root is fantastic and, of course, the Sharpless inspired piece is priceless. Yup, you certainly do keep raising the bar. Very, very nice on all of them! 
Originally Posted by John Miliunas
