A turner's lament. Musing about finishing.

Been a lot of 'Art' done using found objects. See Joseph Cornell, for example.

Nope, we sure can't. There are some ways to "cheat" at finishing, though. My secret weapon is helmsman spar urethane in a spray can. Certainly not a tradtional finish, to be appreciated by the most discerning craftsmen- but it's tough as nails, and self-levels beautifully. I've even fumbled half-dry pieces and left fingerprints on nearly finished pieces that managed to level themselves out by the time it dried. Left to it's own devices, it's as shiny as french polished shellac, but with a careful scuffing with 400 grit paper, it makes a nice satin finish as well.

It's perfect for things that are being sold or given away- while *I* might take the time to rewax a piece that has been used for a while, I learned from recent experience that others probably won't. I gave my mom a hollow form made from segmented mesquite about a year ago, and it was finished with Johnson's paste wax- and when I saw it last week, it looked like it had been roughly handled with paint stripper and bleach. Most of the wax was long gone, and sunlight had robbed the surface of the mesquite of most of it's color. It may as well have been turned from old 2 x 4s, for how good it looked.

(As an aside, *no*- my parents are not very good at taking care of things.)

Needless to say, I nabbed it, and brought it home to refinish the thing. Now, with the spray-on clearcoat, it looks better than it did in the first place- and it's protected well enough to survive this time.

I figure an average peice takes about 1.5 hours of actual work to spray finish (with a bit of waiting in between steps). 4-5 light coats a half-hour apart, then day or two to fully cure, and a careful sanding with 400 grit paper to remove any imperfections and one final light coat leaves a surface like glass. Sanding sealer would make that even easier, but I don't have any right now.

Now, I know that a lot of folks who turn don't care for shiny finishes, and that's fine as a personal preference- but I know that when I show people something that has been oiled and waxed, I usually get a "huh... that's nice" response, but when I pull out a peice that's as shiny as a bit of tinfoil, people actually seem to get excited about it.

Works for me, anyhow!

All life seems to find shiny objects attractive - birds, rodents, primates. Probably something to do with the physiology of the eye. :o)

SNIPPAGE

that's fine as a personal >preference- but I know that when I show people

shiny as a bit of tinfoil, people >actually seem to get excited about it.

Yeah... I know EXACTLY what you mean. The lamps and desk goodies I sell all have shiny finish on them. Nothing like having your finely oiled and buffed wares inspected by a discerning soccer Mom that says, "now this is really nice; did you leave it unfinished so people could pick what finish they wanted on it?"

With everything finished with shellac or lacquer, there hasn't even been a question about the finish.

Robert

game. Whether it's the finish line or the >bottom line, the finish of most things makes all the >difference.

I don't know if you appreciate the gravity of that statement. I have seen mediocre pieces turned into masterpieces by the correct application of oils, dyes and top coats. Wanna make that curl in the maple stand out - how about a whisper of dye misted over the piece before clear coat? Need to deepen the apparent depth of the finish without putting 10 coats of finish on it? Try pre-treating with a wash of shellac, pure gum turpentine and tung. Ordinary can go to fantastic like 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Probably applies to flat work than anything else, but it applies to round stuff, too.

form and the tooled finish >on their turnings. They follow various rules for shape >and size and what to gouge out and what to leave on.

coves and beads . Some rules are >golden and not to be violated in nice turning >company,

When I was going to the turning club meetings it was the only topic on the table. Every damn time, same thing. Never discussions on how to sand properly, how to apply finishes, never anything on how to modify off the shelf products. All the turned forms were admired and the proud father would gladly tell how he did it.

But when the subject turned to finishing, it was a closed, private matter. It was treated like having a skin rash. Everyone knew you had to deal with it at one time or another, but no one wanted to talk about it.

It has always killed me to see some of our better turners put apply finish that looked like my would (he's six) to a wonderful piece they turned. We have some truly gifted turners, and they hate finishing, don't want to learn about the science involved in good finishing, and they are down right afraid of branching out from good old oil.

Slather it on, wipe it off. Repeat as needed. Buff. Wax. If it got easier the pieces would finish themselves.

considered art and be unfairly >appreciated by pseudo art critics. Should

found wood? No way.

I sitting here laughing, but on the other hand, why not? Surely you could find some skinny bespectacled college aged girl to buy it as urban art. If it is wood found after one of your hurricanes, maybe it could be "recovered urban distress art" or something along those lines.

I think for me, finishing on wood turnings is just part of the process. I never give it a second thought as I see it as part of the project, as I would any other woodworking endeavor. I am always amazed not only at how intimidated people are with learning quality finishing (sorry - soaking wood in oil isn't actually much of a finish), but how reluctant they are to even try to find out how to do it. They think it is so simple they spend a little time on their own until it looks "good enough".

Good finishing is like any other aspect of craft work, and it takes knowledge and lots of practice to be good at it.

Robert

Good finishing is like any other aspect of craft work, and it takes knowledge and lots of practice to be good at it.

Robert

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Great thread. I have a love/hate feeling about finishing and finishes. What Robert says above is so true, along with a few other responses. I'm guilty of not learning about the finishes and trying to use a better one. I have Russ Fairfield's "Finishing Secrets" DVD and watch it so often I just might wear it out and yet I still use my old faithful oil/wax mixture and buff. Mental block? or you-can't- teach-an-old-dog-new-tricks syndron? not sure which but I do annoy myself at times not knowing enough about finishes.

People DO like shiney, I don't but will do whatever the buyers want -- it's their money!

Ruth

I saw a great example of this today at a blacksmithing meeting- there were two demonstrators. One was making fire cooking equipment that was very useful, and designed in a neat way- with a few single steel leaf shapes to accent the work, but a lot of folks seemed to have a pretty short attention span when watching him, and many didn't even bother to take a look.

The next one was a coppersmith, who was making oak leaves and ladles. He peened every surface before working them, and made sparkly, faceted finished products. Even though the two demostrators were probably equally skilled as craftsmen, the coppersmith's demo was packed so tightly with people clustered around that it was hard to get a good view of what he was up to.

At one point during his demonstration, he made a statement that really rang true to me, and the general level of attention his demo was getting was proof of it, IMO.

He held up a freshly peened copper spoon, and said (paraphrased) that you *have* to make the facets to sell the spoons- people are just like fish, and most of the fishing lures in the country [and they *did* look a little like fishing lures before they had the handles on them] had nothing to do with fish at all- they were designed to lure people. This got a good laugh, but it's true- or true enough for government work, anyhow.

On Fri, 11 May 2007 15:45:38 -0400, snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (Arch) wrote:

Well, I started 18 years ago with the concept that 'finish' actually

** meant** 'spray or brush on some chemical compound', and that this was required by definition. Then, after 3-4 years of experiments and my wife complaining about the smell of lacquers in the house, I stumbled on the concept of just helping wood look like wood - but polished and smooth. Some guys were just oiling & buffing most items, using Walnut or pure Tung oil. So, I invested in a buffing system and learned to sand better and ...WOW! Now I spend more time (and a 'little' more money on careful sanding), and use Walnut oil on almost everything. No smell, no fire hazard, no filter mask to ward off fumes, no waiting for drying, no worry about explaining to the customer about scratch repair. It is true that I don't get the same brilliant shine on EVERY piece, but many woods don't need it, and on some it just looks like plastic, anyway. I like telling people that this is what the WOOD looks like, and they seem to like it too. ( One of the few exceptions is Poplar. I don't turn it a lot, but sometimes that purple-green combination is lovely...and it does need some help to have a decent shine, so I use something like Deft to add lustre....and there are a few others.) I have NO trouble selling stuff, and though I suppose I could raise 'some' items prices with added zing, I am so glad to be free of lacquer fumes..etc...that I will just be careful what I turn and take extra care with sanding instead. I mean no disrespect to those who do have their preferred, tested favorite finish...but for anyone who is struggling and fretting, an oil/buffing 'finish' might be one way to go.

(Note: ONLY Pure Tung oil or Walnut oil like you'd find for gourmet cooking. There are drying oils, and will gradually polymerize and seal & protect the wood...and it is not necessary to wait hours or days to buff....I oil, wipe and buff as almost a continuous process.)

Hope this helps someone ...even as a sometimes adjunct.

SNIP

Just got ready to put oil on a salad bowl which will be all for the day, now the sun is out, and discovered I'm out of walnut oil. Bummer. However, I'd like to mention again that the gourmet items sometimes have additives to retard spoilage(oxidation), and that keeps them wet for an very long time. Other thing is that commercial walnut oil used for painting, and supposedly Mahoney's are not cold pressed, where they might contain some nut proteins, but solvent extracted, leaving the polar stuff behind. For the 1% of the population who experience a reaction, it's some solace.