Drying finished wood

Diddo to finishing the bottoms have a whole weeks worth of turnings lined up then go over the whole item one more time to look for erriors then work the bottoms Don

Yes it is a two step process, bottom are done at a seperate time.

Randy

Same here, I guess that's how most of us do it..

I have a small (24" x 24") table that's for "work in progress" and usually has a few pieces with Danish oil on either the inside or outside/bottom.. I spread paper towels over it to catch and excess and keep it from pooling.. Never had the toweling stick to the finish, but that might just be the properties of the Danish oil..

Also, I usually oil the bottom of the piece on the lathe, while it's on the vacuum chuck.. I let it soak in for a few minutes and then wipe off the excess, then it goes "bottoms up" on the paper towels.. When the oil sets, I'll either re-oil it or flip it over and oil the inside..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

I also usually turn the bottoms later. But for those few times that I don't, or when I've turned something like an egg (that doesn't have a bottom), I made a couple of very simple jigs to hold the piece. It will hold a bowl face up, or hold an egg for spraying. It's just 3 very small holes (~3/32 or so) in a scrap of flat wood that hold half toothpicks broken in the middle, pointy end up. The points are extremely small so they don't damage the finish, or cause the oil to collect, and are easily replaced if broken. If you combine this holder with a lazy-susan type base, you have a perfect holder for spraying lacquer. And if you're making several items (see eggs again), just put several 3-hole patterns in the board and put an egg (or bowl) on each set. Tom Weber in Merritt Island, FL

This is not an answer to the finishing question but a suggestion about your "nail board". I went to Home Depot and in the framing material section they have all kinds of brackets and straps to hold joists ect. I found some straps that have small spikes on one side and smooth on the other. I think they are used across were wood joins. Any ways I stapled a couple to a piece of plywood with the spikes up and use that for different finishing projects. Quick and cheap.

Bruce

tww wrote:

As per usual it helps to tap into the experience of the people in this group when looking for options. Thanks to all.

The American Woodturner magazine has an answer to my original question where I mentioned thinking of making a 'bed of nails'. In the Tips section John Williams had a tip on using old bandsaw blades. You cut the blade about 10" long and fold it to about 45 degrees. Then you can set a finished piece on the blade with the teeth side up or multiple blades for larger items. (I took the advice of the people in the group and am now doing the bottoms seprate from the rest of the bowls I have made but this was another option I had not heard of and may come in handy some time).

In message , tww writes

The best solution to me would be the stands used for Ceramics when being kiln fired. Very sharp points in a triangle placement. You could simulate this with a thin sheet of ply/ hardboard with carpet tacks. It might even work to put three tacks through an old CD ( may need heating)

as i follow the rules of making such a good piece of wood dry thing is the most precious because it took a lot of my time. send me some of yours by email celestial snipped-for-privacy@mydestiny.net we can do more send me your samples and we can the bottom.

I leave the tenon on the bottom until I am done finishing.

Then I remount the bowl, hit the finish with fine steel wool, then wax it and spin it at high speed to buff.

After that, i turn off the tenon,, sand it, sign it, and finish it. I just turn the bowl upside down to let the finish dry. On natural edge bowls, I set them on a plastic container such as a coffee can.

When I have to have a wet bottom (on the bowls mind you) I use the press on gang nail plates that you get at the hardware store. I got mine from a truss company.

OLd Guy