'Seeing' torn endgrain

I thought that was the function of the first coat or two. ;-)

I think that probably everyone needs help in locating torn endgrain on a bowl, especially that which shows up after the finish is applied.

The thing that I've found most helpful it to keep a small spray bottle with water in it. When you think you've gotten the piece sanded perfectly, spray a little water on the end grain portion. The water will make the defects jump out at you and the wetted area will be easier to sand to get rid of the torn grain.

Incidentally, torn endgrain is best fixed with a very sharp tool if you have enough meat left in the piece to stand another pass or two. It often takes a lot of heavy sanding to eliminate torn end grain and you must start with something like 60 or 80 grit. I the early days of my turning, I often used 35 or 40 grit to take care of torn grain. You then have to go through the grits, with each new one removing the scratches from the previous grit.

Good Luck,

Fred Holder

When I have finished with the cutting and doing a reasonable sanding job I like to moisten a shop towel or something like that with mineral spirits to clean off the sawdust. That will do the same as spraying water and clean up the saw dust also. You will be surprised how much it will show.

George in Georgia

Hello,

This is a very good question... :-) Here's what I do in my studio... After I have sanded to my final grit, I lightly wipe the surface down with Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), or Naphtha (N). This will show any pesky areas that still need attention very easily and the OMS, or N will evaporate quickly. With some species, I will wipe the piece down with distilled water to raise the grain. This also shows any areas that still may need attention prior to finishing.

Another thing I do before finishing is to take the piece out in the sunlight and closely examine it... The natural sunlight is the best light for finding defects in the surface before finishing. My studio does not have any windows and therefore, I take what I call a "Bowl Walk" in the sunlight as one last check before applying a finish.

As you are well aware, once you have applied a finish, it's harder to repair an area that needs further attention, versus just resanding the bare wood. If you are having difficulties, you may wish to add a wipe of OMS, N, or distilled water midway through your sanding. This will show you if you're getting a good finish before you progress into the higher grits.

I only do this wipe down inspection on my final grit now, but when I first started twelve years ago, I did is midway through my abrasive protocol as an added check to make sure my sanding was defect free. Take care and all the best to you and yours!

Mineral spirits my choice. They lay a bit on the surface, since wood doesn't love 'em like it does water. Since that's what the finish does, it's a good analog. They'll show up those heel bruises better'n water does, too.

Turners know where tearout is likely, so you don't need to soak the whole thing, just wipe those upgrain areas.

I like my bowls to have the look of a sheet of glass on them. So most times when I finish them, I apply 2 or 3 coats of sanding sealer sanded inbetween each, then follow with 2 or 3 coats of polyurethane.

All but the last 2 coats of poly are applied on the lathe with the bowl still mounted.

I never have to leave my mount this way, the spray coating applies very evenly and rarely runs because I apply it while the bowl turns on the lathe, and letting it spin after I spray it dries it much faster too.

But, my first coat of sealer is what I use to illuminate surface defects.

If any exist, a just sharpened scraper and barely touching cuts clean up the surface very well without tearing, and actually works better than sanding because the hardened sealer makes the raised wood cut cleaner. It only needs light sanding with fine grits afterwards and then I apply subsequent coats of sealer and poly.

I d> Many years ago I attended a presentation by a guy who wrote on the

For me, I find that when I am to 400 grit on my sanding, I wipe the bowl down with my hands, and look closely. The finer dust from the 400 grit will stand out in scratches and tearout that has been left behind. The more I turn and sand, the more inclined I am to use a freshly sharpened gouge for the finish cuts. Anything to reduce the amount of sanding I do. The outside I can get almost glass smooth. The inside is a lot harder. Sometimes the cut is beautiful and smooth, and sometimes it is bumpy. To get the bumps out, I will shear scrape with very light cuts. If the wood is dry and I am getting tearout, I will use some walnut oil (Mike Mahoney's) and take a few cuts on the oiled wood. Running your hands over the wood (with bowl turning at slow speed, got to love the variable speed, in foreward and reverse) can tell you a lot about your surfaces.

Having good light is also a must. I got one of the BlueMax High Definition Lamps that are advertised in Woodturning Design. It is a full spectrum light, and shows up all those defects that you see when you take the bowl out into the sunlight. This makes a huge difference in what you can see. Of course I also have to have my glasses on.

robo hippy

I wet sand most of my stuff with natural Danish oil... Along with "popping" the features out, it also seems to spotlight every tool mark and tearout..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

For sure... I have good natural light in the shop for a few hours each morning, and if possible I save my sanding and oiling for those times...

I've also moved my buffing system outside, to catch the sunlight so I can check the piece in natural light before going to the next wheel...

Years ago, I sanded and primed a truck in my garage... I thought it looked GREAT! Moved it out into natural light and saw all the scratch marks, bondo that looked round under the florescent but had flat spots, etc... yuk!

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Another technique that is useful to have in your bag of tricks is to rub paste wax into the area(s) of recalcitrant grain. This presumably makes the fibers "stand up" and cut more cleanly-either with a sharp tool or with sandpaper. With a tear-y piece of wood, I like to use the wax with firly coarse (80 to 120 ) grit sanding

Kip Powers Rogers, AR