Finished Bowl

karltimber

This is a 15" Yew bowl that I finished before Xmas.

It came from an approx 750 year old yew tree from the Pheonix park.
Age came from talking to diff tree people from the park.

I cut the timber last summer and finished it before Xmas
It is finished with 4 coats of Danish oil.
Thought the burnt rim suited it - sometimes it doesn't.

This was a pressie to a friend. And now its on a wall in their house.

So I am pleased.:D

SpitfireIV

Beautiful piece of work Karltimber! Really nice and you're right, the burnt edge does suit that one, its a nice contrast, the very light and dark colours.

You must be very proud of it!

CroppyBoy1798

Alun

Very nice Big pieces if Yew like that are hard to come by. I've got a piece of a similar size out in my shed that I got off a guy up in NI that's awaiting turning, probably a natural edge bowl, although it's difficult to tell exactly how it'll turn out like that.

Anyway, here's a few of my recent favourites, while we're on the subject (all sold!) ...

The first is a nice burr elm bowl about 13", the second a small natural edge yew bowl, and the third a small walnut bowl, about 9" diameter.

cormie

Very nice work Alun and Karl. I look forward to making things like that out in my shed:) I turned a lamp base in college, my first piece. Got a shade and wired it up. Also made from yew, nice wood indeed:)

Off Topic: Don't suppose either of you would know about this?

Jonny5

Hi looks very good.

how did you get the shine so good

jonny:)

Alun

He said he used Danish Oil, I think?

Yew is a dead easy wood to finish to a beautiful shine. It's very close grained and you can sand it waaay down into the super fine grits (just watch out for heat build-up as that can cause what is called heat checking .. very fine surface cracks), almost to the stage where you hardly need any finish at all.

I usually finish small yew pieces from branchwood (bottle stoppers, boxes etc.) with a single coat of friction polish, and large pieces with some kind of oil finish. My favourite is an Australian product called Organoil.

karltimber

Hi Jonny5

Alun is correct I used about 3 coats of danish oil.

Before the finish, you need to get it as smooth a finish as possible.
Sharpen your gouge for the last cut.
then hand or power sand upto about 400 grit.
after each sand -run your fingers over the timber and rub any rough spots with the grain with the same grit.

I just brushed (brushes got from a school supply shop -cheap) it on and then wiped if off with a kitchen cloth.
buffed it with a power drill between each coat.

For lamps or small items i use neutral shoe polish - works very well.

hope this helps.

karltimber

Alun wrote:

My favourite is an Australian product called Organoil.

hi alun,

what type of finish does it give - shiney - matt

how do you apply and where do you get it

thx

Alun

karltimber wrote:

what type of finish does it give - shiney - matt

how do you apply and where do you get it

It's a long story ... Basically you sand right down to 400 grit using conventional abrasives. Then apply a good amount of oil with a brush and let it soak in, how long this takes will depend a lot on the wood involved. Then apply a little bit more, and start wet sanding with 600 grit wet and dry. You'll get a "slurry" building up on the paper which you try and work back into the wood which acts as a bit of a grain filler. When you're finished, you wipe off any excess gunk off the wood, and repeat with 1200, 1500 and finally 2000 grit wet and dry, wiping off any excess slurry each time.

At this stage the piece has a beautifully smooth, but slightly matte / satin finish that gets slightly more so as the piece cures. It'll still feel slightly tacky to the touch, and you have to leave it for a good few days to cure (all oil finishes rely on heat to a certain extent to completely polymerize the oils and harden them, plus there's always a bit of solvent left over that needs to evaporate).

What I then do is to buff it using a three stage buffing process using the Beall buffing system. http://www.bealltool.com/products/buffing/buffer.php which gives a lovely deep warm glossy, but not too glossy, finish. It takes a bit of work certainly, but its worth it I feel.

You used to be able to get it from Axminster by mail-order, but it appears to have vanished from their website! Anyway, after looking at their website again, the good news is that it appears you can now get it through good old Martin Gleeson in Co.Kildare, see http://www.organoil.com/ire_introduction.html for details. It's the "High-Speed Finishing Oil" you want.

Hope that helps?

stapeler

Excellent works of art, Any of you guys giving training lessons. I picked up a lathe recently and would be interested in a few hints.