Some small bowls

[wood-chips]

Turned these this last week. I’ve had these blanks prepped for some time so I decided to turn a few before going back to flat work. The large oak bowl is about 8 inches wide and 2 inches tall. The light bowl is hard maple, the very small one is eucalyptus from the firewood pile (dulls tools very fast), the dark one is walnut and the one on the right is 4 -  3/4“ pieces of jatoba glued up.  They all have clear gloss finish except the large bowl which also has spanish oak stain. These are all going to friends.

[chips ahoy]

Nice work,I really love that maple.You are going to have some very happy friends.


Mel

[MidwestMan]

Great looking bowls. Beautiful.

You say, High Gloss. I see it has a high gloss, but what type of finish is it?

[wood-chips]

Great looking bowls. Beautiful.

You say, High Gloss. I see it has a high gloss, but what type of finish is it?

Krylon crystal clear acrylic in spray can I picked up at Lowes some time ago.
It's rated for indoor/outdoor, non-yellowing and is good a lot of things.
Lowe's has a different labeled can now but I suspect it's the same thing.
It covers well and dries fast and looks good.

[MidwestMan]

Krylon crystal clear acrylic in spray can I picked up at Lowes some time ago.
It's rated for indoor/outdoor, non-yellowing and is good a lot of things.
Lowe's has a different labeled can now but I suspect it's the same thing.
It covers well and dries fast and looks good.

Wow... you achieved a great looking finish, with that stuff.

I've tried spraying finishes on bowls and I always seem to get a puddle in the bottom. If I don't get a puddle, then I don't put enough on and it doesn't look good. I'd like to know how to spray a bowl and get results like you did... I really would like to know. Do you spray it, while it is spinning slowly on the lathe? Or is there some other technique you use?

[SceneryMaker]

Wow... you achieved a great looking finish, with that stuff.

I've tried spraying finishes on bowls and I always seem to get a puddle in the bottom. If I don't get a puddle, then I don't put enough on and it doesn't look good. I'd like to know how to spray a bowl and get results like you did... I really would like to know. Do you spray it, while it is spinning slowly on the lathe? Or is there some other technique you use?

When I spray gloss lacquer (Deft), I have the lathe turning at about 150 RPM and have lots of light. When I spray, I don't move the can but watch the reflection. It first turns dull, then shiny, then drippy as the finish goes on, all in a few seconds. The trick, of course, is stop after it turns shiny but before it starts dripping. If you don't, you get to sand it down and try again, but if you're really lucky, the wet finish will randomly pick up and move some dye so that you get to turn it down to bare wood and start over at 150 grit. We all need more practice with our shear cuts, right?

Another variable on timing from wet to drippy is the distance from the lathe axis. A larger radius will take longer to get wet but the bowl bottom will get wet almost immediately.

Consider lathe speed. Too slow and you get a wet dot immediately instead of spreading finish around the piece. Too fast and it will start dripping sooner.

Also consider distance from the can to the work. Too close will give narrow drippy streaks (too wet) but too far away will give a rough, dull mess that is hard to fix (too dry).

Why do I even bother with spray finish, you might wonder. So do I.

[wood-chips]

Wow... you achieved a great looking finish, with that stuff.

I've tried spraying finishes on bowls and I always seem to get a puddle in the bottom. If I don't get a puddle, then I don't put enough on and it doesn't look good. I'd like to know how to spray a bowl and get results like you did... I really would like to know. Do you spray it, while it is spinning slowly on the lathe? Or is there some other technique you use?

This is my technique. I spray them off the lathe. See my not so hi-tech setup below. I’ve tried spraying on the lathe but I always end up with too much finish applied and have a lot of grief. On the lathe, If the bowl has long sweeping edges, the finish tends to end up on the edge with runs/sags from centrifugal force.

I try to apply finish outside in bright sunlight. That way I can see the amount of finish being applied based on the reflection of the applied finish. I can apply finish to the entire bowl at once with my setup. With a glove on one hand, I hold the bowl upside down and spray the outside bottom. With my glove hand still gripping the bowl from the inside I can place the “stand” points towards the inverted bowl bottom and then can set the bowl and “stand” upright on the block platform. The spray “stand” sets on a block on the ladder seat so that you can easily grab the “stand” to move it with the bowl on it. Next I spray the inside bottom of the bowl with a light coat. Then I spray the inside getting the rim at the same time. Any additional finish from spraying the sides will land on the bottom of the bowl; completing the finish on the bottom. This method varies with the size of the bowl, larger bowls will get the inside sprayed the same as the outside. Next I spray the outside of the bowl and it’s done, set aside to dry. It took me a few tries before I was able get consistent results with no problems.

Finally it’s better to err on the side of too little finish as opposed to too much finish. With too little finish, you can easily sand the roughness away with a fine grit foam backed sanding pad and are ready to reapply. Too much finish and resulting issues, not so much fun. Practice by turning a simple bowl made from something with tight grain (the finish will stay on the surface better and take fewer coats to get the results you want to see). Give the bowl a fairly wide inside bottom and slightly sloping sides (similar to mine) and practice on that. With patients and experience you’ll be amazed with your results. Hope this information helps.

Fixed... photos were not showing.
Then poof, not showing again.
So here's the direct link to the pics.
Stand1
Stand2
Stand3

[Cian]

Very nice.

[MidwestMan]

Well I thank you for a good detailed response. It sounds like the experiments I went through before giving up.


I've been using wipe-on finishes since my attempts at spraying, had a low success rate. In the future, perhaps I'll try again.

[Arlin Eastman]

They look nice for sure.
   Thank you for posting this for us to see.  Also we have never turned eucalyptus before and if you would like to trade some for some Black Walnut stuff let me know.

Also I like using Deft lacquer but use I with an air brush and works wonderful.