Ambrosia Maple Bowls

wow

Beautiful turnings from beautiful wood.

-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.

For pens, I use Shellac and wax. It’s called Shellwax I believe from Penn State Industries. You put it on while the item is still on the lathe and spin it on and use pressure to dry and buff the finish as you work the item.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

great bowls! ...but how are you keeping the bottom from cracking at the pith? your drying technique?

-- let the chips fly!

You may consider using gloss poly buffed to a baby’s bottom smooth matte.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

try gun stock oil (Birchwood&casey ) just wipe on wipe off , it’s linseed oil and some driers but for small peices it works great you can get it from woodcraft or any good sporting goods store keep turnin-michaeljon woodworker

Craven ——- uh, drying technique? Nobody said anything about a drying technique.. to be honest, the first bowl DID start to crack, and as that one was for a friend of mine I tried to save it by cheating and using poly on it (after I had gone with the walnut oil and beeswax) I had nothing to lose – since it was gonna end up as firewood if it failed anyway. Somehow – it seemed to have done the trick. I let it cure for a while and then sanded it back down to no gloss and then started all over again with the oil and beeswax.
Some of the bowls that I left in my mostly unheated workshop showed no signs of cracking at all and they had been laying in a raw, just-turned state for almost a month, so I assumed that was what I should do – leave them in the shop for several weeks.
The only trouble I had was when I brought a bowl directly from the shop to the house and then tried to finish it with oil there – I’ll try to do all the finishing in the shop for the foreseeable future – but that’s looking dicey now – may have to head back to the body mechanic’s to get some more parts soon.
thanks to everyone for their input.
THW

-- .......and if ya screw up, you can heat yer house with it......

Those are some mighty fine turnings.

Interesting results with the Ambrosia Maple. I especially like the round one, #3.

BTW: How does giant squirrel meat taste?

-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

MMH – Thanks – number 3 now has a lid that I turned for it – and has no signs of cracking (fingers crossed) – I have to admit – since I started going online and looking at how others turners perform their magic, my own work has become significantly better – I have very few “finished” pieces right now, but dozens of rough-turned bowls awaiting their turns on the lathe once the drying process has been completed – hope to get more pics out in the coming months.
As for the squirrel – they’re kinda gamey.

-- .......and if ya screw up, you can heat yer house with it......