Working with some beautiful apple, I am really struggling to minimize and correct for tear out in a turned vessel.   Sharp tools, decent sanding, cabinet scrapers..

There are just a few places that won't smooth out.  

I've put on methyl cellulose sanding sealer to stabilize and fill in a bit.  It helps a lot, but still isn't where I want it to be.

What are my options at this point?

Would I dare fill in with gel epoxy, after sanding most of the cellulose sanding sealer off? Or just keeping putting on more sealer or laquer?

 

Just as an aside, it is an oblong vessel, warped a lot more than any other wood while drying such that I can not get a round vessel out of it.  It looks more like an Indian pot, so I hope to go with that motif.

Thanks. 

Would help if you had pics. A friend told me that when sanding problems instead of sanding the whole while on the lathe just sand the problem area. Reason being that we (the turner) are the only ones who will notice that an area is not perfect round . So that special (tear out) area gets the attention that it needs and reduces the time needed to give that attention.

Instead of epoxy, maybe some CA and then what @Gerald said.

Pictures of the bowl show some spots that I can not get out with turning.  I can't seem to get much closer than this.

 

As you suggested, I have tried  to spot sand, burnish and scrape a bit with a cabinet scraper, yet without luck.  

I will try some thicker CA on one side and epoxy on another to see what happens.  Every bowl becomes a test case, usually for finishing and finishes.

 

Currently, this was sanded to 220, then I hand hand sanded spots to from 120 up to 220, then tried a cabinet scraper to burnish some of the spots, then methyl cellulose sanding sealer to tighten the tear out a bit, then hand sanding with more sanding sealer.  

Apple seems to have me stumped.

I had hoped for a very shiny surface yet may have to move back to a very matte finish which may just enhance the Indian pot motif.

Not a turner, but you might try some of this stuff instead of the ca.

Just out of curiosity, what tools are you using and what direction are you cutting?

 

Steve

Might try lacquer sanding sealer, then sand again

I can see that I did a poor job describing this.  

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

To broaden a bit, I rough turned this apple some months ago.  I try to leave a rough turn pretty smooth as it is easier to smooth out then than when dry, assuming I still like the inside or outside enough to keep that shape.  To one question, I start with a carbine bit, usually ending with a newly sharpened bowl gouge on both wet and dry bowls.

This apple warped far more than any wood I have turned before, to the point where I don't think I can turn it and get something round out of it. The walls are just too thin.  It is oblong. I kind of like it that way.  Also, it is from close to a crotch, so the grain is a bit wild.

So, I am trying to finish the outside of of this rough turned bowl without turning it anymore, leaving it quite oblong. I covered it with several coats of methyl cellulose, then went to work with a random orbital sander on some spots to avoid sanding marks but I think I just was not aggressive enough with my work or the grit.  I also  use a curved cabinet scraper around wild grain, and then down to a handheld 1" carbide circle bit for the smallest of wild grain patches. With little satisfaction, that is when I posted the plea for wisdom.

Since some of the first responses, I went to work with more aggressive hand sanding going with what ever grain it seemed to be at the point., eliminating most of the rough spots. I have now covered all the still rough spots (more than tear out, true imperfections in the wood) with gel CA and will hand sand and use the random orbital sander to smooth it out.  

I am optimistic.  

I think the issue is how to get rid of tear out and  imperfections from rough  turning without turning it more. The suggestions provided are helpful.  Epoxy has worked before on other bowls and vessels.  The CA works for small rough spots yet can discolor the wood if the tear out is too thick.  I keep thinking the sanding sealer should be more helpful but apparently it is not much of a filler beyond a pretty well sanded piece already. 

Perhaps there are still thoughts on CA, epoxy, sanding sealer, wood hardener, that are applicable here.

Thanks, as always, for the help.  I am a self-taught turner with several hundred bowls and vessels, yet I am sure that there are better and faster ways from others.