July 11, 20206 yr Okay so this was an interesting turn of events. Hollowing went smoothly. Not too much catching thankfully. I was able to get a nice enough shape for a dip bowl inside of the look that I was trying to go for. You guys have seen the start. I'm just about finished with this project here. I do have resin in hand for the inside of the bowl for the coating and I also have mineral oil. Not sure what else I could do to finish it up. I only sanded it up to 400 grit on the papers. I've still gotta cut off the mortise section. Either way I like the way this one is turning out. I'm sure it will look really good when I've got the finish on it.
July 12, 20206 yr Really looking good! For the inside, I don't think you can use both epoxy and mineral oil. Not sure about this but check it out. I see a few places on the inside that gave you some trouble. Sometimes it's almost impossible to get those marks out. Experiment with a lighter touch, moving the tool in a different direction (in/out) or start with really coarse sandpaper. When your bowls get a little bigger, power sanding will help, too.
July 12, 20206 yr Author Yea those spots did give me a hard time but I some what managed. I've got a small angle air power sander on the way to the house. Should be here tuesday or wensday.
July 12, 20206 yr Ok, I am confused here. I see the shine of it being sanded, but the inside looks as if it needs more sanding. Am I seeing correctly? I am having problems seeing. Just for my process, I start sanding with 100 grit until all my tool marks are invisible to me. But, after I finish, I sometimes see the turning tool marks. Are the marks reflection of lights or something? Thanks for helping me understand. I have new glasses, but it is harder to see than before. At age 72, it may be refractions from cataracts. Edited July 12, 20206 yr by FlGatorwood
July 12, 20206 yr Author Should I do the resin first on the inside of the bowl after I finish up the sanding or should I do the mineral oil on the outside first. Since I have an air compressor I've been contemplating on picking up a sprayer for finishing projects. Not quite sure on that yet. But I'm a bit on the iffy side on how to finish off the inside of that bowl.
July 12, 20206 yr 17 minutes ago, AndrewB said: Should I do the resin first on the inside of the bowl after I finish up the sanding or should I do the mineral oil on the outside first. Just me but I'd do the inside first. Because you are planning to use 2 different finishes you will probably want to mask off the area you're not working with to prevent spill over. I would not part off the piece until most of the finishing is done so you can use the lathe to touch-up any goofs with tools and/or sandpaper
July 12, 20206 yr Author That would make sense, I've actually got to run over to Home Depot this morning in about 10 minutes pick up some more sand paper, I've also got to grab a couple cups for the resin. On that note with the resin its just like mixing up epoxy glue right? 50 50 ratio I did go with the Aluminite Resin I think its called I only picked up a small amount of it and it arrived yesterday.
July 12, 20206 yr 15 minutes ago, AndrewB said: resin its just like mixing up epoxy glue right? 50 50 ratio Alumilite is 50/50 by VOLUME.
July 12, 20206 yr Author okay I'll be giving that a go today I'm planning on using a small brush to apply it so I get an even coat.
July 12, 20206 yr Author Welp that was easy lol. I just hope I got the resin mixture right guess well find out after it cures. Either way that was pretty simple to do with a 50 50 ratio. I was kinda shocked it didn't take much of it either. I just didn't wanna touch the stuff LOL. Now hurry up and wait for that to cure, then varnish and mineral oil. Either way I'm happy with this one. Ah yea I resanded everything again this morning as well to try and get all of the tool markings out as best as I could with what I had took it back all the way up to 400.
July 12, 20206 yr I forget the minimum speed of your lathe. If it goes really slow, you could let it run so the Alumilite doesn't collect in one place. Also warm temperatures will speed up the curing process of Alumilite.
July 12, 20206 yr Author The lowest it goes is about 800 so unfortunately I cant let it run all night, I'll have to go out in a bit and check on it.
July 12, 20206 yr I saw a video where a guy rigged up a grill rotisserie motor for applying finishes to turned items. It was pretty slick. I think he was using varnish for his finish but it should work for any type of finish
July 12, 20206 yr Author Now that's backyard tool hacking right there LOL. Interesting concept. Although I don't think I have the expertise of putting something like that together.
July 12, 20206 yr Author Yea I'm gonna have to look into that seems like an interesting concept and a good project to figure out. I was just looking on amazon at rotisserie motors. If I can find one for under 50 bucks that may be happening this summer.
July 12, 20206 yr Author Well now I must say this is turning out quite nicely. The resin is about dry but not fully cured how ever it was stable enough for me to put a coat of finish on. I did use the food safe wood bowl finish on it and YIKES this turned out better than expected. The resin hasn't been sitting and pooling at all. So things are going quite smoothly for me so far.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.