My adventure or don't try this at home

[Neil_B]

Nice work Charlie, I've got a lathe myself but unfortunatly it's collecting dust at the moment. So far made a small bowl and a little baseball bat for my boy.

[Moulder]

Charlie, your bowl is beautiful! I have not tried much with contrasts on bowls but if I could ever fit in in time wise I would love too. Can you go into a little more detail on the soap thing with the bowl. My partner in crime Joe is looking at playing around with it to see if it is a viable option for us. Though we do bowls lots of our work is spindle type work and we are playing around with introducing bowls into our bussiness to see if it will go and if there is profit in it.So far we rough turn let it dry and return. You know that same old chestnut. I'm curious if  the way you are drying if it would lend it's way towards production turning. I am just now looking at coring  bowls which is way too cool and can really save wood in that I can get 2-3 bowls out of one blank depending on the size of the blank of course. Well, there I go on my ramble again. Charlie great bowl. Randy

[CHARLIE]

Moulder, here is one link to what I was talking about.  I found that if you turn immediately after soaking, the wood won't crack but it still moves and your bowl will go oval. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it adds interest. But, I let my bowls soak for about 2 days and then dry for a couple of weeks before finish turning. It cuts way down on the wood movement.

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=general;action=display;num=1031411893;start=8

Here's another link too:

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=general;action=display;num=1017025904;start=12

[AndyB]

Moulder

Ron Kent is the turner who uses a soap solution on his turnings.
The prime website for turners has to be www.laymar-crafts.co.uk/
They have all kinds of tips for turners as well a links to 2500 plus individual woodturner sites.  You will find Ron Kent among them.

This is my first time on the forum.  I am a turner located in VA and just acquired the personal WM so that I can make my own blanks.  I have tried the soap solution and it seems to work well for me.

AndyB 8)

[Tom]

I can picture it now.  The guy eats a salad out of your bowls and, everytime, has to run to the bathroom.  He'll think it's some kind of magic and might even begin worshipping it.  What would you call a religion that worshipped wooden bowls?

[AndyB]

Tom:

All bowls are not turned to hold salads.  Many are turned to sell to collectors.  Some sell for $3,000. to $10,000. depending on the reputation of the turner.

Besides, when you remount and finish turn the bowl you apply a finish which seals the wood.  Usually, you use a food safe oil finish  like mineral oil.  That has been a finish of choice for years.  Now if that doesn't  make it an easy out I don't know what will.

Cheers,

AndyB 8)

[Percy]

I can picture it now.  The guy eats a salad out of your bowls and, everytime, has to run to the bathroom.  He'll think it's some kind of magic and might even begin worshipping it.  What would you call a religion that worshipped wooden bowls?

How about B.B.B.(Bowl Bowel Blasphemy) ;D ;D

AndyB....Tom is just funnin you :D :D.
Keep hangin out here and you'll bust a gut daily... :D :D

[Moulder]

AndyB, go into some more detail on your experince with finishing turning bowls using soap. Don't let the heretics on this forum give you a hard time, Since after all we are brothers bonded by the truer faith of bowl turning. I also bought my mill to cut bowl blanks but have expanded into lumber cutting to help pay for the machine and do run into lumber for the bowls.Since Charlie had talked about drying bowls this way I went ahead roughed a bowl used 50/50 soap water mixture soaked it for 48 hrs, and am in the process of letting it dry x2 wks, then I will finish turning the bowl and see what happens. I don't know where you are in VA but if you are close to Asheville NC come to one of our club meetings. Check out our web site at www.carolinawoodturners.com. The next meeting is this sat. Well better get back to talking about sawing since this is the sawmill part of the fourm. Randy

[Tom]

ya mean ya gotta talk sawmillin' on this forum?

AndyB,
You gotta look twice around here. Yep I was joshin'.  Couldn't resist it.  Anybody that would believe that Charlie knew what he was talkin' about doesn't know Charlie very good.  He's always trying to look intelligent but there's something missing in there.  If you look real close at his eyes in the pictures of him  on the forum, you will see that nobody's home. :D

[woodmills1]

here is a shot of a few bowls and plates I got from a gracious customer a few years back.  I cut some lumber for him and gave him some blanks.  You should have seen the cross he made on his fret saw for Kathys mothers funeral.

[AndyB]

Randy - Grew up in Concord, NC.  I''ve visited your website.  Some interesting turnings.

About sawing, how do you all think we get those bowl blanks.

Ron Kent's article said he used Kirkland dishwashing detergent (a CostCo house brand).  My experience has been to soak the bowls overnight and then set them aside for a month.  Have experienced very little loss as long as the pith was removed from the blank.  I got my soap at WalMart.  It smells better when you are turning than the CostCo brand.  Ron Kent uses eucalyptus oil in his mixture to make it smell good.

Tom - knew you were kidding.  I still think mineral oil is slicker.

[Tom]

Hmmmm Mineral oil and soap!  Sounds like a disaster brewing.  :D

[Moulder]

Ok Tom, in my profession I have used many concoctions ranging from mineral oil,castile soap, gylcerin, mag citrate ,but my favoriate a 50/50 mixture of milk and honey [you can use molasses] then you hang it high give a h--- of alot. Now that is a recipe for disaster. Don't know what that has to do with bowl turning or is that bowel turning. Randy

[Tom]

Me either, Moulder.  Milk and honey, eh :D

I'm remiss............     Welcome to the Forestry Forum AndyB.  You will find that most of us say something when we have nothing to say. :D  Especially me.  I butt in everywhere.  

Being a bowl turner myself,  I appreciate a good dose of mineral oil. ;D

[CHARLIE]

I belong to the Coulee Region Woodturners. We started the club about 2 1/2 years ago with 10 members and now have over 60 members.

 http://www.crwoodturner.com/

I usually soak my roughed out bowls for 48 hours in 1:1 solution of dish detergent (I bought mine at Fleet Farm and I don't think it matters what brand you use) and water.  I then let it dry for about a week before I turn it. That cuts down on the wood movement. I've had real good luck turning after only a week of drying.  But, sometimes warpage can make a bowl interesting. If you turn the bowl after only a day of drying, and turn the walls fairly thin, it will go oval on you. I prefer a high gloss finish and sand my bowls to 400 or 600 grit. My favorite finish is a shellac based woodturners finish that is put on with the lathe running.  I then polish the finish by buffing with buffing wheels using buffing compounds and finishing by applying canuba wax with a buffing wheel.

Tom, I had an MRI on my head last week and the Neuologist actually told me they found nothing. ;D

[chet]

Charlie is that a good sign.    :-/  

[CHARLIE]

Well Chet, I'm sure I'm gonna pay a bunch of money for them  telling me they couldn't find nothing up there.  Typical though. But they assured me my symptoms were not stroke related or torn blood vessel related and that is nice to hear. Tom could've saved me a bunch of money if he would just have told the doctors that there was nothing up there to begin with.  Anyway, I'll just live with the symptoms and hope it goes away someday.

[Tom]

Nuthin' from nuthin' leaves  ???

[Moulder]

Charlie, sorry to hear you are having problems.I hope that everything is well with you. I have tried what you said about the soap thing.I will be returning the bowl for finish this week. Standby for news.My new saying of the week that I heard on the radio. Sex is like air. It does'nt matter unless you are not getting any

[AndyB]

Charlie - when I was a kid my father told me I only had two brain cells in my head.  One made my eyes sparkle and he wasn't sure the other worked at all.  
 :D 8)

[CHARLIE]

 ;D That's good Andy.  That Tom just doesn't think I've even got one. I just don't seem to get no respect from that guy. He's probably trying in vain to get back at me after years of abuse. 8) :D