Three in a 'Row'....

Good news is I didn't screw things up too bad after all (last post). In fact, all three of these bowls turned out way better than I expected!

So, bottom line is there really is no bad news here.

Because there were three bowls harvested from one log, I thought it might be nice to post a photo of them 'before' the log was cut:

Followed by the finished bowls in a number of different poses all in a 'row':

It's really hard to adequately describe how the grain in these pieces 'popped' during the finishing process. Truly amazing!

The finishing process ultimately used one coat of wood conditioner, one coat of Danish Oil (the step that almost ruined these bowls for me), and three coats of wipe-on gloss polyurethane varnish. I didn't use furniture wax/polish on these bowls because the polyurethane finish was so smooth, there was no need.

And there ya have it!

On to the next project!

DWR

I Think I Screwed Up!!!!

How so, you say? Especially when everything was going so swimmingly according to plan? 

Well, the finishing process can be touch and go depending on what the wood looks like after testing in a small area. The problem with juniper like these bowls are is that there are so many different hues in both the sapwood and the heartwood.

The first step in my finishing process is to treat the wood with Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner. This conditioner does just that....conditions the wood in preparation for a stain being applied. 

My usual finishing process doesn't involve using stains, but I like using the pre-stain conditioner anyway because it seems to help stabilize the red color of the heartwood in juniper. 

However, this time, after applying the pre-stain conditioner, the sapwood was more yellowish than previous pieces of juniper I've worked with. So, I decided to try and tone down the yellow in the sapwood just a tad by applying a coat of Danish Oil 'natural' which has a slightly amber hue to it when cured. This is where I think I may have screwed up.

Let me explain. 

Before I applied the Danish Oil, I followed my own standard operating procedure of applying a coat of dewaxed shellac in order to help seal the grain of the wood so I wouldn't have to use so many coats of varnish later on. 

Ok, so far so good.

After I sanded the shellac layer lightly, I applied the Danish Oil to each piece. 

Aaaaaand this is where things started to go south for me. The Danish Oil I use has varnish in it, but it's never....not ever....glossy. This was waaaaay too glossy!

Even after curing overnight, the Danish Oil refused, I say REFUSED, to dry. So, it was off to the wonders of Google search to do some research.

Bottom line? My Danish Oil was too old. Plus, it had gone through at least two winters in sub-freezing temps much of the time. In my research, I found out any petroleum based finish for wood that sits too long and/or goes through significant weather changes (like heat in summer and cold in winter) will...not...cure! End of discussion!

Some pros out there recommended sanding down to bare wood and starting over. Others recommended trying to strip as much of the finish off as possible by using mineral spirits/paint thinner. The latter option sounded much better (and a HECKUVA lot easier) than the first option.

That's where I am right now, and hoping I didn't, in fact, screw up too bad.

DWR

The 'Finish' (See What I Did There?) Line is in Sight....

A couple of days ago, these bowls entered into the fine grinding phase of this project using the Kutzall 'medium' grit grinding wheel to take down the rough edges and ridges left from rough carving.

With most of the rough edges and ridges taken down, I realized I'm probably going to need to invest in a 'fine' grit grinding wheel in the not too distant future. The 'medium' grit is great for taking stock off relatively quickly, but it does leave swirls that are difficult to sand out. They aren't easy to see in the photo, but believe me when I say they're there.

The next step in this phase required finer sanding. My weapon of choice? My DeWalt random orbital sander.

This was another 'aha' moment in that a standard 5 inch random orbital sander works great on less contoured surfaces, but to get down into the bowl, itself, was a problem. Here's another instance where an investment in a smaller 3 1/2 inch random orbital sander is required. I had one at one time, but it was pneumatic (required a gigantic air compressor and even that couldn't keep up). The one I'm looking at now is electric.

After finishing sanding with the random orbital sander, all three bowls needed finish sanding by hand. Starting with 120 grit and ending with 220 grit gave these bowls a 'smooth as a baby's butt' finish ready for the final finishing phase. So, I packed all three bowls using an old towel and trundled myself up to the other building where finish varnishing takes place.

Through a lengthy period of trial and error, I found that the best way to prep pieces for final finishing in order to get as much fine sawdust out of nooks and crannies and off the main surface is to use mineral spirits. Even though I used my air compressor to blow off residual sawdust and a rag to wipe off even more residual sawdust, it was amazing (once again) to see how much is still there for the mineral spirits to remove.

All done, and beginning to look more and more like they should when all is said and done.

Tomorrow, a coat of wood conditioner will be applied followed by a coat of dewaxed shellac followed by the first of at least three, possibly four, coats of hand rubbed gloss varnish.

The 'finish' line is, in fact, in sight......

DWR