The Woodturning Forum - Woodturner's Resource - What to do with natural edge bowl

Scott glass WR Addict Offline Wood is my Gold! Posts: 1589 Gender:	What to do with natural edge bowl 04/20/12 at 06:08:11 I have several rough outs of shore pine natural edge bowls I have been working on. The bark is very thick and fragile as you can see. I am not sure what to do with the finish or what to use. I don't want a shinny finish on the bark, but would finish make it more stable. I just can't decide what to do with them.
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Robert Harper

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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #1 - 04/20/12 at 06:55:43

One good soaking with Danish oil works well for me. I have a five gallon bucket of a home brew. I just drop them in, let them soak for a bit of time. How long depends on what affect I want. If I want it to go translucent, I'll soak it for days. If I just want a finish, I'll give it an hour. For semi gloss to mat finish, I take them out, drain and wipe off the excess. Then allow it to dry. For gloss, I'll wipe on a very thin layer over the following few days until I end up with a glossy finish.

This is only what works well for me. I personally have a hard time getting a good, uniform finish with the polly finishes, especially the acrylics. I also like the warmer color the oil adds.

This is more a personal preference thing than anything else.

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Breck Whitworth

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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #2 - 04/20/12 at 06:56:54

Regardless of what finish you choose I would suggest using CA on all loose areas and cracks or potential cracks before final turning. If you use a finish that hardens it will of course protect and help keep intact the bark, but whether the bark remains at all depends on the final turning.(and luck some times) The drier the wood the harder to keep the bark I have found. I will use CA very liberally if I want to keep any bark from dry wood. There may be better methods so wait and see. lolk

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Scott glass

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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #3 - 04/20/12 at 07:54:02

I tend to agree with both of you and that is my plan if I can't find anything else. I don't care for polys because I like to feel the wood, that is just my preference and there is nothing wrong with it. I have used ca on bark and does work well. Even lacquer helps a little but this bark is so big and chunky I think ca might me the only way to go.
Danish oil has been my favorite for 30 years and I use it 90 percent of the time. I have made quite a few bowls with bark but none where it is this thick.

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Charlie Zapalac Senior Member Offline The Cross Guy Posts: 392	Re: What to do with natural edge bowl Reply #4 - 04/20/12 at 08:03:19 Also, clean your turning are very well and keep it clean as you work. When one chunk of the bark flies off that you want to keep, you'll want to find it and CA it back on.
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Scott glass

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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #5 - 04/20/12 at 08:42:00

Charlie that is a good idea and a habit I picked from the start. My lathe is in a room in my house. I don't like dust and I don't like stepping in my mess. I grab a broom and sweep my mess anytime I stop working. I use a shop vac and clean as I go. And when I am finished for the day my clean up is easy because I have kept up with it. And somehow I do better work with a clean shop, don't know why but I do. And there have been a number of times I have had to look for something and a clean floor it sure helps. Also I don't like to walk in chips because I use light weight shoes and I can slip easy. To bad the rest of my house is not as clean as my shop.

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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #6 - 04/20/12 at 13:06:26

I typically finish bark edges with a wipe-on varnish like Formby's tung Oil Finish or Minwax Antique oil. Danish oil (store-bought or homemade) will work about the same. As long as I wipe off (or blot) the excess finish, I don't end up with glossy bark. Personally, I prefer to not use CA on bark, as it can gloss things up pretty easily. (Or cause white spots if you use accelerator to dry it.) I will use CA to repair or rebuild a broken chunk of bark, but if I keep my tools sharp and well-controlled, I usually don't have much of a problem with losing the bark.

It seems to me that if wood is harvested in the cooler months, the barks tends to stay on better than if the wood's cut in the hotter months.

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Scott glass WR Addict Offline Wood is my Gold! Posts: 1589 Gender:	Re: What to do with natural edge bowl Reply #7 - 04/20/12 at 18:39:50 I hope that the cooler month part is true, I have revived a fair amount of wood from storms recently. I have heard from people who use bark for certain things they find a certain time of the year best. I had made a few natural edge bowls but the bark is not even half this this thick.
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Bernie Weishapl

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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #8 - 04/21/12 at 08:31:07

Scott you've gotten some good advice. I generally soak the bark on mine with Antique oil. It seems to stablize it pretty well. As far as the bark I find cutting wood in the winter when the sap is down makes it easier to turn NE bowls. I have gotten wood in the summer when the sap is up and at least for me the bark doesn't hold well. That is where the CA comes in.

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Charlie Zapalac Senior Member Offline The Cross Guy Posts: 392	Re: What to do with natural edge bowl Reply #9 - 04/21/12 at 13:38:42 If you do loose a piece of the bark, fake it with a propane torch. Just burn that spot a little, keeping things safe of course. Nobody but us will know.
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Len Layman WR Patron Offline What have I got into?? Posts: 1718 Gender:	Re: What to do with natural edge bowl Reply #10 - 04/22/12 at 10:14:18 Charlie Zapalac wrote on 04/21/12 at 13:38:42: Nobody but us will know. And for a small fee we will not tell.
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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #11 - 04/22/12 at 11:14:59

Scott -- That is a lot of bark thickness.

I am thinking that it will likely overwhelm the rest of the bowl. With hardwoods the bark is generally much more thin. If you want really thick bark - some of that on cottomwoods can be extra thick - so thick that it is separated and used for carvings.

You might think about taking the bark off but leaving the natural edge of the cambium under the bark.

I use Mahoney Walnut Oil on the natural edge bowls - fast, easy, and never gloss.

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Scott glass

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Re: What to do with natural edge bowl
Reply #12 - 04/22/12 at 16:23:58

I will be making a few more like it. I really like the bark and I think I will leave it on this one, it will be a little thinner when done. I think I will try your suggestion on the next one.
When you see the bark on the whole bowl I think it looks nice but will always be fragile. So far none has come off.
I dried it in the microwave and thought it was dry but might be just a little damp still so I will wait a little while to finish it.

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Paul Gilbert WR Supporter Offline Turned by Paul Posts: 285 Gender:	Re: What to do with natural edge bowl Reply #13 - 04/22/12 at 21:06:41 be very careful with CA and light colored wood natural edge bowls. Some brands of CA will leach out color from the bark and wick it into the blond wood, leaving an unsightly stain. I highly recommend that you take a thin section of waste material and soak the bark in CA to see if it will discolor the underlying wood.
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Robert Harper WR Addict Offline WR doesn't rock, it RULES! Posts: 2969 Gender:	Re: What to do with natural edge bowl Reply #14 - 04/23/12 at 05:17:56 I've gotten so I don't try to do repairs on bark. If it stays, I use it. If it is loose, I remove it. If it chips off while turning, I try to remove the rest. I think if you do use CA to hold the bark on, do it early on when you are about twice the finial thickness. That way you'll turn away the surface staining.
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