Welcome to my Woodworking Page

Introduction

My interest in woodturning is a recent one as I only started in October 1998. Although it only began as a hobby my interests have now extended over into woodworking. Currently this section of my website is mainly about the subject of woodturning. But I will shortly be adding infomation and articles about more general woodworking. As well as photo's of furniture and other small items I have made.

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Woodturning Finishes

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Woodturning Finishes

There is so much to the subject of finishing in both furniture making & woodturning. It is SO important that the wood be sanded to remove tool marks using increasingly fine grades of paper. This process is necessary so that the scratches left by sanding eventually become invisible to the naked eye. Only once all these scratches have been removed can the finishing process begin. You really have to have patience & take your time, skipping grades of sandpaper means that you will sometimes be left with tool marks which will be enhanced once the finish is applied which can be really annoying to say the least. I must admit to not always being able to see some marks/scratches as they can be very fine, but most of the time I seem to achieve a really satisfying finish.

SEALING THE WOOD: In order for a finish to take & look good the pores of the wood have to be filled so that there is a smooth surface for the finish to sit on. There are many ways to seal wood. I've used spirit based sealers which take around an hour to dry which is a little too long for me. I recently moved onto using Cellulose sealers which only take about 10 mins & still give a brilliant finish. You need to thin the Cellulose down as it is quite thick & milky, this is achieved using a Cellulose thinner, I use a 50/50 mix which works quite well, the only downside is that it has pretty strong fumes. so it must be applied in a well ventilated area. There are obviously many other types of sealers, you just have to experiment & find what suits you best.

POLISHING: I use a product known as Speed an eeze, which is a friction polish. You apply successive thin layers using a lint free cloth which gives a really nice shine to the piece & helps to bring out the grain.  I've used this on most of my candlesticks & lampstands & some of the bowls. Again there are dozens of products out there for polishing. But this is one I have particuarly found easy to apply & it produces a nice even finish.

OILING: There are two main types of oil I have so far used. Liberon's Finishing Oil & Danish Oil.  The finishing oil is used for smaller work & the Danish for larger as the latter is far cheaper per volume. Both perform the same task in that they help seal the wood & give it a certain amount of protection against moisture & heat.  Oil gives a beautiful finish & really helps to bring out the grain.  Again this is an area which you can really get involved in as you can make up your own cocktails of finish using oil, i.e such as adding pigments to the oil to change its colour or mixing with certain types of wax to produce a seal/stain mix.  I have used finishing oil on things I've made for use in the kitchen & bathroom as both these locations suffer from varying changes in moisture & temperature.

WAXING: The wax is usually the final finish & provides some protection helping to seal against moisture & also give a certain amount of shine. So far I have used only 3 types of wax. Liberon's paste wax which is applied with a lint free cloth left for 10 mins or so then buffed to give a really nice shine. Beeswax which usually comes as sticks, you hold the stick against the work whilst it's revolving & the friction causes it to melt. The wax is then buffed so that a thin layer is spread evenly over the work. Although Beeswax produces a reasonable shine, this will fade after a while & requires occasional buffing to bring the shine back.  Carnobe wax which is the hardest wax known comes as a solid toblerone shape stick which is friction melted like beeswax, after buffing with a cloth a very high shine is produced which can last for years & doesn't require frequent buffing. I think the only drawback with Carnobe wax is that it can crack if a timber decides it wants to expand or contract with temperature changes, Beeswax is far more flexible.

FINISHES FOR FOOD ITEMS: Oil is the safest & most widely used finish for turned items which are intended for food use.  Most commonly used is vegetable oil, although I have heard mixed views on this, some say it goes ransid after a while, others say it is fine.  When I make food bowls I apply a number of coats of vegetable oil leaving it to soak in for a few hours each time, each application taking longer to soak in. I then use walnut oil as a top coat. First you apply a layer of walnut oil to the bowl or whatever else it might be that you want to seal. Then take some fine sandpaper (I use 400 grit) & apply some oil to it. Turn the lathe on and gently sand the surface, the sawdust that is produced will mix with the oil which is thinned due to the heat generated to form a paste which will seal the wood & stop it from becoming rough when washed (stop the grain raising). I do this for a few minutes until I consider the whole item to be sealed.  The bowl is then washed in some soapy water to remove excess oil & sawdust, dried & is then ready for use. Corn oil can also be used, this is just applied with a cloth in the same way as vegetable oil. I have also heard that you can use Danish Oil, but I'm not so sure myself as this is a compound & not a pure oil.

Woods & their uses

I use many different varieties of timber for my work & am always trying new types as there are so many to choose from. In the main though I tend to use common varieties of European & Exotic timbers such as Ash, Elm, Yew, Cherry, Apple, Pear, Beech, Pine, African Walnut, Iroko, & Zebrano.  I try to stay away from South American grown timbers for obvious reasons.  I have a number of favourite woods, I like making small items such as candlesticks out of Yew as it finishes so well. Ash, Walnut & Beech are especially good for making lampstands. I've made a lot of bowls using Ash, Elm & Pine & was lucky enough to have some Teak which I've used to make plinths for friends & relatives. The best wood I found to turn & many people agree is Cherry, it peels away with little effort & takes a finish extremely well. Although it must be said that it is very expensive.

Woodworking Equipment / Material Suppliers in the UK

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