This was my instant gallery piece for the Rocky Mountain symposium last weekend. Camphor Burl with ebony, 5" dia. x 5 3/8" overall height, 1/8" wall thickess. Finished with Tung oil and briwax.
It was fortunate enough to be chosen as a piece in the formal critique by Andi Wolfe, Michael Mocho and Keith Gotschall. They seemed to enjoy it and made much mention (favorable) of the form and the finial design. I was pleasantly surprised.
Very nice, i very much like the finial design,would you mind to go through the finish in more detail ? i haven't tried tung oil yet, is that the same kind of thing as finishing oil? and also what was your final grit used?
Thanks wheelie, final grit was 600. I sanded on the lathe to 400, then once off the lathe I went back down to 220 and went through the grits to 600. The finish is pretty easy, take Minwax Tung Oil, mix one part of tung oil to two parts lacquer thinner. Apply liberally with a cloth and rub into the wood. Let that sit for about 1/2 hour and reapply. After 3-4 coats, let sit over night and buff back with the grey woven pads or 0000 steel wool and get it smooth again. Then another 3-4 coats, let sit for a few days and then wet sand (with water) with 600 grit. Buff on a buffing wheel lightly to restore the shine and then apply a coat or two of briwax and hand buff with a soft cloth to a high shine.
Chris-I really like the contrast between the glossy body and the matte finale. Thank you for discribing your finishing tech. I love tung oil and am glad to see how you apply it. I am not achieving the "depth" of finish that you have here, now I know why.
Thanks guys.
Beaver - I was trying to avoid the "plastic" look that ebony can have when polished, I like how it came out too. On the tung oil, it can be a pain to play with, but this process does wonders. after about the 5th or 6th coat you'll start to see the shine as it builds up. The biggest thing is thinning it down. It helps the oil penetrate deeper into the wood and helps it dry faster. If you want to go a step further after the 5th coat use a 50/50 mix and do 3-4 coats of that and then let it dry for 3-4 days.
Thanks Jeremy. I had it priced at $400 at the symposium.
Larry, the finial was a bit of a surprise to me. The piece of ebony was a quater cut from a larger piece of stock I had turned previously. When I started turning it, the slope presented itself and I had the choice to either turn it away or use it. That one item (the angled bowl at the top) got a lot of attention and many favorable comments. It's nice when experiments work out that way!
This HF is a true beauty, Chris.
I like the fully inflated form a lot,
and the angled tip finial looks fine.
I guess I will have to try that good looking finish.
Ok, this may be off the deep end alittle--I like the contrast/juxaposition between the glossy "inflated form" (thanks Gil) without a preceived beginning nor end-it sugguests infinity while the matte finial, with the angled tip is very definative in it's form....