No. 11 - it is done!

[Brian Effinger]

Brian....do you get the same urge I do....want to snicker when he talks about his "other" tools?

Yeah, I had a big grin on my face when I read that.

Ken, I knew you and Brian would appreciate the comment on the other tools!! You all knew all along what would happen.

Brian, the walnut just has the lacquer on it - no shellac this time. And, I didn't use BLO as I didn't want to yellow or darken the whiter areas of the box elder. I really like the lacquer finish and will probably use it a lot more. It doesn't have enough gloss for some pieces, but for this one I like the look.

John, did you brush the lacquer on, or did you thin it down and wipe it on with a cloth? Or neither? I am thinking of trying it on my next project, which will be made from padauk. I am hoping that the lacquer will keep the color of the wood red longer than any other finish. So far my only experience with the stuff is from spraying some ornaments.
Thanks.

Brian

[Dave Carey]

John,
A beautiful piece. I'm interested in the technique you used to cut the opening for the top: cut straight through and then add the lip for the top to sit on? If so that through cut must be a very fine cut. With which tool? Again, fantastic piece.

[John Keeton]

John, did you brush the lacquer on, or did you thin it down and wipe it on with a cloth?

Brian, I used a brush. This was a small piece and I didn't want to mix a batch of thinned lacquer, but I was afraid the lacquer would set too quick full strength. So, I poured some lacquer thinner in a small disposable plastic dish (the Kroger deli gave me a dozen or so, and we save all the ones from various grocery items.) I lightly dipped the brush in the lacquer, and lightly dipped it in the thinner, and brushed in on. Went on very smooth, but it will run if you aren't careful. Dried very quickly, and it leveled great. It doesn't take much for a piece this size!!!

John,
A beautiful piece. I'm interested in the technique you used to cut the opening for the top: cut straight through and then add the lip for the top to sit on? If so that through cut must be a very fine cut. With which tool? Again, fantastic piece.

Thanks, Dave! The cut for the opening was done with the bowl gouge just as a part of hollowing out the bowl. Since I did have to undercut the rim, I touched up the cut with the gouge after the inside was finished. Then I just did a recess cut with a square scraper. The outside surface of the bowl had not yet been finish sanded, so the scraped edge was cleaned up in the sanding process.

I used two chucks, and left the bowl chucked while I turned the lid. I took the piece of box elder that I had bandsawed from the blank, and glued a round piece of walnut to it for a tenon (grain running the same direction!) I mounted the lid by the walnut tenon, and turned the underside, including a very small recess on the inside surface that I used to chuck the lid in expansion mode to turn the outside. The walnut tenon became the walnut band under the burl.

I marked the lid with a small pencil mark for one of the numbered jaws on the chuck so I could rechuck it and it would run smooth each time. That way I was able to fit it to the recess in the bowl and the curvature by taking light passes at it.

Hope this makes sense.

[Roland Martin]

Extremely nice work John, you ought to be some proud! That's a substantially complex piece and challenge, Congratulations on a FINE piece!

[Harlan Coverdale]

I'll just chime in and repeat what the others have said. Great piece, and you're showing a great knack for form and composition.

BTW, if your tablesaw keeps complaining, just muffle the cries for attention by piling turning blanks on the table. Worked for mine.

[Tony De Masi]

Wonderful job John. I really do enjoy this piece quite a bit. As I've stated before, your talents are amazing. Imaging what you could be doing if you started this ten years ago?????

Tony

[Jess Wetherhold]

Lookin good John