What Finishes do you use on your bowls

[Garry Smith]

I have been using multiple finishes but would like to hear what everyone else is using. The last few I have used lacquer which came out great but these bowls for display only.

I have some Curly Maple blanks with great color and firgure and cherry burl.
What's the best finish to use that is durable and food safe that will pop the figure and color?

Thanks
Garry

[Chris Barton]

Hi Gary,

For me it depends on the finish I want as an outcome. If I want deep gloss and glass-like I go with water-based poly high gloss spray and then after completely dry (at least over night) use the Beal System to polish and buff the piece. If I want quick and more of a satin finish, then I go with either shellac and wax or just wax and buff.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I'm still new at this, to please take that into account.

I use a sanding sealer, then a friction polish, and finally a turners wax, buffed on, I like it, it is quick and easy, and looks good too!

Cheers!

[Don Baer]

I've been using a mixture that I picked up a while back for a flatworks project. It's the Mallof finish that they sell at rocklers. It's 1/3 BLO,1/3 Tongue Oil and 1/3 Rub on poly. I just rub it on and then rub it off. That I follow with a friction wax.

[Lee DeRaud]

I've got three "standard" finishes:

1. Buff and wax only. So far I've only done that on cherry, but I'd guess it would work on any really tight-grain wood. Probably also the right answer for oily exotics, but I haven't done much of that yet.

2. A coat or two of GF Seal-A-Cell, buff and wax. Works for anything the Seal-A-Cell will cure on, which is basically anything that isn't really oily (see #1). (Seal-A-Cell is an oil/poly mix, probably not that different from the Maloof stuff Don uses.)

3. Thin CA, applied with a paper towel (and a glove) on the lathe. Sand to 600, buff and wax. Pretty much the ultimate in instant gratification, great for open-grain stuff like walnut. But it's not cheap: it's pretty easy to use up a couple bucks worth of the stuff on a small/medium bowl...no way I'd try it on some of the big salad bowls you guys do.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Gary.......I've used BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system.

[Don Baer]

Hey Ken,
do you use BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system ?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Yup...............Yup...............Yup!

[Lee DeRaud]

Hey Ken,
do you use BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system ?

No, he uses BLO and shellac...........shellac.............danish oil.........all buffed out on a Beal buffing system.

Try to keep up, will ya?

"I see everything twice." - Yossarian, "Catch-22"

[Tom Jones III]

Why BLO AND shellac? If you are using the shellac to seal in the BLO won't the carnuba wax in the buffing process do that?

Do you apply the shellac off the lathe?

[Keith Burns]

Wipe on gel poly, 1 or 2 coats, and buff. Exotics buff only.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Why BLO AND shellac? If you are using the shellac to seal in the BLO won't the carnuba wax in the buffing process do that?

Do you apply the shellac off the lathe?

Tom....I actually friction on a light coat of BLO on the lathe and follow it with a frictioned coat of shellac on the lathe. I take an hour's break and buff. The BLO pops the grain....the friction application helps it dry....the shellac seals it....the friction application helps it dry.....the buffing polishes the whole thing............

Some of the friction coatings used are shellac based. I ran out of Mylands friction polish and found that a local hardware company stocks Zinnser's dewaxed shellac...........I tried it........it works.....

[Tom Jones III]

I've got a bottle of Hut for pens that the neighborhood kids make. It is a friction polish combo of shellac and carnauba wax. I wonder how well this would work on a bowl, then buffed?

[Don Baer]

Tom,
I use the Hut friction polish on my bowls and realy like it. I just put it on, crank up the lathe to 1200 or so and with a soft cloth let the friction do the rest.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom....My first bowls were finished with Myland's friction polish which is shellac and wax, I believe and it worked well. The one thing I leaned when applying friction polish to something as large as bowl.....go lightly and keep that paper towel moving...Friction it until you know it's dry and then let it rest a hour or two .....then you can apply a 2nd coat....if you intend to appy more than 2 coats....let it set overnight between the 2nd coat and others. If you apply the coats too thick or two quick you sometimes have to sand it out with 400 or and start over.

Good luck!