Big Bowls

Rick, Jim Hiltz, Jim MacLean, Chris, Miles, Paul

Leo spoke about indexing on the lathe.
To index an odd number eg 11 divisions:  wrap a paper tape around the perimeter of the chuck and mark the exact circumference
Then place the same tape down on a surface
Measure the length of the tape start to the marked area.
Divide this measurement by 11 to get can approximate division
Use dividers to mark off the divisions and adjust the divider repeatedly so as  you get exactly 11 even divisions

This is easy and fast to do
Jim Hiltz mounted his large bowl and proceeded to hand turn the outside-a slow laborious process

Leo helped Paul figure out where to place dowels in his uneven blank so as to be able to mount it on the lathe

Big Bowls !

Rick, Him Hiltz, Miles, Chris, Paul

Some People brought in large blanks for turning.

Leo discussed the various paints: House paint vs Artists Craft paint vs Airbrush paints.
The differences is in the size of the pigment granules which matter as to whether the lines get blocked up in the spray gun.

If you paint using the whiting/bond/paint approach, be sure to start the sanding with coarse grain paper or the result  is a finish that is uneven

Leo demonstrated a simple jig for drilling  a log on the drill press: see photos. The jig is usable as a small stool as well!

Leo demonstrated how to use a jig on the lathe to drill angled holes at even distributions (indexed)

Rick mounted his large bowl using the spider chuck but it was too big for the machining jig-he has to start it using  hand power and a big gouge

Leos'Ammonia finished bowls

Jig to find leg height

Drill press jig-Blank is screwed on from top

Angle drilling using lathe and indexer

Ricks Bowl

Drilling on lathe

Potpourri

Paul, Jim MacLean, Jim Hiltz, Rick, Chris and Miles


Leo did some explaining of techniques for surfacing wood prior to painting:

Shellac + whiting mixed into a paste (add a little yellow core, or other pigment (don't use Tempra)) can be applied to the wood, evened out, then let dry.
(Whiting is sifted lime stone)

Then sand it down.  Use coarse paper  to wet sand with methyl hydrate--this takes  the high thick layer off quickly.
Continue with finer grade paper until the surface is smooth
Then dry sand to the finest finish

Alternatively:
Bond + whiting
Acrylic paint thickened with whiting

The result is a hard surface that is smooth and ready for spray painting or other finish including shellac, lacquer

Leo used Behr interior enamel house paint--brown colour

If you spray the acrylic paint it has to be diluted with water very thinly so as to go through the airbrush system.

Leo showed how to polish a finish using:
sand paper up to 10000
Pumice
Rottenstone
Cerium oxide

Finally waxing with Carnuba:  rub the carnuba in using leather-a leather glove would work

CRL Cerium Oxide is a high grade optical polishing compound used to lessen and polish scratches from mirror bevels, table top edges, glass in vehicles or structures. CRL Cerium Oxide is mixed with water to form a paste or slurry. This compound has excellent suspension qualities and will not harden. Contains no zinc oxide, and meets most local disposal ordinances. This Cerium Oxide Compound can be used with a hand pad for light surface cleanup, powered hand devices for scratch and surface repair, mechanized scrubbers in mirror silvering lines, or as the final polishing step in multi-stage edging and beveling equipment.

Leo suggested we all do a small bowl or vase so as we can practice this paint finishing technique.

We agreed to bring large blanks next session for bowl turning on the bowl lathe.

November 10 Notes

In attendance: Jim Hiltz, Jim MacLean, Chris, Rick

Leo tip: use dividers to mark equal distances. You adjust them as necessary to achieve this. As well, it is a good idea to have an extra set with one of the legs bent inward . This makes it easier if you’re trying to divide a board in half.

Leo tip: if you’re cutting threads in wood—make your own tap by cutting a notch part way up the bolt. This helps clear the wood chips.

If shellac gets hard add methyl hydrate to it. A good mix for shellac is 3-1. If you are using a brush for shellac, you should soak it in methyl hydrate.

We brushed shellac on our bowls (inside and out) and then lightly sanded them using 400 grit. You then wipe them with a lint free painters cloth. 

Leo suggests not to use a tack cloth.When spraying a curved surface such as a bowl, use a circular motion. The spray pressure is 12lbs.

Tip:  I discovered by accident that lacquer thinner will partly dissolve and dull the finish on pens finished  with CA glue. Adding thinner into the pen makes it easier to dissemble the pen for correcting flaws.

Salad bowl finish seems to stick to shellac and vice versa

Wonders of Shellac

Attendance: Paul, Miles, Chris, Him Hiltz, Jim MacNeil, Rick macDonald

Everyone had a piece of wood and we practiced various methods of staining.

Various approaches can be used to get a good result:


Sanding the wood  to a fine finish is important regardless of methods used.

Coat with clear dewaxed shellac
Let dry: then begin to build layers of stain
Add a WATER based vinyl stain (Clear varnish) :  use a good brush
wait several minutes
wipe off gingerly and let dry
Coat this layer with an OIL based stain, wait a few minutes and wipe off and let dry
Repeat with the WATER based stain until the color is right

(The reason for alternating is because  adding  water based stain over a water based stained layer just results in dissolving the first layer: same for the oil based layer so alternating the Oil and Water based stains gives the best result)

Finally dry overnight and coat with clear shellac by spray gun using a low pressure

Alternatively:

Coat wood with Bond or the Vinyl first
Let dry
Coat with water-based stain;- wipe off after a few  minuted and let dry
Coat with Oil based stain;  wait a few minuted and wipe off- let dry
Re-coat with the water base stain until you get the right color

Finally spray on clear shellac after an overnight dry

Leo put  a piece of wood  immersed in water for 5 days that he had shellaced and the finish remains hard and dry!

For wood with voids:

Coat with Clear shellac
Use a shellac -cabosil mix brushed on to fill in the voids
Proceed to stain as above

Hint:  Adding a little Ammonia to a water stain  makes the stain eat into the wood better when the wood is pre-treated with the vinyl  or shellac layer: Otherwise the stain does not penetrate and will wipe off completely

Leo gave all hands a bottle of  Ammonia
Paul gave all hands a supply of Acupuncture needles.
We might find a use for them in the New year projects

Shellac

Attendees: Paul ,Jim MacNeil ,Jim Hiltz ,Chris, Miles


Leo continued on his discussion of finishes. Everyone  had a small bowl made for this.

Leo demonstrated a large bowl blank that had "funky" spalted wood with soft spots and lots of fuzz. Usually these are nearly impossible to turn.

Solution:

Coat the wood with Shellac
Then coat with a mix of Shellac and Cabosil--thoroughly ....and wet sand it all in to penetrate
Alternatively use Bond and Cabosil or Clear Acrylic and cabosil
Let Dry

Use a fine Particle carbide cutter to turn,  taking very light cuts
The carbide scraper blades work well for this.
They need to be mounted on a tool to work
(We decided to order 10 or 20 for the group. Leo can get them from England)

The result is spectacular--wood turns very smoothly
You can salvage very bad pieces using this technique

Sand off a shellac finish using Methyl Hydrate on the sand paper (wet sand )

Using  a clear Acrylic coat on bare wood (2 coats) before staining gives a very nice effect and avoids excess end grain uptake

Leo went over the dry brushing technique of applying stain

Leo showed us several home made scrapers he made using the carbide blades

Tip:  Paint can rims become clogged with the paint and as soon as you try  to get the cover back on, the groove in the rim of the can is filled with the paint.

Solution:  Turn a wooden rim with a lip that fits into the groove in the top of the can and  tapered downward towards the inside of the can so you can squeeze off the excess paint.
When you are finished, remove the wood lid and replace the metal one into the now clean groove

Next session we will be doing a spray on finish using the airbrush ( instead of using a brush to put the finish on)

spalted blank

scraper

stain sample

Staining applied to shellac,bond one coat, bond 2 coats, raw wood.The 2 coat bond seemed to give the best result 

Use rubber wine cork for the stop on the chuck accessory jaws (Jm Hiltz idea)

Wood lid in place while using the paint can

remove the wood lid and replace the metal one into the clean groove!

Shellac

Jim Hiltz, Jim MacLean, Chris, Paul, Miles, Rick

Leo went over the techniques or shellac for staining, filling, over-coating in some detail tonight.

We agreed to make a small bowl for next session and do a shellac finish on it.
To make the basic shellac mix 3;1 ( one volume flakes to 3 volumes Methylhydrate
Dilute this even more for spraying on your project and use very low spray pressure

Mixing shellac, wood dust and cabosil makes a great filling agent

Jim Hiltz finished his dovetail plane and it is a beauty indeed
Leo says he will stoke up the forge soon to treat the tool steel for the blades

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha, methyl hydrate, or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH₃OH (often abbreviated MeOH). Methanol acquired the name "wood alcohol" because it was once produced chiefly as a byproduct of the destructive distillation of wood. Modern-day methanol production occurs in a catalytic industrial process directly from carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen.

Methanol is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to that of ethanol (drinking alcohol).^[10] However, unlike ethanol, methanol is highly toxic and unfit for consumption. At room temperature, it is a polar liquid, and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethanol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via transesterification reaction.

Methanol is produced naturally in the anaerobic metabolism of many varieties of bacteria, and is commonly present in small amounts in the environment. As a result, there is a small fraction of methanol vapor in the atmosphere. Over the course of several days, atmospheric methanol is oxidized with the help of sunlight to carbon dioxide and water.

Attendance: Jim Hiltz, Paul, Miles, Wilson, Trevor Pushie (New Member)

Leo mentioned a new invention: Use an electric toothbrush, cut the bristles off and glue on  a sandpaper to make a small rotatory tool

Leo discussed Shellac. He is studying modifications on the use of the age old finish.
Shellac comes from the secretions of insects;

Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated species is Kerria lacca.

Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick (broodlac) that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infested.^[1] Thousands of lac insects colonize the branches of the host trees and secrete the resinous pigment. The coated branches of the host trees are cut and harvested as sticklac.

The harvested sticklac is crushed and sieved to remove impurities. The sieved material is then repeatedly washed to remove insect parts and other soluble material. The resulting product is known as seedlac. The prefix seed refers to its pellet shape. Seedlac which still contains 3-5% impurities is processed into shellac by heat treatment or solvent extraction.

The leading producer of Lac is Jharkhand, followed by the Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra states of India. Lac production is also found in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, parts of China, and Mexico.

Shellac flakes can be dissolved in Methyl alcohol

They come in various colors: Orange, white, blond, and ultra blond: 

(Available at Wood Essence in Ontario) The flakes will deteriorate unless humidity is low.

Orange is the hardest to use as it colors up the grain too much

Use a ratio of:   1Flakes : 3 Methyl alcohol

This solution should be stable for a good while

This dilution is OK for spraying  use a low pressure or it will gum up on the surface of your wood.

One can make fillers by using a mixture of Cabosil, sanding dust of various colors and the shellac mix.

Store these in jars.

They will harden up in time and you have to add some methyl alcohol to soften it again.

Leo suggested spraying on black paint for the vase project

If brushing it on, brush lots until it is almost dry to avoid streaks. Lift the brush towards the end so that it just touches the surface.

Once done, a water based lacquer or clear acrylic can be used to do the final finish

Staining Cherry: this is hard to accomplish as the stain is taken up too deeply especially in the end grain

Solution: Use a mixture of Tannic acid ( a powder) and ammonia to coat the wood before adding the stain.

We decided to make some chuck jaws for holding large bowls as a next project.

Beech 5/8 thickness is the best wood to use (Hard maple alternatively)

We also decided to start to turn some of the acacia bowl blanks

Make a small bowl for the next sessions and we will practice with the shellac and stain and finish.

Leo's-  Cherry/Maple-Shellac finish

                                     Jim's plane

Dovetail Plane continure

Rick, J Hiltz, J MacLean, Miles and Chris and Paul

Previous session

(We spent time looking over each of the planes..... discussed what we did, what needs to be tweaked, where to make the next cuts and what should be done by next session. ( and the last session for this season) Leo seemed pleased with the progress. 

1. SPRAYING-- If using acrylic or metallic paint don't use gesso under it. It won't let the paint adhere and , as well, it shrinks
2. DURA BUILD - an acrylic primer sealer(used in the auto painting world). Leo is using this on his vase that's in the big lathe. If you have a scratch or dimple in the wood use Dura Build and/or spot puddy as a filler. It sands really well.
3. Leo Tip # 2389- Spraying - use Dollar Store spice bottles inside the spray cup to save yourself the aggravation of cleaning the cup after a spray job.
4. GOLD LEAFING - Instead of sizing use thinned out fish glue mixed with yellow paint (50/50 mix).When ready to use, brush with water and put gold leaf on when sticky. This method is good for real gold leaf, artificial gold leaf and transfer paper. The leaf gets very hard and can be burnished afterwards.)

Tonight:

Work continues on the Dovetail plane. Everyone  ( except Paul) has a lot of work already done.
Leo explained how to proceed with the wedge and the guide for the bottom.

He advised  making a prototype with scrap wood for a project like this
Leo advised us not to open up the throat of the plane too much. The upper part of the opening is to be made a little wider to allow for side to side adjustments. 

Some discussion on Lacquer stains vs paint for vase project
For the fall we decided on two projects: Jaws for the chucks and a round plate with a curved bottom

See photos

Lobster supper tentatively planned for June 27 weekend


plate project-round bottom
                               Wooden jaws
wooden jaws with rubber buttons

Plane

Chris, Paul, Jim MacLean, Jim Hiltz, Rick

We spent most of the evening discussing the dovetail plane project.
Need a block, which can be glues up: 8 "  x 1 5/8 "  x 3 "
Need a sole plate
Make the body block
Cut the bottom of it on a 14 degree angle

Use G2 epoxy for the glue-up

Epoxy should not be clamped too tight
One can use the side vice of the bench to clamp it up, using a wedge to keep it all aligned.

We will buy tool steel and can cut out enough pieces for us all
(Rick will buy this at Russel Metals in Dartmouth)

(We can make a small Rabbet plan as well while we are at this project.)

We will also need other pieces for the wedge and side piece and guide

We also discussed further the vase project;
Coat the vase with concrete bond first and let it soak in


One can use a mix of paint, bond, and whiting
Use this to surface the wood (fill in the recesses we made for the gold bonding)
Once dry apply  a coat of water with a brush
When this is stiff use old sanding disc to smear this surface around

Tips:

Use small flexible diamond files to sand whiting as sand paper quickly clogs up
Use the folded  and glues sand paper squares to get into the corners and edges.
(Let the glue get tacky before folding over the sand paper)