What woods used in bowls are best finished with buffing only the woods natural oils. This would avoid the never drys problem with the application of the usual oil based finishes.
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buffing the natural oil finish
- Thread starter cwearing
- Start date
Cocobolo, perhaps other rosewoods, come to mind
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2008
- Messages
- 44
- Likes
- 5
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN (Baja Canada)
- Website
- www.mnwoodturners.org
Might Try Lignum Vitae
FYI -- Lignum Vitae is a wood that has abundant natural oils. It also has a long history of mechanical uses from it's self lubrication characteristic. I have turned several bowls from it and thought it turned quite easily, required no finish whatsoever and always could be easily buffed to a high luster. (I pasted some additional Lignum Vitae internet information below.)
Lee Tourtelotte
MN Woodturners
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hardest and heaviest wood, lignum vitae is most commonly used for bearings and wear surfaces. Because of its durability and natural lubricants, it is the preferred material for propeller bushings and other underwater fresh and salt water applications. The lignum vitae tree generally grows to a diameter of about 12″, although historically, trees in the 18″ – 30″ range have been known. Lignum vitae is reddish brown when freshly cut, with pale yellow sapwood. As it oxidizes, the color turns to a deep green, often with black details. The grain is highly interlocked, making it difficult to work with edge tools, but it machines well and takes a high polish.
Lignum-Vitae-Bearings - Hardness, Engineering, and a History of Bearing First!
As the heaviest, most dense, commercially available hardwood Lignum-Vitae is nature’s perfect answer to man’s need of durable bearings. The wood is clearly an anomaly in that it contains a quaic resin bound by an interwoven interlocking grain pattern giving it a combination of enormous compression strength and unmatched lubricity. This combination gives Lignum-Vitae the ability to work flawlessly in extreme conditions underwater for decades under working loads in excess of 10,000 psi. Lignum-Vitae set the standard for nearly every industrial “1st†in Machinery history. Lignum-Vitae was the first hydro bearing specified by Thomas Edison in 1882. It was the “First Stern Tube Bearing†to make the transatlantic voyage in 1856. Lignum-Vitae was the First Jack Staff bearing in the First Nuclear Submarine (USS Nautilus), Lignum-Vitae was used by to “The Great Eastern in 1856†to lay the first Transatlantic cable. Lignum-Vitae replaced existing Babbitt bearings, and was the first stern tube bearing in 1854. The First Antarctic Voyage by Shakelton, Polar Class Icebreaker (1976) (The largest Non-Nuclear ship operating at the time used lignum-Vitae. With the rich history Lignum-Vitae has enjoyed it is no wonder it remains the longest lasting material today!
FYI -- Lignum Vitae is a wood that has abundant natural oils. It also has a long history of mechanical uses from it's self lubrication characteristic. I have turned several bowls from it and thought it turned quite easily, required no finish whatsoever and always could be easily buffed to a high luster. (I pasted some additional Lignum Vitae internet information below.)
Lee Tourtelotte
MN Woodturners
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hardest and heaviest wood, lignum vitae is most commonly used for bearings and wear surfaces. Because of its durability and natural lubricants, it is the preferred material for propeller bushings and other underwater fresh and salt water applications. The lignum vitae tree generally grows to a diameter of about 12″, although historically, trees in the 18″ – 30″ range have been known. Lignum vitae is reddish brown when freshly cut, with pale yellow sapwood. As it oxidizes, the color turns to a deep green, often with black details. The grain is highly interlocked, making it difficult to work with edge tools, but it machines well and takes a high polish.
Lignum-Vitae-Bearings - Hardness, Engineering, and a History of Bearing First!
As the heaviest, most dense, commercially available hardwood Lignum-Vitae is nature’s perfect answer to man’s need of durable bearings. The wood is clearly an anomaly in that it contains a quaic resin bound by an interwoven interlocking grain pattern giving it a combination of enormous compression strength and unmatched lubricity. This combination gives Lignum-Vitae the ability to work flawlessly in extreme conditions underwater for decades under working loads in excess of 10,000 psi. Lignum-Vitae set the standard for nearly every industrial “1st†in Machinery history. Lignum-Vitae was the first hydro bearing specified by Thomas Edison in 1882. It was the “First Stern Tube Bearing†to make the transatlantic voyage in 1856. Lignum-Vitae was the First Jack Staff bearing in the First Nuclear Submarine (USS Nautilus), Lignum-Vitae was used by to “The Great Eastern in 1856†to lay the first Transatlantic cable. Lignum-Vitae replaced existing Babbitt bearings, and was the first stern tube bearing in 1854. The First Antarctic Voyage by Shakelton, Polar Class Icebreaker (1976) (The largest Non-Nuclear ship operating at the time used lignum-Vitae. With the rich history Lignum-Vitae has enjoyed it is no wonder it remains the longest lasting material today!