Finishing chestnut bowl

[Jamie Straw]

I'm about to turn a chestnut bowl, cut edge, wood is well seasoned and has some mineral stains (from long-gone nails apparently). It will be about 9"wide and a little less than 3" tall. Would appreciate suggestions on finishing, as I've never worked with chestnut.

 

[Douglas Ladendorf]

I've used lacquer on chestnut and it worked quite well. I still have some on hand and will probably try Danish oil next.

Edit: I just remembered I also used General Finishes Salad Bowl finish on a bowl. I didn't try to build up a shiny finish like the lacquer but it worked well.

 

[joe marra]

Jamie, I used Danish oil wet sanded with 600 grit paper, air dried then Beall buffed. Finish came out rich and deep. Good luck.

 

[John K Jordan]

I'm about to turn a chestnut bowl, cut edge, wood is well seasoned and has some mineral stains (from long-gone nails apparently). It will be about 9"wide and a little less than 3" tall. Would appreciate suggestions on finishing, as I've never worked with chestnut.

From the "long-gone nails" comment may I assume this is old American Chestnut? If so, it sounds like you might have a wonderful chunk of wood there! I have a couple of short beams (not that big) and some 1" lumber. Every time I turned it I loved it. Coarse grain with large earlywood pores, but it cuts very cleanly and polishes up nicely, especially the wide latewood. I used Mylands shellac friction polish on the smaller spindles I made from the 1" boards and used Watco oil on some and for some other things.

The 1" boards make interesting hand mirrors, oil finish:



The stuff is getting so rare I don't know if I have the guts to turn a few bowls with what I have left when I can cut it up and make a bunch of smaller things, especially if it is some with the beautiful worm holes!

JKJ

 

[Jamie Straw]

From the "long-gone nails" comment may I assume this is old American Chestnut? If so, it sounds like you might have a wonderful chunk of wood there! I have a couple of short beams (not that big) and some 1" lumber. Every time I turned it I loved it. Coarse grain with large earlywood pores, but it cuts very cleanly and polishes up nicely, especially the wide latewood. I used Mylands shellac friction polish on the smaller spindles I made from the 1" boards and used Watco oil on some and for some other things.

The 1" boards make interesting hand mirrors, oil finish:

View attachment 9839

The stuff is getting so rare I don't know if I have the guts to turn a few bowls with what I have left when I can cut it up and make a bunch of smaller things, especially if it is some with the beautiful worm holes!

JKJ

Nice mirrors, John! Yes, this wood probably came from our island, and there's a commercial property that I used to rent that has several chestnut trees growing in the back of the property. I keep my eye out for when they sell the building for development. The wood for this bowl (and one other, I hope) came from an urban tree guy on the island who generally sells huge natural edge slabs of maple, walnut, Madrone, etc. Any cut-offs he doesn't want he sells for $10-$20, so I check in periodically. Here's the bowl in progress. NOTE: the dark streak emanating from the center is not a crack. The little holes next to the tenon were mistakes where I put the faceplate on the wrong side. They will get turned away when I do the bottom.

I really want to do a good job finishing this, and will have more questions. Right now, I'm just trying to get the sanding done right. It's proving to be more difficult than I expected.

 

[Jamie Straw]

Jamie, I used Danish oil wet sanded with 600 grit paper, air dried then Beall buffed. Finish came out rich and deep. Good luck.

Joe, did the wet-sanding fill the pores in? Was it the "natural" (e.g., Watco natural, as opposed to any color)?? I've done wet-sanding in flat-work with oak, but not tried it for any bowls.

 

[Jamie Straw]

So, is this a bad idea??

Off-topic...chestnut bowl is still mounted on faceplate for sanding tomorrow. IF I wanted to relieve a little stress inside the upper rim of the bowl, would the following approach be stupid, common or just "OK, if careful"??

 

[hockenbery]

Off-topic...chestnut bowl is still mounted on faceplate for sanding tomorrow. IF I wanted to relieve a little stress inside the upper rim of the bowl, would the following approach be stupid, common or just "OK, if careful"?? <img src="http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9844"/>

If you think there is stress in the wood, That would be ok for your first cut.
You have to ease slowly into the wood because of the angle of entry is not perpendicular to the surface.
It is the same first cut I make on a natural edge bowl when hollowing.
The gouge can't go into the wood very far before stalling.

When the first cut stalls you will have a groove
For the second cut I flip the gouge over and cut on the opposite side of the groove.p to the bottom of the groove
You can now extend you first cut deeper.
With 4/5 alternated cuts you will have cut below the rim a bit.

Al

 

[Jamie Straw]

If you think there is stress in the wood, That would be ok for your first cut.
You have to ease slowly into the wood because of the angle of entry is not perpendicular to the surface.
It is the same first cut I make on a natural edge bowl when hollowing.
The gouge can't go into the wood very far before stalling.

When the first cut stalls you will have a groove
For the second cut I flip the gouge over and cut on the opposite side of the groove.p to the bottom of the groove
You can now extend you first cut deeper.
With 4/5 alternated cuts you will have cut below the rim a bit.

Al

Thanks, Al, I'm getting to where I'm suspicious of all wood having tension. Since it takes at least two work sessions over two days to complete a bowl, the movement creates "challenges." Will see how the outside sanding goes tomorrow, and if I don't get to the hollowing early in the afternoon, I'll do the cuts you describe, leave it overnight, check the outside and then chuck it up for the final push and sanding. Am assuming that when one can turn the whole bowl in one day (or a half-day, or less?), going out of round is less of a problem.

 

[hockenbery]

Thanks, Al, I'm getting to where I'm suspicious of all wood having tension. Since it takes at least two work sessions over two days to complete a bowl, the movement creates "challenges." Will see how the outside sanding goes tomorrow, and if I don't get to the hollowing early in the afternoon, I'll do the cuts you describe, leave it overnight, check the outside and then chuck it up for the final push and sanding. Am assuming that when one can turn the whole bowl in one day (or a half-day, or less?), going out of round is less of a problem.

Each bowl goes a little faster. Each individual piece takes as long as it takes. It's not a race.
One day you will walk away from the lathe with the finished bowl in way less than 2 hours.

I did a 90 minute demo last month.
Showed some slides, roughed an 11-12" bowl for drying, then finish turned an 8" dried bowl - no sanding.
My rule of thumb for demo timing is it takes 3 times as long to turn an object in a demo as does to turn it in the shop.

I am not a particularly fast turner, but I'm hundreds of bowls ahead of you on the each bowl goes faster.
Al

 

[joe marra]

Joe, did the wet-sanding fill the pores in? Was it the "natural" (e.g., Watco natural, as opposed to any color)?? I've done wet-sanding in flat-work with oak, but not tried it for any bowls.

Jamie, I use natural. If its very porous I might start with 320, then 400 and finally 600 grit. Looking to create a slurry with each grit. Hope this helps.

 

[John K Jordan]

Nice mirrors, John! Yes, this wood probably came from our island, and there's a commercial property that I used to rent that has several chestnut trees growing in the back ...

Thanks! Good fun.

Do you mean these are living American Chestnut trees??!! If so does the American Chestnut Foundation know about them? They try to locate every living Am. Chestnut as part of the intensive effort to create blight-resistant strains of chestnut since nearly all of them are gone. Some still regenerate from old stumps but always die from the blight after their juvenile stage. I've seen a lot of living chestnut trees but they were all other species. If you know of or suspect you know of any living american chestnuts you should contact them. If you have a naturally blight-resistant tree you may be responsible for bringing back the chestnut tree to the US!

One guy posted this recently on another forum about his efforts to work with the foundation:
http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/messages.pl/md/read/id/498930

Here's a page from the ACF showing how to identify American Chestnut and what to do if you find one:
http://www.acf.org/find_a_tree.php

JKJ

 

[Jamie Straw]

Thanks! Good fun.

Do you mean these are living American Chestnut trees??!! If so does the American Chestnut Foundation know about them? They try to locate every living Am. Chestnut as part of the intensive effort to create blight-resistant strains of chestnut since nearly all of them are gone. Some still regenerate from old stumps but always die from the blight after their juvenile stage. I've seen a lot of living chestnut trees but they were all other species. If you know of or suspect you know of any living american chestnuts you should contact them. If you have a naturally blight-resistant tree you may be responsible for bringing back the chestnut tree to the US!

One guy posted this recently on another forum about his efforts to work with the foundation:
http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/messages.pl/md/read/id/498930

Here's a page from the ACF showing how to identify American Chestnut and what to do if you find one:
http://www.acf.org/find_a_tree.php

JKJ

Thanks for the links, John, I will send pictures to them -- I'm no expert, so could be wrong -- OMG, really?! Yep.

 

[Jamie Straw]

Jamie, I use natural. If its very porous I might start with 320, then 400 and finally 600 grit. Looking to create a slurry with each grit. Hope this helps.

I think "very porous" just about covers it. Did the inside today, and it was tough going. I get pretty good kudos on my tool sharpening these days, but there's definitely a ways to go, either in sharpness or configuration of the gouge. (not to mention tool control) Anyways, I've sanded 120 & 150, no shop time tomorrow, but on Thursday I'll get through 240 and then pull out the Watco. So, you do the wet sanding off the lathe, by hand, right? That's been the story pretty much with this bowl, the power sanding was mostly counter-productive.

 

[John K Jordan]

I think "very porous" just about covers it...

Is the intent to fill the pores? I use wet sanding to fill in small pores but either small or large is a lot easier with a paste filler (which comes in various colors.) Or use a thicker finish. I've had success with TruOil (gunstock finish) for a clear fill. I understand TruOil is not oil but actually some kind of varnish. It takes several applications with drying and sanding each.

JKJ

 

[joe marra]

I think "very porous" just about covers it. Did the inside today, and it was tough going. I get pretty good kudos on my tool sharpening these days, but there's definitely a ways to go, either in sharpness or configuration of the gouge. (not to mention tool control) Anyways, I've sanded 120 & 150, no shop time tomorrow, but on Thursday I'll get through 240 and then pull out the Watco. So, you do the wet sanding off the lathe, by hand, right? That's been the story pretty much with this bowl, the power sanding was mostly counter-productive.

Wet sanding off the lathe,correct. Good sanding to you.