• January Turning Challenge: Thin-Stemmed Something! (click here for details)
  • Conversations are now Direct Messages (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Scott Gordon for "Orb Ligneus" being selected as Turning of the Week for January 20, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Bowl sanding and Walnut oil

Thanks Reid. Have to try the smearing of the dust to see if I can spot those pesky marks that on some occasions, eludes me til later!!!! Gretch
 
Very cool presentation Reed, Thanks!
have been reading a couple books from Bob Flexner and he says that using the husks and shell is actually different than the nut itself (for people with allergies)
but that the heating process you described does reduce the chances of people having reactions. .....
and he also stressed letting the walnut oil "cure" and harden for minimum week or 2.

I really like the set-up you have around the lathe for the dust collection,
is it removable? or does it not get in the way when you're turning?

and I too have mason jars full of "dust" from different species woods, can't get a better matching filler/putty than that 😉

Again, thanks for taking the time for making the video 🙂
 
My sanding hood is up only for sanding. I have another You Tube clip up about it. When turning, it is green wood 99.9% of the time, so I generally don't need a hood when turning. I keep thinking about a larger one that can be set up on the lathe that stays in place, and I can partition things off for specialty sanding things. The barrel is a 55 gallon food grade barrel. I can sand all day, and there is no dust in my nose (tested a couple of times by sanding black walnut for 6 or so hours) which is why I don't wear a dust mask or hood.

The walnut oil thing does confuse me, nut vs leaves and husks. Mike Meridith (The Doctor) explained it all to our club once, and he is a chemist. He dumbed it down enough for us to understand, but I forgot most of it. The walnut oils used as finish oils are a lot different than the walnut oil sold in the food section at your grocery store. Again, I forgot. You can apply several coats right away to put more in the end grain which is the part that goes dry first. If you wait a day or two, then you can seal the under coat with a fresh coat, and it doesn't dry out all the way.

Vince Welch was the one who started me slow speed sanding. It really does cut better. My guess is that when sanding at high speed, the abrasives don't get a chance to dig in and cut like they do at slow speeds. They get better traction at low speed.

robo hippy
 
agreed re: the sanding speed
most people think the faster it's turning, the more you're going to be cutting/smoothing
in fact all it does it create excessive heat causing more problems, and the sanding material doesn't have a chance to maintain contact
the slower you sand, the better the finish, the easier you can clean/smoothness of the wood, and your sand "paper" will last a lot longer...........
 
Back
Top