My first vortex bowl

[Gary Beasley]

I found a glued up block I’d bought at a wood show and decided it was time to try out my new jig I bought from Pete Marken. After muddling through all the measuring, cutting and gluing I was able to turn this little bowl about 6” across and 3” tall. I think it was a black walnut and maple glueup and I put it on a black walnut base block.
On the inside I found discoloring of the light wood from the black walnut dust and Im thinking I should have soaked the wood with sanding sealer before touching it with sandpaper. I have some Mylands cellulose sealer, would that pentrate deeply enough to prevent any dust stains?

 

[john lucas]

Nicely done Gary When you have bleed over between woods apply sanding sealer or shellac or thinned lacquer between every grit. I blow off the wood and wipe it with a rag. then apply my sealer and let it dry and then sand. Do this after each coat. I made a bowl out of Padauk and maple. That's probably the worst there is. Someone on the web told me about using sealer between each coat and it really helps. Not a cure all. If your light colored wood is porous like Oak it's really really a problem.

 

[Gary Beasley]

Thanks, Im making up another one out of the leftover slices. I’ll see if I can make this next one look better.

 

[Bobby Smith]

That's pretty cool looking Gary! Nice work! I'm having enough problems trying to do segmented pens let alone a big bowl. Lol

 

[Gary Beasley]

The small stuff can be just as troublesome as the big stuff, so dont knock youself too much over it!

 

[Mike Johnson]

The bigger segmented pieces are easier to pull off compared to the small segmented pieces which need to be precisely lined up. The larger segment pieces are a little more forgiving when viewed by the naked eye, and a lot easier to cut to size.

 

[Jim Bennett]

Guys - thanks for this thread and the tips on how to avoid the bleed through. I just finished a segmented maple/Padauk bowl and was very dismayed to see the maple wind up pink. Going to hit it with my carbide tool to shave off a bit more - hopefully I’ll be able to get enough wood off to get back to the original color of the maple. If I can, I’ll do the sanding sealer trick before and in between sanding passes.

 

[hockenbery]

Guys - thanks for this thread and the tips on how to avoid the bleed through. I just finished a segmented maple/Padauk bowl and was very dismayed to see the maple wind up pink. Going to hit it with my carbide tool to shave off a bit more - hopefully I’ll be able to get enough wood off to get back to the original color of the maple. If I can, I’ll do the sanding sealer trick before and in between sanding passes.

Padauk can bleed in the finish too. Light coats of the sealer help.
What John Lucas said...

I used a lot of padauk finials on holly and other light wood balls.
I would put a coat of finish on the finials before gluing them to the balls.
(Can’t finish the little padauk pieces first in a segmented piece.)
Then spray the glue up with lacquer.

Padauk is a favorite of mine for finials the woods color changes all look good to me
Reddish orange to black it never gets the dull brown look of many reddish woods.

 

[Jim Bennett]

Well, poop...... Put the bowl on the lathe and gave it a couple very light passes with my carbide tool. The stained maple looked great - almost white. Put the vacuum cleaner on it and then a lint-free rag. So far, so good. Then I got another lint-free rag and tried to apply s light coat of Zinser Shellac Sanding Sealer. Dang Padauk smeared over into the maple, leaving me with another reddish-purple hue.

Any other ideas?

 

[hockenbery]

You can’t wipe it on you drag the color from one to the other.
Light coat of sealer, a light spray.
If you have to brush use a foam brush and very little light painting action
Before putting the brush into the sealer wipe it on a clean white surface if you see any red replace the brush.

 

[Jim Bennett]

OK - Guess I need to re-scrape and I'll give it a try with a foam brush. Maybe Ace Hardware has some spray-on - will check there first. Stay tuned!

Jim

 

[hockenbery]

Try starting on a small inconspicuous space the bottom if it is segmented.

What happens is the pigment from the padauk and many woods move into the solvent used in finish or sealer (alchohol in the shellac). the pigments then move where ever the liquid goes.
Trick is to keep the shellac in place until the alcohol dries.
Thin coats and don’t wipe over a wet spot.

If the sealer or finish is thick the pigment will move around in it and cross a glue line.

If you wipe the finish after it is on the wood the wiping moves it across the glue lines.

 

[Bill Boehme]

OK - Guess I need to re-scrape and I'll give it a try with a foam brush. Maybe Ace Hardware has some spray-on - will check there first. Stay tuned!

I second Al's recommendation of using very light coats of spray lacquer. You really don't need a sanding sealer and especially not in this situation where you have a wood with brightly colored extractives next to a very light colored wood. I have no experience with using a foam brush to apply a clear finish, but personally I much prefer using spray finishes. Make the first couple coats very light tack coats. Don't let the finish build enough to look wet until the first few coats are dry.