Day off and more questions about Powergrip Jaws and Finishes

Dan Mosley

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Location
Palm Springs, Ca
I had 1/2 of the day free to play with my wood turning and tried to finish up some projects that have been sitting but got side tract as usual. I thought i would try to rough turn a bowl and coat the whole thing with anchor seal. So i did and put it in a paper bag and dated it. I read that one of the pro's does this with all his rough turnings and rarley loses any so what heck ill give it a try myself.................Ill let you know i did it on some pine i had laying around to see......I figure if you can control green pine you probably can control about anything.......

Question- I use Powergrip jaws on my supernova but i get marks where the jaws grip when i make the tennon (expansion mode jaws push against the wood hard and mark it). I have been sanding them later on after they dry well but i was wondering if some strips of duct tape over the jaws would help in decreasing or eliminating the marks - or is there danger in it slipping or ???.............See Picture 1 - Powergrip jaws
thoughts anyone................

Picture 2 & 3 - Mesquite natural edge completed with oil soak and 4 coats of semi gloss laquer - waiting to dry and buff........will try the PL again i think
Picture 4 - Same as above but not natural edge.............

Picture 5 - Finished and dried in the traditional brown bag method - then ruby red dye and green dye with sanding in between (it was a punky kind of pine wood that i was going to toss actually) - final sanding with 400 and 600 - then a coat of 50/50 gloss laquer and laquer thinner and sanded again with 600 - then coated twice with Formby's tung oil - currently drying ................
Question: I have wanted to try the tung oil finish alot of turners talked about so i did on the above - ooooops now wondering if it was such a bright idea to put it over the 50/50 sealer i made up ???????????????????

Picture 6 - Salad bowl set - Teak - kind of a dull wood really - sanded to 400-600 and then semi gloss laquer sprayed on......will end up with 5 coats before im done - then buff out......will try the PL on these to when the time comes.......probably should have put some AO or Do on them first but the person that wants them said they didnt like alot of the oil finishes so ..............walla just sanded well and trying to fill in the pores a bit more before i buff and call it complete........kind of a pain to keep coating them and trying to get the pores filled......I should have used my laquer/laquer thinner filler stuff i make up.....I dont they would have known the difference............ahhh well learning the in and outs the hard way i guess..........but still alot of fun to experiment and play around with different techniques.....................
 

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Good looking pieces Dan. Nice salad bowl set. I use the power grip jaws on one of my grizzly chuck and on my Oneway chuck. I really don't worry about marks on the tenon because I turn them off when I reverse the bowl with my vacuum chuck or donut chuck and leave the bottom concave. I wouldn't use tape as it could slip and if it starts it could launch.
 
Dan, I think putting tung oil finish over lacquer (even 50-50 thinned lacquer) is not going to gain you anything. The oil finishes rely on soaking into the wood, but the lacquer prevents it, I believe.

I'm not sure I understand why you're buffing semi-gloss lacquer, unless it's only to remove orange peel. Otherwise, it's sort of like using Windex on frosted glass.

I notice a lot of your experiments are on pine. Keep in mind that the results you see will likely apply only to pine pieces. Different woods react differently to various finishing regimens, so what works well on pine may or may not work well on walnut or cherry or birch.

On the chuck marks question, I don't use expansion mode very often, but when I do, I'm like Bernie...I cut the recess out and make a smooth concave when I reverse the bowl anyway. (Personally, I never liked the look of a chuck recess as the final finished bottom of a bowl, even if it has a little dressing up with lines and other details.) Still, I don't think I'd trust tape between the jaw and the wood. If it's padded enough to prevent marring the wood, it's too flexible to provide a firm safe grip, IMHO.

BTW, nice work on the bowls, especially the salad set. :thumb:
 
Vaughn - Dan, I think putting tung oil finish over lacquer (even 50-50 thinned lacquer) is not going to gain you anything. The oil finishes rely on soaking into the wood, but the lacquer prevents it, I believe.

I use the 50/50 and apply one coat and then sand down well - using it like a filler for the grain. I see your point but i thought by sanding thru the finish i would still be able to gain some oil finish into the exposed wood that was not filled........But i could be wrong as i have never tried it before until now......

Vaughn - I'm not sure I understand why you're buffing semi-gloss lacquer, unless it's only to remove orange peel. Otherwise, it's sort of like using Windex on frosted glass.

I dont always buff the semi gloss but i have as it seems to remove marks, nibs, etc and level the finish but - when i do i use WD and go lightly and carefully as it is sooooooo easy to go thru the finish......and i am trying to get totally away from using WD or Tripoli (which i wouldnt use - to abrasive).

Vaughn - I notice a lot of your experiments are on pine. Keep in mind that the results you see will likely apply only to pine pieces. Different woods react differently to various finishing regimens, so what works well on pine may or may not work well on walnut or cherry or birch.

Good point - I use alot of the pine my gardner gave me from a cut down tree for experimenting with drying techniques and finishing ideas (dyes and so forth). I have Pine and Mesquite on hand - a decent amount of it because it was free.......and your right because what worked in colors especially on pine - were definitely different on the mesquite - still come out fine but different........and im sure different on other woods.....thanks


Vaughn / Bernie- On the chuck marks question, I don't use expansion mode very often, but when I do, I'm like Bernie...I cut the recess out and make a smooth concave when I reverse the bowl anyway. (Personally, I never liked the look of a chuck recess as the final finished bottom of a bowl, even if it has a little dressing up with lines and other details.) Still, I don't think I'd trust tape between the jaw and the wood. If it's padded enough to prevent marring the wood, it's too flexible to provide a firm safe grip, IMHO.

Yep going to skip the tape idea sounds dangerous....and im going to go with Bernie's idea here and reverse and turn away any marks in my dounut chuck. I mix it up a bit on my tennons and bottoms - sometimes i turn in contraction mode and turn off the tennon and sand the bottom flat and finish accordingly. Some people like the recess with a lip or whatever you call it and concave in the center or out caved a bit. These are the only two ways i create bottoms.

BTW, nice work on the bowls, especially the salad set.

Thanks the Salad set was a bit more work than i thought but its what the lady at work wanted. I am not to thrilled about the way they wanted it finished (just semi gloss laquer) but im going to try the PL on it when its dry.
 
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Dan I very seldom use expansion on my turnings. I tried it a few times and don't care for it. Either way I concave the bottom for a expansion or tenon.

On mesquite Dan I have found that is one of the only woods that I can turn from start to finish in one sitting without it moving much. I have turned several pieces which never warped or moved when finished. I flooded them with Antique Oil. I really like turning mesquite because it doesn't move.
 
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