Learning to make Finials - Laquer finish

Dan Mosley

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Palm Springs, Ca
spent the day making some finials for some vessels I had turned eariler.

Pic #1 Table with finials - Ones in the front are mistakes for one reason or another - as you can see I have plenty of extra ones......
Pic #2 Analine dye finial with a few coats of Laquer on and will finish and cut off
Pic #3 Analine dye finial on the lathe with a few coats of Laquer and will cut off also soon

I am getting tired of using Laquer but I do like it because I can quickly keep going with my finishes if I use it........but the overspray is a pain......and spraying outside in the So. Calif. wheather is to hot.......thinking I may change my way of doing things for awhile to soaking in Oil/varnish/MS mixture for several days - (wet sand lightly every 24hrs for the few days).......pull it out and let dry well for several days......then 1-2 coats of AO/DO.........let dry for a week.....the buff out...................I have done this in the past with good results and no cracking or special bagging..........Thoughts on another way ??
 

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Update............finished off the Analine dye finial today with multiple coats of spray laquer (see Pic #1)........because of the open type grain of mesquite it took 8 coats or more to get it level and looking good.

Pic #2 - This is a walnut small bowl - 2" tall and 3" in diameter - It was a much bigger vessel earlier today until I thought i was better than I am. I was hollowing it out with my index tool and thought I could do the whole vessel without using my Monster rig........guess what ? Im not as good as I thought and went thru the side. So I turned it into a small bowl and finished it a bit differently............getting annoyed with the results of the laquer and mess so I finish sanded thru 400 - applied one coat of 50/50 laquer and laquer thinner - sanded again with 400 - then applied a coat of mineral oil/wax finish to it and hand rubbed it in on the lathe well - let it dry well for a bit and did it again - then let dry for several hours and put a bit of wax on it by hand on the lathe for a final coat and rubbed it in with the lathe spinning......parted and done..............................

The finish is nice and satin like...........very smooth - wondering if
Renaissance wax would have worked better for a shine ?

Anybody out there using it ?

I am always experimenting with finishes....................LOL
 

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I like the little walnut bowl. The colored finials don't really strike my fancy, but that's just me. (I prefer to see a contrasting finial...here's again, that's just me.)

...The finish is nice and satin like...........very smooth - wondering if
Renaissance wax would have worked better for a shine ?

Anybody out there using it ?

I am always experimenting with finishes....................LOL

I use Renaissance wax on pretty much everything, although I apply it off the lathe, then buff it out with a clean flannel wheel. It's not a finish. It's a protective barrier on top of the finish to improve the shine and resist fingerprints. I have no idea how it would respond mixed with mineral oil. I don't think that mineral oil would be a good combination with wax. It seems to me that it's adding a non-drying soft component to something that's supposed to be hard. :huh: I'd be concerned how long the piece would stay looking good.

I know you enjoy experimenting with finishes, but have you read Bob Flexner's Understanding Wood Finishes? There's a wealth of information in that book that might save you some headaches. :thumb:
 
Yeah i agree on the finials about not using color......Usually I leave the wood natural in its own with oil and then on to laquer. But sometimes I get a bland looking pc and then ill add the analine dyes to livin it up.
Thanks the book is a good idea and ill look into it.

The mineral oil/wax I made was an idea posted for the inside of salad bowls for a safe finish that would be easy for someone to renew. Having some left over, I decided to use it on this little bowl. However, I only buffed it on the lathe with a small rag and called it done. I won't do that with the Renissance wax though and ill use it as you were saying.

Today I ordered some of the Renissance wax and a reversing adapter. Ill try the renissance over the oil soaked pc's in the future. There were some cotton wheels on sale for my Baldor buffing machine so im hoping these will be ok for buffing out the hand applied Renissance.
Im changing over my usual routine (Laquer) to oil and buffing for a bit to see how it works out.

Thanks Dan
 
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spent the day making some finials for some vessels I had turned eariler.



I am getting tired of using Laquer but I do like it because I can quickly keep going with my finishes if I use it........but the overspray is a pain......and spraying outside in the So. Calif. wheather is to hot.......thinking I may change my way of doing things for awhile to soaking in Oil/varnish/MS mixture for several days - (wet sand lightly every 24hrs for the few days).......
..........Thoughts on another way ??

Hi Dan,
I've use the spray lacquer a little... haven't decided whether I like it or not... haven't gotten the results I wanted, but haven't used it all that much to get really proficient with it.... the overspray was a problem 'cause I didn't want the lacquer all over the lathe and back wall.... I cut a small cardboard box with a slot that would fit over the headstock spindle so I could just slide it in place and it would act like a miniature spray booth... works for little things okay... haven't tried it on bigger turnings yet... probably will need a bigger box.

The finials all look good BTW... after looking at some of yours, I've tried a couple with okay results... need more work on them though...
 
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