Which method will work best for drying

Dan Mosley

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Palm Springs, Ca
This is kind of a beaten topic I understand but I like to see what others do in terms of turning and drying their projects.

First up is the question on whether you turn to completion - let dry and then sand and finish or
Do you rough turn - say leaving 3/4" or so and let dry and then retrun the pc on the lathe.

For me I turn to completion - then i either put them in brown paper bags for 2-3 days and then put out in the open inside the house and let dry for a couple weeks or so. Then on to sanding and finishing.................
or I may soak the turning in blo/varnish/MS mixture for a couple days and then take out and dry off well - place in the house in the open and let dry for a couple weeks or so. Then on to sanding and finishing......

I just got in some Waterlox tung oil and I really like using it over alot of other types of finishes. You can rub in a couple coats or several - let dry and it buffs up really nicely.

Pictures 1-2 are a unfinished large Walnut vase that cracked - been dragging my feet on the completion because I do not like the filled crack and have not thought of what to do with it yet...................................Thoughts anyone?

Pictures 3-6 maple vase - Paperbaged for a couple days and then inside to dry for a couple weeks. Rotten spot filled with CA glue and black dust and sanded. Then, 2 coats of Waterlox over the last few days and now drying for a couple weeks. Then ill either buff it or try out my new Shellawax on it.

Picture 7 - is a small Walnut vessel just pulled out of soak and sitting inside drying. I do not see any warping yet and it will still need to be sanded down when its dry.

Picture 8 - was a small Tulip wood vessel that has been sanded thru 800grit, has 2 coats of waterlox on and is drying. Then I will buff the finish on this one.

Picture 9 - Completed Walnut vase - sanded thru 800 grit, 2 coats of Danish oil on it, several coats of spray laquer and sanded with 1000grit in between - Then Renissance wax on top and hand buffed.
 

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Too new with this aspect to be of any help here, still trying DNA, etc that I read about. I did want to comment on the interesting forms you have going on there. Very nice! thx for posting.
 
Depends on the wood. Some I turn twice, some I turn to finished size when wet. Some I've air dried, some I've soaked in DNA and wrapped to dry. Haven't tried soap, microwave, or boiling, but I might some day if the whim hits me. Most of the time when I've gotten impatient and tried to hurry up the drying process, it's come back and bitten me in the butt.

I use a variety of finishes...wipe-on oil/varnish, oil alone, lacquer on raw wood, lacquer over oil, and lacquer over oil/varnish blend. Or even sprayed waterbased lacquer (poly, really) when I wanted a really clear finish or wanted to tint the finish with dyes. In other words, I use a lot of approaches, depending on the wood and the results I'm looking for. So far, I've not applied finish to a wet piece. I just don't like the idea of trapping moisture under a finish. I know others who've had success doing it, though.
There is no best way, as far as I can tell.

I've had good and bad results pretty much every way I've done it. ;)
 
I have tried the boiling it was not for me - i used a pc of figured wood and it kind of took some of the color away and the setup etc was just not for me.
I have done the DNA soak and it works - used the soap soak thing to but it was to messy with inconsistent results - DNA worked but so does the other methods so I just narrowed it down for me to using the brown bag or soak method I mentioned.

Like Vaughn I used alot of different methods for finishing but I have been leaning to the oil and buffing or Ren wax - once in awhile laquer over the oil or alone it all depends.
 
On HF's I turn to finish and apply the finish as soon as it comes off the lathe. I have found using Antique Oil alone has done a good job of keeping the piece from warping. I have tried a lot of different finishes and finishes over finishes. IMHO I have found putting finishes over finishes for me does not work well. I have come down to 3 or 4 finishes in the shop. Wipe on Poly, Lacquer, Waterlox or General Finishes Seal-A-Cell followed by Arm-R-Seal. On bowls I turn to around the 10% rule and coat the whole piece with anchorseal and let them dry. I talked with Mike Mahoney about this at one of his demo's and it works really well. Out of 50 or more bowls I have roughed and drying now only 2 have any kind of cracks in them. Most bowls that are utility bowls I use only Mahoney's walnut oil.
 
I like to rough to about 10% on bowls, but I go thinner on hollow forms. I like to DNA soak then wrap in saran wrap leaving the center open. I return when I can't smell the DNA anymore. I think my next batch out of the DNA will get to air dry for an hour or two then I'll paint the outside with anchor seal just so I don't have to mess with the wrap.

My current favorite finish is to wet sand at my final grit with BLO then top coat with wipe-on poly after a few days.
 
Bernie-David -------I am trying to narrow it down to only a few finishes my self. I use the following: Laquer - Shellac -Waterlox -Antique Oil (im out right now) - Danish Oil - BLO/MS/Varnish (soak mix) - Renissance wax - Seal a cell with Armor seal and my new addition is Shella wax with EEE which I have not tried out yet. I use the Seal a Cell the least though but I will say it does give a great finish.

I think what im trying to achieve is a oil finish with buffing to gloss or semi gloss shine and to get away from alot of the other finishes thats probably why I decided to try the Shellawax. I had a Aussy turner (online friend) tell me it is probably the best finish he has ever used but you have to use it correctly and he uses it exclusively now on all his turnings. It can be applied over oils etc. I do not have enough information on it to give you a better opinion. He told me he is putting together a tutorial for me with pictures and will send it within the next week or so. I will post it after for anyone else that is interested. He has used it with Renissance also and will explain it better in his post.

I have not used the Antique oil the way you suggested but I will give it a try because I do get warping on some of them. Others dry fine....

The finish is actually just a initial coating and then i let it dry well. I use Waterlox, BLO, or the soak for a couple days or so . Then after its dried well ill put it back on the lathe and sand it down to finial grit and then apply the finish i have decided on.

On Bowls I may try the 10% - seal - dry - return and see if things are better as I do lose some to cracking - not many but I have lost some. A few pc's have warpped really bad but it sure adds some interest to it. On others it messes up the look.
 
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