For Aunt Gail

Bill Lantry

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Hey, folks,

I've likely never mentioned this, but Doorlink's aunt is an abbess. This means we don't get to see her much, as she pretty much travels around the world fairly constantly. But this weekend, sandwiched between a trip to Norway and a trip to the Philippines, she made a stop in Crozet, Virginia. We went up to see her on Saturday. To Doorlink's shock, at about 8 PM on Friday, I declined a margarita, thinking I should make something for Gail. I have a hard and fast rule about no shop time on any day I've imbibed even a drop... it keeps my fingers stuck to my hand... ;)

Anyway, that begs the question: what do you make for an Abbess? Especially when you're climbing in the car at the crack of dawn the next morning? Well, it turns out she spent some time at her brother's place in Vermont when she was growing up. And you may remember, last summer I brought back some chunks of Lime (AKA Linden) from that very property. So, why not?

Here's the very beginning:

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Roughed out the blank on the bandsaw:

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Got the thing mounted:

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ready for reverse chucking:

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Starting the finish process:

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What you see there is that night's work. I got one coat of poly on it around 11. That had soaked in completely by midnight, and so I put on another coat. Woke up at 7, and put on another. Drove for three hours, and we met her by the monastery in the mountains. While she, Doorlink, and James went for a short walk, I worked on the bowl out of the back of the car, waxing and buffing. so, it was fully presentable over lunch, and James did a great job of doing the presenting...

To be continued...
 
So, all was fine. Gail used to do a little woodworking herself, and she was greatly pleased, especially given the provenance of the wood. To her, of course, working with wood is an honorable activity. She did quietly mention that when she was woodworking, she often used tung oil for a finish. Doorlink suggested that, since Gail travels light (one bag on the plane), perhaps we should mail it to her home base in Iowa. Gail agreed.

Now, my momma didn't raise no fool, so as soon as we got back to town, James and I dashed off to woodcraft to pick up a pint of tung oil. Back onto the lathe, I sanded off the wax and the old finish, and started applying the tung oil. It makes an awfully nice finish, but take it from me: don't get any on your hands!

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I'm thinking I should just buff it. The monastic rule tends, of course, towards simplicity, so maybe a simple burnish and buff is the best course, but I'm very open to your advice, as I've never used this finish before...

Thanks,

Bill
 
Hey Bill, what a story, if I understand it very well, she's always in a hurry.
This bowl was in my opinion like we are saying a quick turn at night time.
Anyway the bowl looks great :):thumb:
 
Great story, and great bowl, Bill. :thumb:

On the tung oil question...did you use real (pure) tung oil, of a "tung oil finish" similar to this? Pure tung oil can take a while to cure (a week or more as I recall), but tung oil blends like the Formby's stuff cure much faster.
 
As I understand it, buffing will produce a nice luster with pure tung oil, but you do want to wait until it's cured. I don't have any specifics on the cure time, but the instructions on the bottle should point you in the right direction. I checked my "Understanding Wood Finishing" book by Bob Flexner, and he mentions that pure tung oil is very slow to cure. He suggests waiting two or three days between coats, and applying five or six coats to build up a better finish. He also cautions against applying it too thickly, as it can turn white as it cures if too thick. I get the impression that it's not his favorite finish.

You might try posting a "finishing time" question in the Finishing School area. Others will likely have suggestions regarding thinning it, too.
 
Great bowl and great story Bill. I have found pure Tung oil takes a long time to cure so I don't use it much. A friend of mine said it must cure 2 weeks to a month before buffing. Not sure but mine took about 3 weeks before it was cured to buff after 3 coats.
 
I've been using tung oil almost exclusively. It takes a long time, but it does make a very nice finish. I wait a minimum of 12 hours on a really light, thinned coat and 24 hours on an unthinned coat before applying the next coat. Sand lightly with a "green" synthetic steel wool pad in between coats. Let your final coat sit for at least 48 hours before buffing. A week would be better. I always do a "tester" along with the final product. The tester will let me know if it's hard enough to sand/buff.

The bowl looks great! Love that story. What part of VA was she in? There's a monestary up here near Berryville that I love to visit. I know she'll love that bowl. Well done!
 
Hey, everyone,

Thanks for the kind words. Finishes drive me completely nuts! I've tried just about everything. Antique oil: can't find it anywhere in town. Shellac: not bad, but something's missing. Lacquer: nice, but the fumes are incredible. Hard wax, like people use for pens, soft wax, like bowling alley wax. Even some incredibly hard "turner's finish" they talked me into at woodcraft... boy, if you think laquer has fumes, you should see that stuff. I use a mix of poly, naptha and BLO Jerry taught me about on flat goods, and I'm very happy with those results, but it's not as good on turned things, something about the changing grain, I guess. And now tung oil, which I always wanted to try. Checked it last night when I was working on a cabinet, and of course, it was bleeding back out of the wood. Rubbed it with some shavings to at least get the surface dry. Worse, it soaked it up unevenly, and so the bowl is still moving. At least shellac and laquer slow and even out that process. But the bowl, still in flux, is eleven inches measured one way, and twelve inches wide measured another.

For those who thin tung oil: what's the best medium for that? Naptha? Or something else?

Vaughn, thanks for looking it up. Frank, an abbess is like the head of a group of nuns. Bernie, if this thing takes three weeks, I'm as good as divorced! ;) Sandy, yes, Berryville is run by the same order. Crozet supports itself by making and selling an excellent cheese, in Berryville, believe it or not, it's fruitcakes and the like (http://www.monasteryfruitcake.org/products.asp). Gail had been there a few days, but we couldn't get our schedules to match, so we made the long drive to Crozet, just outside charlottesville.

I've got three coats of thick, undiluted tung oil on the thing. Doorlink wants it to ship by friday. That's starting to look unrealistic, especially because I can't even spin the thing anymore... :( I'm about ready to put it in the oven on low, just to get it to dry! :doh:

Thanks,

Bill
 
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Ah, ok! Those fruitcakes they sell here are REALLY good!! I'm not a typical fruitcake fan, but I'm under orders to visit there before Christmas to procure fruitcake for the parents and friends. I think they sell cheeses and jellies from the other monestaries as well. I'll have to keep an eye out for those items next time I'm there.

I think if you thin tung oil, you should do it with Naptha. At least, that's what I've used in the past with good results. Alcohol just doesn't do well with it, from my experience.
 
"with that knowledge, I believe something like a dozen pens would be a great gift."

But, Frank, I've never made a pen. I'm not set up for pens, no mandral, no nothing. And I have a feeling that lathe is way better at big bowls than it is at tiny little pens.

Besides, when I got it, Doorlink put her foot down. "If you make even one pen before my kitchen's finished, I'm gonna swing this here frying pan at the big fat old ugly head of yours!" And trust me, she swings a mean frying pan! ;)

And before I even get back to working on her kitchen, I've gotta finish her laundry room. And the basement room. And before I do those, I have to replace the toilet that Julian accidentally leaned on last night because of his broken leg! "My life is a constant cycle of song..." :(

So, in my best "The Incredibles" voice: "No Pens!"

Thanks,

Bill
 
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