Turning Camphor wood

[Weasel Howlett]

A long while ago I got a Camphor bowl blank and today I thought I'd have a go with it. I have experienced a few problems with it though. I seem to be gettin an ok finish with a scraper hut as soon as I touch it with sand paper the surface turns a dull colour and seems to get a lot of torn grain.

Anybody turned it befor and have any tips when turnin it.

Thanks muchly

James

 

[Weasel Howlett]

I'll take that as a no then

I finished it but useing a little tung oil and 240grit. I got it looking ok but not a greatly figured wood to be honest. I few nice patches but somthing is just not that nice about it. Could be my choice of finish though. I'll take a pic tomorrow and you can decide for yourself

It does on the other hand smell delightfull.

 

[hughie]

I have turned a fair bit as its a noxious weed here. Pullout can be a problem but being a soft wood it easy to sand away the problem. I find a random orbital sander or enertia sander works best,. Heres a link to a fairly sophisticated sander DIY, there are far simpler design out there.
I find them so effective I have about 5 or so now along with a power sanding set up in a pistol drill.

http://woodturnersamerica.com/index.php ... &Itemid=95


Using gouges etc. They need to be very sharp and take fine cuts and often this is not enough so I find a little oil spread on the area helps greatly. Oil, I use vegetable oil its cheap or you could use thin CA. Both will mark the timber with a wet stain look. Also I have heard of varnish being used as well, although I have not tried it.
The other thing you can do is look at your gouges, just prior to HSS gouges coming on the market. There was High Carbon Steel gouges or HCS. This was superior to the standard carbon steel, you can still find them around in the markets from time to time.
I have a 3/8 HCS gouge and you can produce a much finer edge on this tool than HSS, due to the finer grain structure. My one I keep for the very troublesome areas and its honed like a cut throat razor.