Whilst you lot....

[gus3049]

... have no doubt been enjoying yourselves, sipping the odd glass of sangria, relaxing by the pool etc etc, some of us have been slaving over hot denim.

Since I started turning all those months ago, my standard finish has been AC Lacquer. That is because its what I'm used to from guitar making.

I have run out and it has to come from the UK as a) it isn't available here and b) if it was, I would need a second mortgage.

I have some sanding sealer coming soon but right now I am finishless. What I do have is old jeans, mostly with holes /tears in the knees. I cut up eight pairs and spent a happy hour or two cutting circles!! Dragged out my original lathe from under the sawdust pile and was surprised to find that it still goes round albeit the switch doesn't work. Plug it in and off we go. Might fix that!!

Two little test pieces from some yew that has a bit of black staining. No finish, just sand and buff.

Hmmmmm. Seems like I have been putting in a lot of effort all this time when I could have been letting the machines do the work. I'm sold. No doubt the denim will fray and wear out soon but when that happens I expect I will get some proper mops. The finish is wonderfully silky to the touch and has just the sheen I like without looking too shiny. No wax yet though.

I can't really afford to buy a special machine for this so will have to DIM.

In the meantime, ideas please for getting to the inside of things. What shape mops do you use for inside bowls and even more for vases and pots!@! if you bother with the bits no-one looks at.

 

[CHJ]

I have various sizes from 60mm up to 200mm dia but my go toos are the 100mm mops.

Ones larger than 150 mm can be a bit unruly to handle, at 100mm they will compress down into 80mm or so boxes..

 

[inaspin]

Hi Gus

I have recently purchased the chestnut buffing system cost about 55 quid i think, took me a about a year i think to make my mind up about it
i absolutely love it.

Just need to get my sandindg sorted now but that is in hand. If you google chestnut buffing system all the details are there sorry can't do those clicky things.

By the way i admire your ingenuity making your own buffing wheel.

Regards

Berns

 

[gus3049]

Hi Gus

I have recently purchased the chestnut buffing system cost about 55 quid i think, took me a about a year i think to make my mind up about it
i absolutely love it.

Just need to get my sandindg sorted now but that is in hand. If you google chestnut buffing system all the details are there sorry can't do those clicky things.

By the way i admire your ingenuity making your own buffing wheel.

Regards

Berns

Thanks Berns,

I will probably stick with my big mop for the time being but the small dome mops look the business. I will need to sort out a way of fixing them though as my lathe doesn't have the facility to take a jacob's chuck in the headstock. I will have to make something up that will fit the main chuck.

 

[CHJ]

I will have to make something up that will fit the main chuck.

You can't get much more basic and robust than the Chestnut main mandrel.

It's stepped to make it compatible with most popular chucks, with and without accessory jaws fitted but I guess you could get away with just a plain bar.

I would advise that you use something 25mm dia though, the rigidity is a bonus in controlling vibration.

Word of warning, don't be tempted to use small, or for that matter any plain (undomed) mops deep inside a bowl, sooner or later you are going to bring the fixing bolt head into contact with the inner base surface and have to start all over with your finishing.

 

[gus3049]

I will have to make something up that will fit the main chuck.

You can't get much more basic and robust than the Chestnut main mandrel.
It's stepped to make it compatible with most popular chucks, with and without accessory jaws fitted but I guess you could get away with just a plain bar.

I would advise that you use something 25mm dia though, the rigidity is a bonus in controlling vibration.


Word of warning, don't be tempted to use small, or for that matter any plain (undomed) mops deep inside a bowl, sooner or later you are going to bring the fixing bolt head into contact with the inner base surface and have to start all over with your finishing.

Thanks Chas,

That looks a good idea. I take it you get the mops from Chestnut too then?

I am driving Veronica mad by suddenly going back to all the turnings around the place and taking them to the mop. She is then required to run her hands over the newly polished surface and be impressed

I expect the enthusiasm will fade a little. When I can do the insides, I can start all over again.

 

[CHJ]

Yes on the mop supplies Gordon, if you think you are getting an improved finish with your single mop you would be an order of magnitude more impressed if you used a three mop staged finishing routine, after the second mop on a sealed or hardened surface the finish level is usually better than anything you have achieved with a hand applied wax, the addition of the final hard wax coat is just a bonus for protection and that additional sparkle.

Assuming of course a high gloss finish is your aim.

 

[gus3049]

Yes on the mop supplies Gordon, if you think you are getting an improved finish with your single mop you would be an order of magnitude more impressed if you used a three mop staged finishing routine, after the second mop on a sealed or hardened surface the finish is level is usually better than anything you have achieved with a hand applied wax, the addition of the final hard wax coat is just a bonus for protection and that additional sparkle.

Assuming of course a high gloss finish is your aim.

I am never sure about the high gloss thing. On the one hand, all my training has been towards getting a mirror finish on guitars and violins. For some reason on turnings, I like a sheen that stops short of high gloss. Why I think it looks like plastic on round objects and not on flat (ish) I have no idea :?

The surprise for me is the ease of achieving what used to take me such a long time and a lot of effort. All that cutting back with wet and dry and then polishing compounds all rubbed in by hand!!

I need to sort out the compounds though. Right now, I just have a couple of sticks. I have no memory of getting them and don't know for sure which is the harder of the two. The brown seems to cut through the micro scratches quickest so I assume thats the harder one. It seems obvious that I shouldn't mix the two on the same mop though so I need to sort myself out on this.

 

[gus3049]

Thanks for all the advice Chas. I've ordered a Chestnut Dome mop and the big mandrel.

In the meantime as a sort of half-way house, I've made another one. The denim is pulled right into a cup with an 8mm bolt and washer. Once it is turning it flattens out a bit of course but the mass of fabric over the edge of the cup stops anything hard touching the surface of the wood. Works quite well although no doubt, the Chestnut one will be better.

This little yew bowl has no finish on it at all, just polished so once a bit of wax is added, it will be just at the lustre I like!!

 

[CHJ]

.... I've ordered a Dome mop and the big mandrel.

Regardless of what level of gloss you are aiming at you really need to keep a mop for each compound as the second compound is not just for refining the finish but also to clean up and remove the tripoli debris.

brown (tripoli)
white (called white diamond by some)
hard wax (traditionally carnauba) But I must admit to mixing and matching carnauba and micro crystalline with my last mops.

After extended use the cotton/linen mops benefit from a wash in normal detergent to get rid of the build up that clogs the surface. (by hand I might add, the boss may object to the results of using the w/machine.

If you prefer a sheen as opposed to a high gloss I would myself try going through the first two polishing stages and cut back with a plain nyweb and wax just on the basis of getting as good a blemish free base as possible.