Wood Choice

[TobyDavidson]

Hi All,

It has been a frustrating 3 months, with hardly any turning time due to work and family commitments, however the light is at the end of the old tunnel and I can get back into the garage this weekend and start turning again. It will only be piece 5, so still an absolute newbie here.

I am planning on turning lidded a shaving soap bowl this weekend and have a few questions.

1. Wood? Are there any woods which are better suited to it? I would have thought a fairly dense hardwood, oak for example. I think this due to the water environment.

2. Finish - I was thinking of using Danish oil. I have some which is suitable for indoor and outdoor use, therefore think this would be a suitable finish, again given the high chance of water contact.

3. Process - I have made 2 lidded bowls to date, and every time so far I am convinced there is a better way.

So far I have done it like this

1. Mount blank onto screw chuck
2. Rough to shape plus about 2 mm for sanding.
3. face turn the lid and finish
4. Part lid
5. Turn bowl base
6. reverse bowl and turn inside

so far so good. What I am then finding is that I haven't necessarily got the lid and bowl correct any more and have to find a way to join the two back up and effectively re finish the lid and bowl rim.

Is there a better process, or do I just need to keep practising and work towards getting it right first time?

Help and advice welcome as always, and I can't wait to post pics next week of the result.

 

[NikNak]

Hi Toby


see my post here...

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... ht=#414462


a quick how-to on how i do it.....




Nick

 

[cornucopia]

hello

firstly let me start by saying that lidded bowls are one of my pet hate's in the woodturning world- but each to their own and all that.

the process for making a lidded bowl is similar to making a box- theres allot of box tut's out there to be found theres also one on my blog. the tenon between lid and base needs to be perfect and paralell -do not sand the mate-ing parts of the joint or you'll ware away the softer fibres and essentially go oval.
its also best if you could rough turn the lid and base then allow them to settle in the house for a few days before finalizing the fit

the biggest problem with anything wood in a bathroom is moisture- whatever you make will have to be sealed all over- you could use a thinned varnish and cut back between coats or plastic coating

I would not use oak its too open grained.

 

[TobyDavidson]

"The next bit (no pics again...) is an absolute MUST i find... BEFORE taking wood from chuck... put an index mark on it..!! that way it goes back in the chuck in the same place as before. Simply put a bit of masking tape on the chuck (anywhere), then put a good pencil mark on your wood that lines up with the masking tape... when you come to put the wood back in the chuck line the two up, tighten the chuck, spin it up and it shouldn't 'wobble'.... i.e. it's back in the same place... "

so simple yet so clever....

 

[TobyDavidson]

Thank you NikNak and Cornucopia,

I will try to follow the guides and see where we get to. Obviously I won't be finishing it this weekend!

Cornucopia, out of interest, why do you have a pet hate of lidded bowls?

 

[kasandrich]

A shaving soap bowl is not just at risk of water, it will get soaked regularly, I think you will struggle to make it water proof enough, I think like has already been said that multiple coats of a polyurathane coating may be the only surface thats resilient enough.

 

[cornucopia]

i find them a bit old fashioned- and i tried one or two when i was first starting out and they were nearly the straw which broke the camel's back as i felt at the time that i couldint get anything right especially the fit of those bloody lid's !!! :twisted: and i nearly gave up turning

 

[beejay]

Ive turned a few of these recently and use woods like beech, iroko , cocobolo, lignum vitae etc.
A shaving bowl lid should be a loose fit and I only oil the wood once and buff it.
Its not worth trying to waterseal the wood. just leave it natural and it'll be ok as long as the wood is naturally resistant.
The bowl will probably move a bit over time hence leaving the lid loose. I make the lid sort that just sits on top of the bowl.
beejay