I picked up a couple of new finishes today. I have never been one to spend much time on finishes but as I move towards projects that are more suited to natural finishes I thought I’d try a few. The two I bought today are very similar:

Clapham’s Beeswax Salad Bowl Finish
This easy-to-use finish is safe for salad bowls, cutting boards, cheese boards, etc.
It is a blend of two food-safe materials, beeswax and mineral oil. After a thin coat is applied, the item can be used immediately or left overnight and buffed to a low sheen.
Continue reading 'Beeswax Based Finishes'

1. There’s no difference between rubbing the finish into the wood or letting it sit on top of the wood and giving it time to soak in.

2. Boiled Linseed Oil is not boiled at all, it’s not even heated. Metallic driers are now added to raw linseed oil to speed up the curing process.

3. To square up a cabinet or box for gluing or assembly clamp a speed square in the corner. This will bring it square.

4. To make your own downdraft table cut a piece of pegboard 12″ X 24″, make a shadowbox frame with 1X6′s and nail the pegboard to the frame. Cut a 4″ diameter in one end and install a plastic dust collection fitting into it. Cover the bottom with ‘masonite’ or 1/4″ plywood. Hook up your dust collector and start sanding.

5. By sanding the first coat of your finish level and smooth all additional coats will look better. The mineral soap in sanding sealers produces a fine white powder that doesn’t clog up sand paper, thus making it easier to sand. By sanding the sanding sealer smooth and level the next coat of varnish or lacquer should go on much smoother.

These are just a few tips that I picked up over this past week. They come from a variety of sources including books, magazines, newsletters, online and from personal experience.

There are more Woodworking Tips and Tidbits located here.

Back to the shop…

The final woodturning seminar in this woodturning weekend series was with Steve Kennard and called ‘What’s in a Box: The Art of Steven Kennard’.

Steven Kennard is a juried member of the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council. He exhibits his work in many galleries including Del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles. His work is in private collections around the world, including China and Korea and all over Europe, Scandinavia and North America.
Continue reading 'What’s In A Box With Steven Kennard'

This months meeting of the Nova Woodturner’s Guild was held at Lee Valley and was the awards ceremony of the 2008 Woodturning Competition.

The Nova Woodturner’s Guild Woodturning Competition is held each year with the People’s Choice award being the Warman Castle Memorial trophy. The trophy is in memory of Warman Castle, who was a longtime member of the NWG and passed away a few years ago.

There were a total of 54 entries this year and all of them were astounding! Here, have a look:
Continue reading '2008 NWG Woodturning Competition'