Since I am quite pleased with the last finishes that I bought I thought I would try a new finish, something with more of a shine. I decided on the Turner’s Polish from Lee Valley:

It is a shellac-based lacquer formula that is made especially for use in woodturning and it produces a very hard, high-luster finish.

It is applied with a lint-free cloth pad while your turning rotates at a low speed on the lathe.

You can use shellac/lacquer thinner for diluting the first coat or to increase gloss in the final coat.

Back to the shop…

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'

I upgraded my grinder yesterday with the Oneway Balancing System and a new cool grinding wheel.

Apparently grinding wheels are not balanced and can vibrate, not giving the best sharpening possible and the balancer corrects this problem.

The kit comes with a balancing stand where you place the wheel on and then by positioning weights you get the wheel balanced. This took a bit of time but once done it doesn’t have to be done again.

Continue reading 'Grinder Upgraded And Balanced'

Merry Christmas to me… Merry Christmas to me…

Since the woodturning tool sharpening seminar I took back in October I knew that there was a better way of sharpening my tools. I can assure you that my ‘freehand’ sharpening leaves a lot to be desired! Since then I have been eyeing the Oneway Wolverine Sharpening System and since it’s almost Christmas I bought the basic system with the vari-grind and skew attachments.

Continue reading 'The Wolverine Sharpening System'