The Turnist

Welcome to my FAQ page, a summation of some of the most common questions I get asked when attending events or exhibitions. Follow this link for a short Woodturning demonstration video.

I use a several types of finishes; various types of natural oils and waxes, friction polishes and occasionally lacquers. Often, a combination yields the best result. They all have one thing in common however - elbow grease! Any finish applied can only be as good as the prepared surface of the timber.

Wherever practically possible I use a Tung nut based finishing oil. This is a drying oil and is not greasy to the touch when fully cured, providing a very hard wearing non-toxic finish that is resistant to water, alcohol and food acids. Its thin consistency allows the oil to penetrate the wood deeply producing a finish that starts below the surface of the timber. Subsequent coats with twenty-four hours between applications will further seal the wood, with three or more applications being necessary for superior results. The best results are achieved by rubbing the oil in by hand with increasingly finer grades of abrasive for the first few applications, then a final buffing with very fine grade steel wool & polishing cloth.

The rule of thumb for air drying is ‘One year per inch of thickness’. To season wood well, it needs to be prepared and stored correctly. Usually, this means sawing the tree into boards of the desired thickness and sealing the ’end-grain’ to reduce splitting.

Smaller diameter logs, known as branchwood, can sometimes be dried ‘in the round’. A small vase made from a solid four inch diameter branch needs to be seasoned for about four or five years.

Natural edge pieces are usually turned from wet timber down to their final thickness, typically between one and two millimetres for smaller work and up to about five or six millimetres for larger diameter work. Pieces this thin will still need to be left for two months or so before final finishing.

The most practical way to make larger bowls is to turn them from green, allowing extra thickness to account for warping, leave them somewhere cool for between six months and a year then turn them again when fully dry. This process is sometimes referred to as ‘twice-turning’.

Being a turner for any number of years inevitably results in the collection of a variety of timbers, from a variety of sources.

The vast majority of the timber I use is native and locally grown, and usually harvested, dried and prepared myself. Sources include private gardens, church yards, local parks, woodland and farm land (with permission!). Such timber is usually felled for reasons of disease or safety, frequently it is wind blown or lightning struck. Also, like many turners, to jazz things up from time to time I use small amounts of imported exotic timbers from certified sources.

A burr is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. A burr results from a tree undergoing some form of stress, usually from insect or fungal attack, often growing beneath the ground attached to the roots.

Burrs yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood, which is prized for its beauty; its rarity also adds to its expense. It is highly sought after by furniture makers, artists, and wood sculptors. Burr wood is very hard to work in a lathe or with hand tools because the grain direction is random, although the rewards usually justify the challenge.

Spalting is caused by a form of white rot fungi, which only occurs when certain conditions and moisture levels are met. If left unchecked the timber with eventually become too degraded for use, preparing and seasoning the timber at the right time prevents this and halts the spalting process.

The dark lines and thin streaks are known as zone lines. This type of spalting does not occur due to any specific type of fungus, but occurs when different species of fungi form barriers to protect their resources.

The visual effects of spalting can be stunning, adding greatly to the value of timber and making it greatly sought after by woodworkers. However, spalted timber is extremely difficult to work and finish, having areas of vastly different density, even to the point of being sponge-like, or ‘punky’. Such areas need to be stabilised with hardening agents. It must be worked very carefully, with the lightest of cuts and tools kept very sharp or large areas of grain can tear.