Please note: This article was written by Bill D., as a Guest Author on the blog.
I’m looking for some suggestions.
I’ve started surface carving on some of my bowls and vessels. Took a class from Dixie Biggs — great instructor! Now I’m coming to the hard part: finishing.
I have a wild cherry bowl – this is my practice piece. I carved leaves, and it’s about done. The “back ground” behind the leaves is heavily textured; I want to stain or paint it dark, so the leaves stand out.
Question: Would you use — stain, or paint?
Most of the wood is fairly tight, but wild cherry also has the nasty habit of having sections of open “tubes”. I do not know the technical term; the “tubes” will go through a piece. I’m open to suggestions. I post photos, hoping they will help with suggestions. Thanks!
— Bill D.
About Al Navas
I think I will try the airbrush, as there should not be much if any bleed through…hopefully. I like the suggestion of sealing the inside of the bowl first – that should also help. I have an old airbrush from my Leather business, but maybe I can convince Patty to let me buy a new one! Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ll post a picture of the finished “Practice piece”.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Fabulous looking bowl!
I don’t have an answer to your question, but I can suggest another place to look. Some unnamed person publishes a blog called the “Woodworker’s Guide.” That blog features a lot of turned bowls, many with interesting textures and finishes. I’m guessing there might be an answer to your question on the blog, or from the blog’s author.
Hey Al,
That’s a very nice piece that Bill did. I’ll bet that the class with Dixie Biggs was great!
Given my recent class with Binh Pho, I am doing some airbrushing on turnings. That would be my suggestion for this piece. He could either airbrush dyes or airbrush colors in the stippled area. He would need to mask off the leaves to avoid coloring them unless he desired a similar but lighter coloring on the leaves. The beauty of the airbrush for this is that color is applied in very light coats and as a result it dries very quickly. It is extremely controllable as opposed to a brush or rag which when applying dye could result in a blotchy coloring.
It takes some practice to get the hang of using the airbrush but it is a great tool for this kind of coloring of surface enhancement on turned pieces. Please have Bill show us how he completes this piece in the blog.
–Mark
The Craftsman’s Path
This is a very nice piece of art. Sandy’s suggestion is good. If I were finishing this I would first seal and finish the inside. Then Stain the background a darker cherry leaving the leaves natural with a clear finish. Sealing the inside should ( I believe ) keep the stain from soaking through to it. I will be watching her for other comments. Great Work.
I was all ready to suggest that you use dye until I absorbed (no pun intended) the information about cherry possibly having open tubes – which could easily allow the dye to seep into the center of the bowl. That would definitely ruin all your hard work. Have you considered using pyrography on background? You could control the amount of ‘burn’ and it would enhance the detail in your background.
JMO
I don’t recall seeing that when I was there Al. I really like the ginkgo leaves. That is very A&C.