Antique Pine Challenges and Triumphs

We have been working on the antique pine brush a bowl.  Awesome and frustrating experience.

First did not expect the movement of the wood when cutting.  Since barn beams are green (very wet) at a bran raising, 2000 years later, they expect to be in the same position.  Once they are freed, they move quite a lot.  lol.  then they can split and check at random.

Second, the pine is now so very dry that the varnish gets sucked into the wood.  Much more then in any other type of wood we have worked with.  This makes building a finish takes several coats.  Actually it felt like several million coats to build a nice finish.

 

 

In the picture above, you can see the bumpy grain.  This should be flat.  normally, varnish slides over the surface and even things out.  The piece of wood is so dry it drinks in the varnish.  Then we have to sand and even out for the next coat.  In this picture, there are 4 coats of varnish already applied (sanded and re-applied, repeat)

 

 



You can see on the inside of the bowl, the same thing happens.  But it is important to remember in order to judge the level of the finish, you have to look at it in indirect light.  There must be shadows so that you can discern the high and low points.

 

You can see in this photo how the light can change what you are seeing.  It was taken literally 2 minutes after the example from above.  If you don't pay close attention, you could get an awful finish.

 

but all good things take time and effort.  So, in the next 2 coats we will finally have a proper finish.

Waves of Grain

We have new decorative bowl made of Mahogany. We are still putting the final coats of finish on it now. . We took some of the musical instrument grade mahogany and laminated it together. Laminating is actually when you glue boards together to make a thickness that suits your needs. In this case, we alternated the grain patterns so that you can see them flow cross currently as your eye travels up the bowl. . This bowl started out as a shave bowl, it was rather large for a shave bowl but in cutting it down we would have lost the gentle form that compliments the grain. . We hope you like it as much as we do. It will be available in our Etsy shop: Lovgren & Daughter in a few days.

Mahogany real Guitar Grade Mahogany

We are very fortunate here in North Eastern PA. We aren't very far from the Legendary Martin Guitars. Through a friend we came to have some mahogany that was left over from the beautiful craftsmanship of the Martin Guitar Company. If you find yourself in PA, go see Martin: http://www.martinguitar.com/about-martin/visit-us.html. For our next set of shave bowls, we have used this mahogany to create a classically elegant shave bowl. You can see the beautiful grain in the bowl top. This bowl should grace the bathroom vanity not to be hidden in a cupboard. Here is a shave brush also made out of mahogany for a matched set. The brush is perfect for wet shaving. Yes, life is beautiful. Choose to have beautiful things in your life. If you are interested in bring these home please visit our Etsy Shop: Lovgren & Daughter. https://www.etsy.com/shop/LovgrenandDaughter.

Paint the Rainbow!

Tops and their finished look

After matching the tops and their handles with color, then at least two coats of shellac.  In between each coat you have to sand the layers to make sure there aren't any bumps.

Shellac is frowned upon currently because it reacts to water.  Think about the white rings on your grandmother's table.  BUT and this is HUGE shellac as a base coat provides great build or depth of color in the finish. 

What does that mean?  Depth of finish creates more refractive light to see the wood.  Or, it looks better. 

We use a poly as a top coat to protect against water and many other solvents like alcohol.  Solvents - dissolve finish.  Shellac is based in alcohol so if rubbing alcohol spills on it - it gets gooey and smudgey and basically ruins your day.

The is the bare handle                                                 Handle with color on it

 

 

 

In the last photo you can see how the colors blend into the bowl and look like a matching piece.  Some of the intensity is lost with applying another coat of shellac, snading that down with 600 grit sand paper and proceeding with the poly coats of finish. 

 

 

 

 

From Rough to Round

Now that we have an approximate shape that is circular we can mount it on the lathe for the rounding out parts.

This is the blank mounted on the lathe.  You can see here one of the vertical cuts to remove the corner went a little too deep.  It's okay.  There is enough wood to make minor adjustments while it is on the lathe.

Eric at the lathe making the first passes.

Eric is at the lathe rounding and shaping.  Notice the tool rest this is where a turner rests their tools to ensure an even cut. 

This is the very roughed out bowl.  Now we can see the cool shapes and colors that will be part of the bowl.

Round and Round we go!

I am sure you have imagined we continue to process of making corners rounded. 

Just like before, the vertical cuts are made to make the excess wood easier to remove without the chance of it cracking or splitting off in unwanted ways.

This is the blank after the second corner.

As the excess is cut away, the grain and color patterns begin to appear.

The third corner is trimmed up.

The Fourth Corner is exactly the same process.  Once the rough circle has taken shape, we have to take it to the lathe for mounting and final rounding out.  More in the next post! 

Shave Bowl

Here is a Shave Bowl in Spalted Maple.  Spalting is a biological process that effects wood.  But what does that mean?  It means that the wood is felled and sits around.  For furniture making and use of structural wood it is not a good idea.  It changes the density and strength of the wood.  For small objects and decorative purposes it is fine to use.

To get down to the nitty gritty, spalting is created from fungi that start to decompose the wood.  The particular species of fungi create different effects.  One type will set up boundary lines and others in conjunction will change the colors within the lines. 

This log has several types of fungi and insects working on the wood.  Before finding uses for these woods they were considered waste wood. Not even good for burning. Such incredible beauty lies within a log or branch, you just need to know where to look for it.

 
This shaving bowl has dramatic lines and beautiful coloring.  It is one of a kind.  Each bowl is one of a kind. Each piece of wood has a different set of lines, areas of dramatic color and natural rarity.  This particular bowl went to his new home today.  I will miss him.

As crazy as it sounds, I am in love with these woods.  They are extraordinary gifts.