# Finishing "Mushrooms and small items"



## spannermonkey (21 May 2011)

Been to a farmers market and saw some turned mushrooms, key rings and fruit, The finish was immaculate and very shiny.

Now I turn green wood for mushrooms from Hazel in the main. How does one finish wet wood or even dry well seasoned wood that has been turned for mushrooms fruit and key ring fobs etc please, What sanding techniques paper I need, how far is "enough" what is the polish one uses to get such a shiny wood please?

This may help me finish my projects much better.

I have some Teak Oil is this any good for finishing?


MTA.

SM.


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## paulm (21 May 2011)

Friction polish is good for small items in dry wood. It's a high shellac content liquid applied on a (safe) cloth to the workpiece while turning and gives a high glossy shine almost immediately. Wouldn't work on green timber though I wouldn't think.

Cheers, Paul


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## JonF (21 May 2011)

Happy to be shot down on these answers as I'm a real novice but i've just spent the afternoon experimenting with mushrooms... as it were. I've tried two methods using a fresh yew branch that produce an excellent finish:

Sand in the progression 150, 240, 320 & 400 grits (its a box of sandpapers I bought from Axminster - not sure if I'm allowed to put in the link?) and then polish with Liberon woodturners stick.

Or replace the stick with Micro-Mesh Soft Touch Pad Abrasives which give an equal shine and a better overall finish.

I reckon that adding the stick to the latter would be best of all but haven't done that yet.

Anyway, that's the result of my afternoon and I have to say that the mushrooms turned out quite well.


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## gus3049 (22 May 2011)

Hate to say it but i reckon mushrooms look better matt!! I never saw a shiny one out there yet. Fruit the same, I much prefer my apples and pears to feel right as well as be the right shape.

Terribly un-turner like I know. I have no problems at all getting them matt, wet or dry!


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## Leo (22 May 2011)

I agree with the matt look look, but for key rings, pens,jewellery, etc. etc. a little BLO. on a cloth, lathe on, a drop of superglue on top of the BLO, leave a lovely shine, do this a couple of times and WOW, have a shave in it.......... ( watch the fumes of heated up superglue..........quite powerful.


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## nev (23 May 2011)

Leo":1d405wss said:


> I agree with the matt look look, but for key rings, pens,jewellery, etc. etc. a little BLO. on a cloth, lathe on, a drop of superglue on top of the BLO, leave a lovely shine, do this a couple of times and WOW, have a shave in it.......... ( watch the fumes of heated up superglue..........quite powerful.




BLO?


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## tinytim1458 (23 May 2011)

JonF":vi2ymrix said:


> Happy to be shot down on these answers as I'm a real novice but i've just spent the afternoon experimenting with mushrooms... as it were. I've tried two methods using a fresh yew branch that produce an excellent finish:
> 
> Sand in the progression 150, 240, 320 & 400 grits (its a box of sandpapers I bought from Axminster - not sure if I'm allowed to put in the link?) and then polish with Liberon woodturners stick.
> 
> ...




Could we have some pictures as to look at them would be great.
Thanks Tim


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## loz (23 May 2011)

nev":2wbfd8gq said:


> BLO?



Boiled linseed oil.

BLO/CA is a penturners fav finish, dont forget eye protection at the max for this technique though !!!!!


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## Leo (23 May 2011)

Sorry for the BLO. bit and yes be careful, nasty stuff that superglue ( CA ), but great finish on smaller stuff.


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## sue denim (26 May 2011)

I will be trying out the above mentioned method today on a couple of spalted ash pens.

What sort of curing time is needed (at room temperature) for the oil before the ca is applied and vice versa.

I take it that the oil is the first coat applied and the (thin ?) ca is the last protective coat.


Thank you in advance for the feedback

S D


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## jpt (26 May 2011)

How I apply the finish is on my website http://www.woodturned.co.uk/html/blo_ca_finnish.html which might help.

john


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## JonF (29 May 2011)

> Could we have some pictures as to look at them would be great.
> Thanks Tim



Here we go Tim, I got the camera sorted out 










The Yew branch they came from is in the second pic.


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## Melinda_dd (29 May 2011)

Was the above Yew branch completely green, or had it been seasoned for a while if so how long?
Beautiful mushrooms


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## JonF (29 May 2011)

Cut off the tree about 2 months before, left outside for all that time and still 'wet' while turning. What you can't see are the cracks appearing in half of them 

Plently more branch left though


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## Cimares (29 May 2011)

sue denim":1bxkoxkx said:


> I will be trying out the above mentioned method today on a couple of spalted ash pens.
> 
> What sort of curing time is needed (at room temperature) for the oil before the ca is applied and vice versa.
> 
> I take it that the oil is the first coat applied and the (thin ?) ca is the last coat?



There's several methods for the BLO/CA finish, but the one I find works best (for me) on pens is as follows.

Using a piece of lint free cloth.
Wet it with a good drop of BLO.
'float' a drop of CA on the patchof BLO
Wipe it onto the pen body with the lathe running.

It sets almost immediately. I then cut it back with a brush of 600 grit and do it again, usually about 6 times.

Finally the pen gets a coat of microcrystalline wax.


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## Melinda_dd (4 Jun 2011)

How are the yew mushrooms doing? did they all split?
Will all green mushrooms split... even if finished with something that would seal the surfaces IE friction polish or the ca+blo?


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## JonF (5 Jun 2011)

I've been quite lucky with the mushrooms and only 2 have splits, both quite minor. The ones that did split were the thickest and were brought almost immediately indoors. I think that I'll leave the next lot in the shed for a while before bringing them in. I'd also read that storing in plastic bags, opening occasionally, can control the splitting.

I think that I'll be able to do plenty of experimentation with these as they are quite quick to produce and you can use very green wood (which is a lot more fun).


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## Bodrighy (5 Jun 2011)

Melinda_dd":3sqn2m1j said:


> How are the yew mushrooms doing? did they all split?
> Will all green mushrooms split... even if finished with something that would seal the surfaces IE friction polish or the ca+blo?



It depends on the wood. I have found that hazel tend s to be pretty stable. Also instead of doing them centred up on the lathe, do them diagonally, you get a more unusual edge on them and the centre of the mushroom doesn't go right thought the pith all the way down. In the wild actual mushrooms and toadstools often slit anyway so a split can look quite natural on some . 

Pete


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## tinytim1458 (5 Jun 2011)

JonF":2lo7swcy said:


> > Could we have some pictures as to look at them would be great.
> > Thanks Tim
> 
> 
> ...




A1 results Have you ever done a couple of mushrooms with the bark still on the edges.
Thanks Tim


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## JonF (6 Jun 2011)

Yesterday in fact, I plan to do a couple more and will then take a pic... work permitting. It was an experiment with a much longer stem and worked quite well.


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