Making a Tulipwood Stave Bowl, Part 2

This video shows how I made a wooden bowl out of the rare rosewood Brazilian tulipwood using stave construction. It also shows how I developed useful equations that make planning bowl construction and cutting wood into staves much easier. This video is the first in a series that will show how to make stave bowls, " bowls from a board", segmented bowls, and "dizzy bowls". Please like and subscribe if you enjoy the content, and thanks so much!
Making a Tulipwood Bowl part 1- • Making a Tulipwood Sta...
Gilmer Wood Company: www.gilmerwood...
Griffin Exotic Wood: exoticwood.biz...
Cook Woods: www.cookwoods.com
Craft Supplies USA- The Woodturners Catalog-www.woodturner...
Easy Wood Tools- www.easywoodto...
Vicmarc Lathes USA-vicmarc.com/di...
Vicmarc Lathes Canada Distributor (where we found our lathe)- vicmarc.com/di...
Micro-mesh sanding products- micro-surface....

[@chuckbell2949]

Also, I’m glad that I am not the only turner to use Easy Wood tools 😊

[@toddatglencovewoodworks]

A very beautiful design!

[@BobBlarneystone]

A beautifully designed and turned piece. I'm no expert at finishes, but I wonder if several weeks of curing time for the lacquer might have helped.

[@drferry]

Thanks for your comment. I've left polyurethane for a couple of months and it sometimes won't dry over blackwood. Spray-on lacquer will, but you have to be careful to make very light coats, since the solvent will dissolve the oil in the blackwood and it will make black streaks. There are other finishes that will dry over these rosewoods, but they don't have UV blocking properties, so wood like tulipwood will fade in the sun. In my more recent bowls, I've switched to ebony, which doesn't have these drying problems.

[@buddywilliams6570]

Read about Art Risin, I believe it will work for you. You do beautiful work. Thanks for the video.

[@drferry]

Thanks so much!

[@edwarddrost5299]

Have you tried heating the bowl in a low temp oven. to draw some of the oils out, before finishing? Be careful not to over dry the wood, though. You may need to put a shallow dish of water on the lower rack of the oven. Beautiful project. I've been thinking of making a popcorn bowl out of maple, hat would be similar to this. Now, I know how.

[@drferry]

In one of my later videos, I report on how I have started using Epifanes, an exterior varnish, after reading an article in Fine Woodworking magazine (June 2009). They compared several products under a brutal outdoor test over one year and Epifanes was easily the best in preventing fading. I have tried it in three rosewood and one amboyna bowls so far and I haven’t seen any fading. My fingers are crossed.

[@ThomasShatter]

Have you tried Rustins Plastic Coating? Food safe and very resistant to heat, abrasion, uv and solvents.
You could also get rid of surface oils with a rag and some 99% alcohol.

[@drferry]

I’ve not tried Rustins, but thanks for the tip. The problem with solvents for removing the surface oil that I have encountered is that the dark woods (African blackwood) bleed into the surrounding woods so badly that it is impractical. As it is, I have to pretreat with very light coats of shellac (a heavy coat causes bleeding) so that Epifanes will dry over certain rosewoods. Finishing is the most problematic part of the process of dealing with these fancy woods by far, unless you are content to enjoy them for a while and let them turn dark.

[@donaldlewis7224]

I have just watched 4 of your videos. I think you could learn from watching this TH-cam video. th-cam.com/video/f7r4F4rqIRE/w-d-xo.html. This guy published a great article in the June 2022 American Association of Woodturners magazine on constructing stave bowls. I have been turning for quite a few years and frequently use spray can lacquer as a finish. I get good results using Minwax spray lacquer sanding sealer before applying the final coats of lacquer. From my experience a couple of thin coats is way better than the very thick coat you apply in your videos. I think your designs look pretty nice but your execution could use some refinement.