Coffee Wood Bowl-sanding and finishing

Hi Everyone,

After I sat the poplar bowl down, I turned my attention to the coffee wood bowl and I must say I'm quite happy with it but I thought it was a little on the heavy side. I took it down to the wood shop re-turned the inside of the bowl. This had the effect of thinning the sides and bottom and it also made the interior of the bowl rounder. Here are some photos of today's work on this bowl:


The bowl needed more sanding after I re-turned the interior. Sanding can be an onerous activity but you can speed up the process and get smoother results with a modicum of sanding equipment. This star-shaped sand paper is 2" in diameter and it fits on a small foam backed sanding disc (see below). The rounded "points" on the sand paper allow me to fit the whole thing into the bowl and sand the interior without gouging the surface:

The disc in the photo above is 120 grit sandpaper and this smoothed off the surface very well:

Another type of sanding equipment is the sanding mop. These are great for sanding the interior of bowls, and also for sanding very irregular surfaces like the rim on this bowl. They come in a variety of grits. I have an 80 grit mop and a 120 mop. They are especially helpful for sanding the interior of spoon bowls too:

And you can see how this fits on a hand drill:

At this point I put down the camera and sanded until I reached 400 grit. Here are two photos of the bowl:

Another thing to try if you're having problems sanding is to wet down the surface with mineral spirits and then sand it. It keeps the wood cool and it dampens down wood dust too. This will produce a very smooth surface:

After I finished in the wood shop I came inside and took the following photos. This one shoes the finished surface of the bowl:

And these last two photos show the inside and side views of the bowl after it's first coat of salad bowl finish. It's a very lovely apricot color:

This will get two more coats and then it will be buffed and turned over to the new owner at the end of the week. I'll post finish photographs on Friday.

Next I have to do some work on the art show pieces for later this fall and that's what we'll do this week. As always, you're always invited to grab some coffee and drop by the wood shop and if you have a question or comment, by all means send me a message.


Best,
VW