Stewart Furini was our demonstrator for March and he began with a quick talk through some of the safety gear that he uses for his colouring and turning. He uses a Trend airshield when turning and then an Eclipse facemask with A1P3 vapour masks when spraying paints.

If you want to practice colouring, Stewart talked about the amount of free wood available everytime you mount a blank on the lathe. This wood which would naturally be turned away when making a bowl or platter, offers a great chance to play with colouring without the risk of ruining a nice piece. You can dress the front surface, play with colour, then turn it away and do it again, before finally making the original piece you set out to make.

A smooth clean surface is very important for colouring as all tool marks will show when colour is applied. Stewart faced off a piece of wood, before mounting his airbrush extractor above the headstock and covered the lathe with his step-mothers shower curtain, before running through the use of airbrushes with stencils to create depth.

Stewart explained how it’s easier to move airbrushes either directly up/down or side to side, and that you can avoid awkward movements just by rotating the piece in the lathe by hand. He ran through the use of black ink to outline a coloured area as well as the need to frame the area with a cut line or similar effect. When using Spirit Stain (Chestnut Finishes) Stewart cautioned not to sand beyond 240 grit if you wanted the stain to soak in as anything above that burnishes the surface and prevents good penetration.

When using Stencils, particularly those with fine detail, Stewart uses 3M spray mount to ensure they stick to the surface without damaging the wood. This prevents the stencil lifting in places and ruining the effect. He layers the colours as he goes as Chestnut Spirit stains are transparent and it’s important to clean the stencil regularly when doing multiple sprays.

After demonstrating some of this, Stewart turned to his first piece, a variation on something that he had demoed to us previously, using tape (Frog tape style rather than masking tape) to create a 3D ribbon effect on the surface of the platter. Tape is layered and then sprayed, before adding more and continuing around the platter. These are then removed in turn to reveal the pattern.<

With a new piece of beech mounted in the lathe (pre-turned and sprayed black) he used kitchen roll to dab iridescent paints from the Jo Sonya and Chestnut product ranges in radial lines (blue, red and yellow).
The wood was turned around and a rolled up sheet of tissue was used to dab a circular pattern on the wood, highlighting how different application methods can affect the patterns.

Another black painted piece of wood was then mounted (Ebonising lacquer) and dabbed with different stains in radial lines. Then with White stain dabbed on the others stains, highlighting the coloured stains in situ.

Another piece of wood was then mounted and the surface was textured with a Proxxon handheld texturing tool. Paint was then applied to the face, starting with white, then blue and then turquoise before speeding up the lathe (inside a well designed paint shield) to spin the paint out into radial lines.

A fresh piece of wood was then mounted, with tape applied across the face. Paint was then added before turning up the speed of the lathe causing the paint to spin out radially again. More tape was added and more paint prior to turning on to randomise the radial effect (with mixed success). The Proxxon came out again in the afternoon this time with a Manpa circular cutter head mounted in it. This creates a much smoother cut with little finishing required. Stewart pointed out that when cutting with the wood spinning, the Proxon should be used in the 6-9 clock face position on the front of the wood. But if the wood is stationary, the tool should be used in the 3 o’clock position, as far from you as possible with a firm hold on the tool. When plugging the tool in, you should always ensure it is held and switched off.

Stewart trued up another pre-loved blank, removing the previous colouring from it before demonstrating a series of different textures. This was passed around for members to vote on which texture should be used on the next piece to be made.

Stewart used the airbrush to show how paint can be varied on textured surfaces, including painting from different angles to create highlights on texture. He then went to show how black or white stain can then be applied across the texture with a cloth to create highlights.

A new sycamore blank was then mounted on a screw chuck and Stewart shows us how he tends to shape some of this work. Showing the pull cut for shaping before shwing the control of push cuts nd the fine finish that can be achieve. Once the piece is shaped on the rear, he then seals it with Cellulose Sanding Sealer before using cut and polish (wax based) to do a final sanding before waxing with Wood Wax 33 (which also protects the rear of the piece during the colouring work.). This was then mounted in the chuck, the face cleaned up and a small boss left in the middle to highlight where it would be safe to work the Proxxon up to. This ensures that when the bowl section is hollowed, a crisp interior line can be kept.

The members chose to have the surface covered in joined up scallops using the Manpa cutter before cleaning up the surface using a Merlin sanding head in a drill. Green Purple and Blue colours were then used to colour the texture. Once this was dry, the rim was re-cut and the bowl removed before the rim was then sprayed black. The centre is then turned out and Stewart said he would typically finish such work with a Satin lacquer to avoid an overly glossy finish.

Paul