re: Epoxy Rim Bowls

I went back and looked at my finishing notes, which are normally pretty thorough, but I didn’t add it there…weird. On most turned projects that I’m trying to put a fine finish on I sand to about 8000 then use Dr. Kirk’s scratch free (which is probably unnecessary, but I feel like it evens out the finish a little, then usually 3 coats of friction polish, then sometimes a final coat of wax. But there are a lot of ‘usuallys’ and ‘sometimes’ in there…so I’m not sure if that’s exactly what I did with those bowls…which is why I usually write that stuff down! But I’m guessing that’s pretty close. These were really just for decoration so friction polish was my choice. I’m a big fan of friction polish, but it doesn’t wear particularly well on well handled items. 

If something is going to get handled a lot I will sand it to medium (maybe 320-420), then spray it with 4-5 coats of lacquer off the lathe (buffing the nibs out before the last coat with a maroon pad), than buff it up with my set of Beale buffing wheels. 

Finishing is an art as much as a science and I’m neither and artist nor scientist, but with the right steps they turn out ok!