March - San Diego Woodturners
March - San Diego Woodturners
March - San Diego Woodturners
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<strong>San</strong> <strong>Diego</strong> <strong>Woodturners</strong> Page 10 <strong>March</strong> 2011<br />
February Demo - Joe Fleming - Coloring Wood<br />
“Coloring Wood Is Not Weird”<br />
Notes on Demonstration by Joe Fleming<br />
Work Safely: when using colors, always protect<br />
yourself, especially your eyes and hands.<br />
Turning a beautiful wood vessel provides great satisfaction,<br />
but the ability to embellish the artwork with<br />
color allows the artist to create unique and wonderful<br />
art pieces.<br />
During his presentation, Joe demonstrated a number<br />
of techniques to color wood, using paint, stain, dye,<br />
and ink, including bleaching and lacquer finishing.<br />
He talked about the tools necessary, coloring media,<br />
wood considerations, surface preparation, technical<br />
issues, and top coats. Joe also demonstrated the<br />
creation of a glossy, glassy lacquer finish.<br />
Here are notes on the presentation highlights:<br />
The handout is available on the <strong>San</strong> <strong>Diego</strong> <strong>Woodturners</strong><br />
website, under Techniques & Tips, and is<br />
titled Coloring Wood With Dyes. While you are<br />
there, Joe has at least six other article of interest:<br />
• Rules for Creating Good Forms<br />
• Tips on turning Small Vessels<br />
• Coloring Wood With Dyes<br />
• Sharpening Your Woodturning Tools<br />
• Eccentric Circles<br />
• Turning a Calabash Bowl<br />
In 1999, Joe joined the <strong>San</strong> <strong>Diego</strong> <strong>Woodturners</strong> and<br />
we quickly became aware of his woodworking skills<br />
acquired over a lifetime of wood working with his<br />
dad in Iowa. The special interest in woodturning<br />
was quite by accident. Joe volunteered for a Church<br />
Committee that would build, you guessed it, a new<br />
Church. Jim Leary, then a member of the <strong>San</strong> <strong>Diego</strong><br />
<strong>Woodturners</strong>, was also on the committee and the rest<br />
is woodturning history.<br />
Joe learned additional woodworking skills from<br />
classes, trying to attend one per year dealing with<br />
artistic development. He also learned from some of<br />
the best in coloring:<br />
• John Jordon – ink soak<br />
• Michael Hosaluk – acrylic paint<br />
• Jimmy Clewes – all around woodturning<br />
• Bin Pho – air brushing with transparent<br />
paints<br />
• Don Deery – coloring wood<br />
• and our own Ken Haines – pyrography and<br />
colors<br />
As the title states: coloring wood is not weird.<br />
Colors can even out the wood grain and cover up the<br />
outer, lighter sapwood. Using Pyrography (woodburning)<br />
can help control the colors from bleeding<br />
into unwanted areas. Additionally, bleaching<br />
removes the color from wood, leaving it shades of<br />
white.<br />
Colors are available in different mediums:<br />
• Dye – pure color; will not hide grain<br />
• Paint – contains the most solids to cover up<br />
wood<br />
• Stain – similar to paint, but with less solids<br />
Some of the materials mentioned in the presentation<br />
are listed below:<br />
• Bleach – two part from Home Depot<br />
• Prismacolor colored pencils and markers<br />
available online<br />
• Liquidtex Professional Grade Acrylic heavy<br />
bodied acrylic paints – Michael’s<br />
• Liquidtex Basics Value Series Acrylic lower<br />
bodied paints – Michael’s<br />
• Golden acrylic paints; transparent and blendable;<br />
used by Bin Pho<br />
• Basic brand acrylics from Michael’s<br />
• Grex Private Stock Color System – designed<br />
for wood; grexusa.com<br />
• Master Lacquer at Rockler’s – heavy bodied<br />
and requires only a few layers.<br />
(Continued on page 11)