I do do the bamboo.

Here is an experiment with some bamboo in a lidded box.

It’s a little trickier than it looks because bamboo may look round, but it’s really not. I needed to hollow out a lip on the top and bottom to accept a glued in lid on the bottom. The top has a cap with a tennon which fits snuggly into place. The top is a little oversized to make up for the oval shaped bamboo, but I’m going to go a little smaller next time.

It’s a CA finish, but with CA being so darn hard and the out-of-roundness causing the sandpaper to rhythmically bounce off the walls, it’s not as smooth as I’d like. Next time I’ll probably try some wipe on polyurethane. Anyhow, it was a cool experiment and I’m sure I can improve on the idea.

Not finished finishing

Slowly chipping away at my wood reserve, I decided to use a little more of my Winthrop stash. If I had a pickup truck, I would have grabbed a bed load of this stuff. Being that my only mode of transport was a Volvo station wagon, I grabbed what I could. And it’s almost gone!

I tried a small bowl, taking from other lessons to avoid all the pith I could, I set to turning. An overnight soak in a DNA bath, a mere 4 days of drying and it was ready to be put back on the lathe.

So far, it’s probably the best thing to be made from the Winthrop wood, but the finish still isn’t right. I may look into some wipe-on poly or something like that. This was a coat of CA, which was then removed because it didn’t set right. Next a good sanding and a hit with spray lacquer. Still not as smooth as I’d like, so I’m going to have to pick up some more finishing goods till I find what I’m looking for.