Masking a section of a bowl

[Peter D'Attomo]

Looking for info on masking an area of irregular shape on a bowl as I want to leave it natural. Any help is appreciated

 

[Donna Banfield]

More information is needed to properly respond. What are you trying mask against? Dye, paint, metal leaf? There are liquid masks you paint on, flexible and easily removed....depending on the surface. Then there are stretch film frisket that can adhere to curved surfaces...within reason. Then there are spray film masks, that sign makers use. They need several applications, layed down with a spray gun or air brush. Steve Sinner and Joe Meirhage use that on all their hollow forms. What you are trying to mask off makes a difference in what you're trying to accomplish.

 

[hockenbery]

Depend on the result you are seeking there are many choices

sand blast masks that conform to most curves

Airbrush templates

You can paint, stain, or bleach and then turn the natural wood detail.
This leaves a crisp edge.

 

[Peter D'Attomo]

I anticipate painting the surface and leave a section shown in pic. where a branch juts out bare. I read there are liquid masks, of the one i read did not work with wood.

 

[hockenbery]

I anticipate painting the surface and leave a section shown in pic. where a branch juts out bare. I read there are liquid masks, of the one i read did not work with wood.

You have a nice piece underway.

You have some tearout on the Back side of knot. This is a difficult to turn cleanly until you’ve done it many many times.
So difficult to keep the bevel floating through the air space.

That is a lot of sanding. May get some improvement with a scraper but that is a lot of scraping.
Sharp tool, Float the bevel, light cut in the direction of the rim, highest lathe speed within your comfort zone.

I would do a pull cut here using the wing of the Ellsworth grind. That is sort of an advanced cut, worth learning.
A 3/8 dia bar bowl gouge might work well here if you have one.
You probably have the back side of the endgrain here as well- a problem area on every turned bowl- with practice it gets so small you can’t see or feel it.

Fixing the tearout is what it would do first.

One option is to outline that area with a wood burned detail groove. That usually blocks paint and stain lightly applied from crossing the burn line. Lots of folks use that. I have a Michael Hosulak ball covered with painted birds. Michael Drew the bird outlines with pyrography. Then used a small brush to apply golden air brush paints to the birds.
The background is the natural wood.

 

[Donna Banfield]

You will have difficulty keeping any type of mask on a rough surface. (I'm assuming that you have more turning to do across that area, to remove the tool marks). Film masks (frisket) won't adhere well because the surface is very uneven, making it a challenge to keep in place. The liquid frisket will get down into the uneven surface, but good luck digging that stuff out later. Don't ask me how I know that. The only way I see to keep paint/color out of that area is to follow Al's advice and use a woodburning tip to outline the area. That will create a 'break line' to keep the paint/stain/dye from creeping. But you will need to apply with a paint brush, and very steady hand.

 

[Richard Coers]

I anticipate painting the surface and leave a section shown in pic. where a branch juts out bare. I read there are liquid masks, of the one i read did not work with wood.

Branch juts out? In that picture all I can see is a layer of bark that hasn't been cleaned up yet. You intend to remove the bark?

 

[Peter D'Attomo]

No, want to leave thatin place.

 

[Richard Coers]

No, want to leave thatin place.

What happens when the wood shrinks and the bark falls out?

 

[Odie]

Looking for info on masking an area of irregular shape on a bowl as I want to leave it natural. Any help is appreciated

I've been using hockey tape for masking off areas when I use epoxy to fill a crack. Works well for that purpose.

There are liquid masks you paint on, flexible and easily removed....depending on the surface.

I'm interested to know more about this method. Where can I find some?

-----odie-----

 

[Donna Banfield]

Here are some sites: sign makers masking material, this is what Steve Sinner and Joe Meirhage use on their hollow forms. It's applied using a spray gun, several thin coats. It can be cut using an exacto knife, but needs a smooth surface. This stuff from Dick Blick painter's liquid frisket I tried on Soul Series #9, and it created a big problem for me. Using a paint brush, I painted the areas in between the sections that have color. Even though that surface was smooth, I still had a helluva time trying to remove the frisket after I finished laying down color with the airbrush. I ended up texturing all the surfaces (both interior and exterior on this piece) using my NSK pneumatic dental drill. Bottom line, unless the surface you're putting a mask down is completely smooth, it will adhere quite well to an uneven surface, but you'll never successfully remove it from the ragged or uneven surface.

 

[Lars Hansen]

@Donna: ("helluva time") Oh, but the result...! Love it!