Orange peel texture

[Wayne Spence]

Am inquiring about a texture that I call orange peel and how it is done. Michael Lee has 2 bowls with that texture in the 500 Wood Bowls book. I have also seen a walnut bowl of John Jordans at the Delmano Gallery and there are others. Can anyone give me help?

 

[RonC]

Wayne,

I believe that they may be using a needle scaler such as this one from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/air-needle-scaler-1108.html
There are different sizes also.

Ron

 

[bhask]

Wayne,

I believe John Jordan uses a Japanese Automach reciprocating carving tool with a nail that has been ground round on the end. I do this also. Any reciprocating carver will work. Some also use a rust scaler, put the impact area is much larger with all the needles compared to just one when using the carver, it presents other issues. Betty Scarpino has used an engraver to achieve a similar texture. In each of these cases, a fine wire brush and 3M spiral disk clean up of the surface works real well. You will need to practice on scrap wood until you get a feel for the technique.

 

[Gynia]

A very interesting thing you can do with this technique is after putting dimples in the turning sand the turning smooth so all the dimples just disappear. Now steam the turning (a little at a time) and you will have little raised bumps.

 

[john lucas]

I may be wrong because it's been a long time since I've seen him work but I think he uses a ball type cutter in a rotary grinder. It does take a long time but it's a good way to control the texture. For a different look I use larger ball cutters and then come back and fill in the gaps with a small cutter.
My suggestion is to take any tool you have and see how many different textures you can get with it. For example you can get a texture that similar but has a different look by using a Dremel engraver with a rounded bit in it.
You can use a rounded nail and simply hit it with a mallet, over and over and over, been there done that. Takes a while but is a really nice surface. The needle scaler mentioned above is fast but definitely different. If your going to paint the surface use a woodburning tool with a ball tip. I've also used a miniature jewelers style ball peen hammer to impart a repetitive texture. Similar but not the same.
so grab what you have and see what you can create. You might come up with something really original.

 

[Joe Greiner]

Orange peel is usually considered a defect in smooth finishes. To make it into a feature, Google [orange peel paint defect], find out how to avoid it, and do the opposite.

Aside from that, what they said.

 

[John Jordan]

A round point in a reciprocating tool. The needle scaler can do a similar thing, but you'll have little control and no ability to work up to edges or details.

There's a picture or two somewhere in the articles on my website, one of the Woodturning Magazine articles.

John

 

[cwearing]

Sorby texturing tool will do the job

 

[Bob Chapman]

Joe, I love that lateral thinking!

Bob

 

[john lucas]

When I was making the threaded acorns for a new brochure for Bestwoodtools I experimented with different texturing techniques. Naturally the best looking was the most tedious. A dremel with a small round cutter. The others, including the sorby spiraling texturing tool, and one gear from my knurling tool, all looked interesting but the folks at my office all liked the one with hand cut dots from the dremel. I was going to post a photo but it's in a very big folder that hasn't been converted from RAW to viewable images yet.

 

[Betty Scarpino]

Am inquiring about a texture that I call orange peel and how it is done. Michael Lee has 2 bowls with that texture in the 500 Wood Bowls book. I have also seen a walnut bowl of John Jordans at the Delmano Gallery and there are others. Can anyone give me help?

Wayne,
I use an electric engraving tool ($25) to create texture. It's simple to use . . . just scribble. When working on a large area, keep the tool perpendicular to the surface, otherwise the surface could end up looking patchy (light reflecting off of the surface differently because of the angle of the texture).

An electric engraver creates a more delicate texture that does a blunted nail or needle scaler. Attached is an example of the kind of texture achieved with an electric engraver. The wood is cherry and I've stained it black. After I textured the surface, I applied a light coat of a thin mixture of milk paint and acrylic paint.


Betty Scarpino, editor, AW

 

[Dave Peebles]

That is a beautiful piece Betty,

Best wishes,

Dave

 

[john lucas]

I use a Dremel electric engraver a lot. I like it. You can get several different looks depending on how you move it. You gotta wear ear protection. I was doing the lip of a bowl the other day and it was like working on the end of a megaphone. Ouch.

 

[Bill Boehme]

A very interesting thing you can do with this technique is after putting dimples in the turning sand the turning smooth so all the dimples just disappear. Now steam the turning (a little at a time) and you will have little raised bumps.

Also, it works much better with softer wood and wood that does not have a large difference in hardness between early and late wood in the grain pattern (southern yellow pine would not be good).

Steaming can be dangerous. A simpler way to raise the bumps is to briefly dunk the wood in very hot or boiling water (less than a minute). Make certain that the wood's surface surface does not need further sanding because you do not want to sand the bumps after they are raised. Steel wool or a Scotch-Brite pad will usually take care of any rised grain fuzz.

.... find out how to avoid it, and do the opposite.....

I have lots of experience in doing it wrong and creating orange peel when I want a smooth finish. Now, I just need to invoke artistic expression as my reason for doing it.

Joe, I love that lateral thinking!

Is that similar to a lateral in football (where the ball is handed off to another player)?

 

[Ted Monk]

The raised bump method mentioned by Gynia is called 'ukibori'. It is usually identified with the small Japanese style carvings called 'netsuke'. This technique is used to raise bumps, lines and even writing on these carvings.

A similar technique has been used by flatworkers to remove small dings in their work.

Though it appears to be quite time consuming it does offer lots of possibilities for the turner.

You can find more here in this excerpt from the book, 'The Art of Carving Netsuke' by Peter Benson.

 

[Wayne Spence]

Joe Greiner

Joe, thanks for your timely tips. As a result of your straightforward logic I have gone to gluing orange rind onto my bowls. Nothing like authenticity.