Hi

I hope you’ve had a good week; it’s been a busy one for us – no complaints! But I was shocked this week when talking to a caller on the phone who said he enjoys reading the weekly Newsletter but he hadn’t heard about our Woodturning Weekender, coming up in Swindon at the end of July. I do try not to go on about it too much, but I’m sure I’ve mentioned it previously – haven’t I? If you don’t know about it either, head on over to the website for it to find out more, you really don’t want to miss this train!

One question that came in recently concerned using the Buffing Wheel system to buff a textured creation – will it still work? The answer is a tentative ‘yes’ – a lot will depend on the amount and style of the texture. Deep texturing will probably require some maneuvering of the piece to get the cloth to get into all the recesses. Don’t forget, it’s not necessary to have the lathe running at full speed to buff – anything upwards of about 600rpm will do the job. At slower speeds, the wheels deform more and it’s easier to get them into those difficult to reach places. Running at slower speed can also be useful when working with thin walled items and if you need to avoid the timber getting too hot. It’ll take a little longer, but the result will be the same.

Do you remember that we launched our ‘Air Purge Spray’ last year? This is used to protect half used cans of oil, which have a tendency to thicken up and get wasted. The Air Purge Spray works by removing the oxygen from the can and leaving a thin layer of inert, heavier than air gas on top of the oil. This acts as a barrier, preventing the oil from drying out. As anyone who has seen us at demo knows, it’s very effective. But an email came in last week telling us that the spray had caused the tin it had been used in to deform, asking how this had happened. This was, of course, an unexpected side-effect and not one we’d experienced or heard about. The answer turns out to be simple, as well as the solution.
Spraying into the can means that the propellant in the aerosol can get trapped in the can. The propellant is very susceptible to changes in temperature; heat can cause it to expand, cold to contract. The longer the nozzle is depressed, the more propellant is trapped. As the can is sealed, the resultant expansion/contraction will cause the can to deform.
As mentioned, the solution is simple. Only spray for a maximum of 2-3 seconds (that will be plenty), and wait about 30 seconds after spraying before replacing the lid on the treated can. This will allow the propellant to evaporate away.

And finally this week, a question that came up at this week’s demo, about our Rainbow Waxes. We’ve mentioned many times that if the Gilt Cream dries out in the jar (it’s one of those products that sometimes doesn’t get used much) then it’s simple to add some white spirit to soften it back up to its proper consistency. Does the same apply to the Rainbow Waxes? The answer on this one is no, they are acrylic based so the best thing to use is our Reducer. It will soften them up and make them usable again. Water can be used, but it’s not quite as good.
The real answer, of course, it to use them quicker!

So that’s it for this week. Thanks to everyone at Silver Fox Woodturners for making me so welcome this week, and for the positive feedback from the demo. It was very enjoyable and, being in the morning, it was nice to not feel rushed when packing up afterwards!

I’ll be back again next week with more of the same, have a great week,

Terry