Hello again

I need to start with an apology this week. It’s inevitable that questions will repeat themselves, we get asked some questions several times in the course of the year and that happened recently, leading me to inadvertently use the same question – about the size of our large mandrel – twice in two weeks. I’m sure it didn’t ruin your week but I’m sorry about it nevertheless.
Moving on from that…

A question about our Iridescent Paints starts us off this week. The comment was that they are very thick and hard to mix if they’ve been standing for a long time, why isn’t there an agitator of some kind in the bottle? Well the answer is that there is! (Or at least there should be, I never say never but it’s unlikely it got missed, it’s the first job we do, even before putting the paint in the bottle). We use a small steel ball bearing in both the 30ml and 100ml size. If the paint has been standing for a very long time it can be difficult to get it moving, the best suggestion is to store the bottle upside down for 24 hours and let gravity move the ball from its resting place. It should mix easier after that.

One of our YouTube viewers asked about Safety Cloth, something we use nearly all the time on our videos. The need for safety when turning can’t be overstated (although I think some people try)  and the choice of application media used when the lathe is running is quite important. Hopefully everyone knows better than to use a cotton cloth, but paper towel can sometimes be a bit flimsy.
That’s where Safety Cloth comes in. It’s a thick, non-woven paper towel that retains its strength and texture when wet, doesn’t leave bits behind during application and can, with care, be re-used a few times. At the same time it’s still paper and if it gets caught in anything moving it tears very easily, removing the risk of catching fingers in something spinning very fast!
Safety Cloth is very popular and users of it confirm back to us that it improves their finishing.

Another caller asked about using Burnishing Cream, and whether to apply it with the lathe stopped or running. The answer is yes to both. Or more grammatically, either is fine.
My personal preference is to use it with the lathe running, I find it more controllable that way. But it can also be applied over the whole item with the lathe stopped, and then burnished up with the lathe running. The important factors are to not make the cloth too wet, otherwise it will glide over the surface rather than cut back, and not to have the lathe running too fast as it will dry the liquid too quickly and prevent it from working properly. It sounds like a bit of a fine line between the two, but it’s pretty easy to get on with really.

And there, my Chestnuteers, we will leave it for 2018. It’s been a great year for us and I hope it has been for you as well.
The Newsletter will be taking a break for a few weeks as we’ll be closed for Christmas, thank you for your support, comments and kindness during the year.
I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and I’ll see you here again in 2019.

All the best

Terry