I first worked with Yellowheart, admittedly in a very small size, about 5 years ago. Because I liked it, I shortly there after bought more in larger sizes including these 3 12″ x 12″ x 2″ platter blanks. They were dried when I bought them so they hadn’t warped a great deal and I was looking for stock that was relatively flat to turn until I can get to my Dad’s shop to use the planer and joiner on a large batch of blanks.
Yellowheart Platter #1
All three turned quickly and easily into platter shapes although I personally prefer the third and last platter over the other two. Yellowheart takes a fantastic finish. I used Shellawax with an undercoat of EEE Ultra Shine, both from the Ubeaut family of wood finishing products from Australia.
Yellowheart Platter #3
I highly recommend Yellowheart to anyone who turns wood. The yellow is especially vibrant and you have may have a difficult time convincing viewers of your finished work that you didn’t dye another light colored wood like Maple to achieve that color. The only potentially downside to turning Yellowheart that I didn’t experience the first time when turning a very small piece of the wood, is the odor which smells distinctly like stale urine. The smell isn’t overpowering when the wood is dry but I should imagine that when Yellowheart is wet that it is distinctly unpleasant indeed.
Yellowheart Platter #2
All cuts were made using the Easy Wood Tool system on my Robust American Beauty lathe. Forward chucking was in a Nova Chuck, while reverse chucking was done using a Easy Wood Tools Easy Chuck with Big Easy Jaws and Extension. Sanding was with Gold and Green Wave sanding discs from Packard Woodworks. Final finish is Shellawax. Note that this time I applied and buffed a coat of Shellawax EEE Ultra Shine as an under layer before applying the Shellawax. EEE Ultra Shine is a shellac/wax in its own right but it contains microabrasives (tripoli powder or rotten stone) as well. It is applied and the excess cleaned off and with the same rag and with the lathe on it is buffed to a decent shine. This prepares the surface for the final Shellawax incredibly well. The mirror like finish was like none I have achieved before and I am extremely pleased with the result.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever your wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!