Thread: Wooden shaving bowls

i like this thuya bowl/mdc combo...photo found on ebay.

I dunno about "treating" the wood... hey! I'm a guy who doesn't worry about water spots on his drinking glasses, ya know? I've been using some wooden bowls I purchased online about eight years ago, from the Old Dominion Soap Company (bottom of the page); I store soap and build lather in all of them, with no problems.

What I will say is that if you plan to build a lather in one, make sure it's sufficiently high -- about twice the height of the soap; if not, it gets real messy, real quickly.

Smooth shaving!

I am going to spin some out of redwood and soak then in polyurethane to see what happens. I am not going thru the expense of vacuum unless I find a jerry rig way to do it for nothing.

I use a oil product used for wooden Cutting Boards when I get a wood bowl. If I turn one, the Rockler's stores have a combination bees' wax and walnut oil mixture that has worked for me on new and used bowls and some early shave brushes and a lot of espresso machine lever and pf handles that I turned.
Were I to do the inside and lip of a bowl now I might favor repeated coats of CA rubbed and sanded. I would do it while the bowl was in the lathe and spinning and heated by the friction of a piece of the similar wood while applying it to seal all the surface. A common practice I find.
Have fun any way you can! that is how we learn!
Bye the way wear good eye protection. a trip to the emergency room to get a glob of CA out of you eye is not fun...at all. I have done that.
Cheers
~Richard

If it's a quality bowl and nice and hefty and a hardwood it should weather real good. The garbage Trumpers and Harris uses is highly disposable.

Originally Posted by JBHoren

I dunno about "treating" the wood... hey! I'm a guy who doesn't worry about water spots on his drinking glasses, ya know? I've been using some wooden bowls I purchased online about eight years ago, from the Old Dominion Soap Company (bottom of the page); I store soap and build lather in all of them, with no problems.

What I will say is that if you plan to build a lather in one, make sure it's sufficiently high -- about twice the height of the soap; if not, it gets real messy, real quickly.

Smooth shaving!

i have one of those bowls too....they are called KINGSLEY bowls on drugstore.com mine is starting to warp a little...i can tell because the lid doesnt sit evenly anymore. i do like the shape of the bowl though...has good hand-feel.

Originally Posted by jmsodpc

i have one of those bowls too....they are called KINGSLEY bowls on drugstore.com mine is starting to warp a little...i can tell because the lid doesnt sit evenly anymore. i do like the shape of the bowl though...has good hand-feel.

Thanks for the pointer! (especially to one with a $1.46 less-expensive price) -- at $6.49 a-pop, I can live with a lid that one day warped a bit. Thankfully, shaving soap ain't a dairy product!

Originally Posted by JBHoren

What I will say is that if you plan to build a lather in one, make sure it's sufficiently high -- about twice the height of the soap; if not, it gets real messy, real quickly.

Wish I had read this before I filled up my first soap bowl to about 80%. It is definately messy, but at least the soap I used was cheap, I wouldnt want to have to be bothered getting it out and re-grating it in, then storing the excess somewhere. In about 6 months the problem will most likely fix itself.

I bought a wooden bowl to make my lather in. Before use I put on 5 layers of matt clearcoat. Works out fine for me.

Waterlox is another finish thats waterproof and will give you that oil finish look. Its expensive, and hard to find, but is some of the best oil finish you can buy in my opinion. Exotic wood suppliers usually carry it. Lately I've been getting sick of polyurethane finishes and this is something Im going to start using more of.

Waterlox Tung oil wood sealer finish protection for floors, countertops, furniture, cabinets, outdoor, marine applications