Inspired by the success of Black Agnes's duster, I tried some experimentation over the weekend by actively invalidating our house and contents insurance.
I've seen other people intentionally set light to their work and thought it was high time I did the same. To be clear, I have burnt some of my stuff before, but only because it was complete rubbish and it provided a nice bit of heat in the family wood burner. This time was going to be different. I chose a small piece of beech to practice on and turned it into a delicately shaped raised bowl. I sanded it down through the grades then took a gas torch to it whilst it lazily span around at my lathe's lowest speed, if you can call 450 rpm lazy.
This part took a bit longer than I thought, and seeing flames licking from the workpiece was a little alarming. And it took a surprisingly long time for the bowl to turn black. I was glad, though, that I had decided to sand the bowl before burning; the mess otherwise would have been like party night round at Hades place. Once the bowl had cooled down, I repeatedly wiped the blackened surface with rolled up kitchen towel until the finish was completely even. A couple of coats of Danish oil and it was done.
Steps back in amazement that once again the fire extinguisher was not required. I'm quite pleased with the result, though, even if my central nervous system is fried.
The workshop still smells delicately singed, like a Northumberland smokehouse without the kippers.
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