Author Topic: scent bowl  (Read 1891 times)

Offline willstewart

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scent bowl
« on: May 17, 2020, 03:58:24 PM »
Another experiment - a sort of pot-pourri without the pourri. 

We will all have noted that woods smell whilst machining and for a while after but this fades, but that only a little wood has to be machined off to recover the scent.  So it is quite shallow.  Here I have cut grooves about 20mm deep in the 'bowl' and these are not finished with anything (the exterior and flange are waxed to show the wood).  The bowl currently scents very strongly, as would be expected given that it is camphorwood, but this will fade gradually.  But I can then sprinkle the absorbent bare wood with some essential oil (like lavender say) as one might a pot-pourri.  I am not sure this will work but we shall see!

The grooves were cut with a very sharp standard and then miniature parting tool.  The curvature means that the grooves widen at the top. I have not attempted to sand them.


Offline bodrighywood

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2020, 04:16:26 PM »
or give the iside fo the bpwl a quick gping over with coarse abrasive.

Pete
Turners don't make mistakes, they have design opportunities

Offline Twisted Trees

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2020, 10:10:29 PM »
I quite like the idea, though in my house it would be full of cat hair in under seconds, we only have the one cat, but she produces cat hair on an industrial scale!

Not sure I would have gone so big if the plan is to top up with essential oils, but an interesting idea all the same.
TT, AKA Pete, but that name is taken :-)

Offline willstewart

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2020, 08:16:15 AM »
Well I aim to be interesting - though the cat I cannot speak for!  You can vacuum the structure...

The structure here has a lot more surface area than a bowl (estimate at least four times) - though I have now sanded the groove interiors!

I would just sprinkle with oils like a bowl of pot-pourri, but we shall see.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2020, 09:48:52 AM by willstewart »

Offline Twisted Trees

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2020, 06:11:31 PM »
As I said I like the idea, and am going to pinch it! except I am going to do something extremely different! My wife buys smelly sticks, they are just thin dowels soaked in scented oil, combined with your idea I am thinking those completely useless bud vases people like us to turn, with a bunch of sawn absorbent thin sticks stuffed in it and some smelly oil may resist the attack of cat hair and may be a use for the silly bud vase things!

May even just pinch the smelly sticks from my wife, I can get away with it by just saying Mo lets Pete do it  ;D ::) ;D
TT, AKA Pete, but that name is taken :-)

Offline willstewart

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2020, 10:25:14 AM »
Twisted Trees - interesting and it makes me wonder if an even simpler approach would be a bud vase shape, possibly with lid, and no finish at all - with the oil placed in the vase diffusing out gradually through the wood pores, presumably along the grain (so probably better not cut on end grain).  Or perhaps this is what you meant?

Offline bodrighywood

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2020, 11:14:29 AM »
The scent wouldn't necesarily come through,the wood pores it would need to be exposed to be noticeable.

Pete
Turners don't make mistakes, they have design opportunities

Offline willstewart

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2020, 02:05:00 PM »
Well, Pete, ye of little faith, it works!  This is a test 'pot' about 45mm diameter of ash, cut across the grain (from a small offcut).  I have filled it with the oil fluid from a sticks-in-pot scent diffuser we had, and as you see the oil oozes through and it scents beautifully.  It also forms droplets on the outside which is perhaps less ideal although the remaining chuck point/foot on the base has so far stopped these reaching the surface. 

The interior is simply drilled out using a 35mm Forstner bit most of the way down, with no further finishing, leaving walls 5-6mm thick, and the exterior is sanded but then wire brushed to open the grain (of course no other finish).  The lid is a reasonably tight fit - I could say it is cut on the end grain because that then lines up the pores correctly but honesty compels me to admit that this was an accidental consequence of the shape of the original offcut!

So an improved design might have thicker walls to slow leakage, or perhaps be made of a less open wood, with some form of deliberate drop barrier at the base.

Offline bodrighywood

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2020, 04:10:29 PM »
I acknowledge I was mistook LOL.

Pete
Turners don't make mistakes, they have design opportunities

Offline willstewart

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2020, 06:02:24 PM »
Experiment 2 - this is an oak pot with 4mm thick walls (again around 43mm dia) with a boxwood lid (from a leftover - no aesthetic comments please!).  The fresh scent refill pretty much pours through leaving a puddle.  Ash and thicker walls sounds a good idea.

PS - the original bowl that was sprinkled with lavender oil still scents, albeit more faintly.  Rather like a conventional pot-pourri.

Offline Bryan Milham

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2020, 07:12:07 PM »
It's always good to see a new idea.

I think these at Christmas, made of resinous pine would go well. People seem to like the scent of pine then.
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Offline Twisted Trees

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #11 on: May 25, 2020, 01:10:12 AM »
Excellent experimenting, I am thinking smaller diameter "tube" (35mm needs a lot of oil) of ash into a larger non porous catch plate type base
TT, AKA Pete, but that name is taken :-)

Offline willstewart

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #12 on: May 26, 2020, 08:18:40 PM »
So if anyone is still interested here are 2 more experiments!  The larger is with ash 10mm thick and the smaller (after noting the lid last time) with boxwood only 2-3mm thick.  So the, quite low viscosity, non-aqueous scented fluid sold as a refill for the pot-with-sticks flows easily through both.  The flow is in line with the grain so to 2 sides only of the round shape but the dense boxwood seems almost as porous.  I think I like the boxwood design (but would make it thicker) but it may be that most woods work. The scents are lovely (supposedly freesia). 

Offline Bryan Milham

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #13 on: May 26, 2020, 08:33:37 PM »
Will,

when you say 'non-aqueous scented fluid' do I assume you mean it is alcohol based?
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Offline willstewart

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Re: scent bowl
« Reply #14 on: May 26, 2020, 08:36:21 PM »
I am not entirely sure!  Unlike foods it is a bit vague on ingredients but it warns of flammability so alcohol seems likely (as with other scents of course).