The March issue of the British “Woodturning” magazine had a platter on its cover with a unique 3D raindrop
pattern on its rim. This was part of an article by Mark Baker, the editor, about the work of Howard Lewis. The description for the platter described it as having a secret colored decorative pattern. The term secret bothered me because the woodturning community is normally so pen and sharing. I felt compelled to learn more about the secret. By searching the web for creating a raindrop pattern, I found many YouTube videos of young males decorating their Xboxes with this pattern. The process is actually quite easy.

I turned a platter by first attaching a piece of wood to a faceplate with short machine screws. This surface will become the top of the platter and the screw holes will be turned away by the scooped out center of the top of the platter.

While on the faceplate, I turned a recess on the bottom for my 4-jaw chuck and turned the surface of the bottom. This was sanded and my choice of finish applied to the wood. I then mounted the platter on the chuck and flattened the top. I left the center area flat. By waiting until after the pattern is applied to the rim to make the center, I don’t have to mask the center. I sanded the top, applied masking tape around the outer edge of the rim, and put paper on the bottom.

The masking tape and paper on the bottom are to keep paint off everything except the top. I then spray painted the top with blue. After several coats of paint were allowed to dry, I sprayed water from a spritz bottle to create a pattern of raindrops on the top surface. If the pattern doesn’t look like you want, just dry it off and spray again until you get the pattern you want. While the water is on the top, use a light paint at a shallow angle to spray one side of the water droplets.

Carefully turn the platter 180 degrees and spray a dark colored paint at a shallow angle to coat the other side of the
water drops. For the first platter I used white and black as the light and dark colors. As the water drops evaporate, the paint falls and sticks to the platter’s surface creating a 3D like pattern. Depending on the size of the water drops, it may take several hours for the water and paint to dry. This can be hastened by putting a heat lamp above the platter. After this dried, I mounted the platter again and turned out the center area of the platter.  This was sanded and finish was applied over the entire top. I use spar varnish, thinned 50-50 with paint thinner and applied with a paper towel while the platter is turning on the lathe. I found that the paint thinner in my mix would smear the pattern so the first two coats of varnish are sprayed on from a rattle can. This doesn’t smear the pattern and
allows me to follow the sprayed varnish with several coats of wiped on varnish to produce a glossy surface.

Last modified: June 5, 2018