In article ,
"Toller" wrote:

I am not sure what I could have done to make it any better.

Chew off the high spot with something else. I've used both a drawknife
and a router (mounted on a lathe-mounted jig for control). With an
appropriate jig for control, even a portable circular saw could work.
Finding the high spots is easy in the lathe (unplug it, or at least
don't turn it on.)

IMHO, a lathe with a 400 RPM low speed is a poor design anyway, but I
got into this hobby on a gol-durned shopsmith that has a 700 rpm low
speed and a teeny-tiny 5/8" spindle. That did make me love the heck out
of the first variable speed system I met that would go more-or-less to 0
RPM.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by