On 10/23/2011 8:00 PM, Vic Baron wrote:
In woodworking the saying goes "You can never have too many clamps" - in
turning it appears it's "You can never have enough turning tools!"

I'd better learn to be ambidextrous - when turning close to the chuck, I
keep rapping my knuckles on it. Not fun.

I need to find a use for all the left over stubs cut off from my
practice pieces.

Catches are scary

I find it easier to turn between centers when the speed is up around 1800.

Question:

What is a good way to get a high polished finish? I turned a walnut
finial and sanded it to 400 grit. Put some shellac on it and followed up
with Johnsons paste wax. Got a really nice hand rubbed look but I was
looking for something with a little more shine. I'm guessing I could
remove it from the lathe and spray it with a gloss finish but I wondered
of there were any finishes that could be applied while the piece is on
the lathe. I skimmed through a few online catalogs but what saw looked
just like the same products I use for my woodworking projects -
urethane, waterlox, etc.

Having fun and just turned my two first projects - a small lidded box
and a finial that I plan to use as a knob on a box.

Vic



if I want a true mirror finish, here is what I do, AFTER sanding the
wood properly - spray several coats of lacquer (I use a spray gun),
needs to be thick enough to sand - then start with 280 or 400 wet/dry
and a sanding pad AND WATER!!! and wet sand up to at least 600. then
spin it up on the lathe and polish using automotive polishing compound -
first the brown "cutting" compound then the white polishing compound -
you will get a finish just like a mirror - but it will show every little
scratch that you didn't sand out of the wood underneath the finish -
This finish works very well on walnut pieces that are dark - don't waste
your time on light colored wood