Hello all,

I've been playing around a little with making some small turned boxes
with lids, and while I've had some sucess, there are also a number of
things I just haven't figured out yet.

First is blank orientation- I've been turning cherry from a small
(6-7" dia.) log I found as deadfall, and the sapwood is awfully soft,
so my first inclination is to rough it out by setting the spur right
in the center of the growth rings, and work from there- but when I've
tried this, it has a tendancy to crack the piece when hollowing
(usually after a good catch) and it's really hard to carve into that
end grain without knocking the blank out of true. Is this just the
price a guy pays for hollowing end grain, or is it likely to be a
problem with my technique or the tool I am using? (I usually use a
1/4" spindle gouge with slightly swept-back wings)

When I turn the blank the other way, with the spur set into the face
grain, the hollowing is a lot easier, but I end up with very prominent
annual rings on either side of the piece. Sometimes that works, but
it's not that great on a lot of pieces. If I had some larger blanks,
I'm sure I could cut the pith out and avoid some of that, but right
now I'm just playing with what I've got.

The next problem comes when it's time to sand the interior of the
form- I've been trying to turn them with small openings (.75"-1"), as
much to develop my technique as anything else, but it's tough getting
sandpaper in the opening without twisting my finger but good. Any
ideas on getting that inside smooth? Would doing something a little
off the wall like placing a few river stones inside and spinning it on
the lathe for a while do the trick, or is that just asking for a
wooden missile full of rocks to fly across the room? (I haven't tried
it yet, which I why I ask!)

And then the final one- and the most important right this moment.
I've got a nice little hollow form about 5" tall and 4" in diameter
(soaking in LDD, Leif) that I'm pretty happy with- all except for the
foot, that is. I used the bottom of the foot as a flat reference for
my chuck, but as the piece developed, the form got thinner and more
elegant, while the foot stayed how it was. It might look okay parted
off, but I'm afraid the hollowed area may be a little too deep for
that, so I need to shape it, preferably without mangling my gouge on
the jaws of the chuck. I don't have the necessary jaws to grip the ID
of the opening, and the opening is too large to use the spur center.
Any ideas on mounting this? I was thinking that sliding it over a
taper held in the chuck with the tailstock holding it in place might
work, but I'd like to avoid having a little hole on the bottom of the
piece.

As always, suggestions are very welcome!