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Pyro, some more nice work, those finishes look really good! Axminster should do you well. Swine flu - bummer, hope you get over that soon! Thanks Crafty Weasel, nice work too, I like that gate on your FB page. What finish do you use on yew, and does it stop it from darkening? Pyro - craddle chuck, and bit more... this is an olive ash bowl, sort of, -from a few years back... I use the cradle chuck particularly on larger things and big natural edge bowls. (for scale, it's about 2' in diameter)

I can see how rigidity would be a problem. -second hand Vickery lathes are good, as they don't have the name of a Graduate so can be found cheap! However you are managing to make some good stuff, that cheese board is great, the finish looks good! -but those narrow gullies are where I always find it difficult to get a good finish. Arbanet - is good, but expensive. -do you get it for a good price? I'm using some Canadian stuff (sorry can't remember the name) which is really good, it has velcro (loop) on the back... also the 600, 800 grit is foam backed. 1500, 2000 grit I have some 'brillo pad' like mats, again the names escape me this is good too. I'll find out the names when I return. I too like maline lacquer, it dries fast and makes a tough finish. Do you use Chestnut's? The problem I have is it doesn't last long on bigger things. Cheers.

Thanks pyro & robbo! More pics to follow, though I'm away at the moment... in the new year. Pyro finishes- what's your process? Typically I will get as good a finish from the tool as I can, which of course will vary greatly depending on shape and material, and limited by my skill (machine flex won't help). Then 120 grit power sanding - you can just see the 3" heads on my top pic (last post), next to the scissors. Work up though the grits to 400 at least. 50/50 - 60/40 sanding sealer/thinners, a couple of coats. Then Danish oil 2-3 coats. This will nearly always give a good sheen finish. I used acrylic lacquer on yew as it seals it, stopping it from discolouring - it will tend to darken if air can get to it. The sanding sealer will still work OK in the cold, but other finishes will not - waxes, acrylic lacquers... :-( Danish oil can be applied from your sofa... Cradle chuck - you can just see some of the ply discs in my pics, basically it's a large face plate and a 'doughnut' that you cradle a bowl, typically, so the screw fixing holes or chucking point can be turned off/finished - reverse chucking. I'm sure that's as clear as mud, but I'll put up some pics when I can. This holding method is particularly good for large natural edge things, and if you don't have a tailstock (which I don't). Which lathe do you have Pyro? is it the one with the 3" tube for the bed?

Hello fellow turners! Some nice work and interesting discussions going here, I can't believe I've only just found this thread, doh! -my thoughts on kit priory- a few good tools first, a reasonable machine to suit your needs next then chucking (scroll chuck) next, if like me your funds are some what limited... Also don't dismiss building something yourself- I turn big stuff, and can not afford the commercial machines of that capacity, so I built my own, with very good results! -a good alternative to a scroll chuck (to avoid leaving screw holes in the base etc.) is a cradle chuck (you can make it yourself), as you can mount it on the lathe's face plate... I'll post pics if anyone is interested. -or for small things, like boxes, try a 'jam chuck'... Here's a few pics of a recent yew bowl, about 400mm in diameter. I rough turned this at the start of the year... It's taking to long to finish, as the acrylic lacquer has 'orange peeled' as my shed was too cold... nearly finished sanding it back. Just the base to do - with the cradle chuck. oh, the lamp was to help warm the inside for the lacquer application/drying, it helped a bit. (pyrp - hope you get over the flu soon) Cheers all, any comments questions welcomed!

-the floor sander was my initial plan, I used one of those on a pipe floor which worked ok, but when I tested it on a good piece of milled oak, it became very apparent that it would be far too slow. That was a drum sander, the hire place do a larger ~2' disc type sander which they said I could test... may give that a go. But my gut reaction is planing is the way. Thanks though.

Hi Ian, Having seen your table (nice by the way) can you recommend anyone who can plane/thickness boards, I've got a stack of oak I milled a while back that is for my lounge floor... just need to find some one not too far from Worcester? Cheers.

If you go Cannon think about their 37" instead of the 36", if you're running 404 chain, then you'll get better adjustment when the chain has stretched a bit, I've got the 36" and with 112 DL the adjustment is almost used up. Also note that the Stihl 3' ES bar is not quite 3'... takes 108 DL (404) The Cannon bars are impressive though, and the sprocket nose is smaller Ø than the Stihl equiv.

Thanks for the quick replies! That advice should particularly help me get better results from hand held/moving target shots. If I get chance, I'll have an experiment this weekend. Cheers.

here's my spider pic, taken with my humble Cannon A590, just a macro point and shoot with a little control over the focal point (the green square). Comments please, it seems my DOF and focal point is not great??? -but these where moving targets, so not much time to fart with settings... F3.5, shutter speed 1/60", ISO80 Can't find my fugi pics right now :-( but great thread, I've discovered new functions on my camera, I can't pretend I fully understand them, but I can do a bit of slightly educated trial and error... before I had some success with using low ISO and adjusting shutter speed, hope I'll get some improved results with adjusting the other settings.

-cool thread... interesting pics. ボケ　boke, pronounced as its written, short vowel sounds (like sake is, not sar_key) 味　(あじ）　aji, meaning tase or flavor. None of the Japanese guys in the office understood "Bo-Ke ecolojim" though. I have some cool macro baby spider pics... and some funky srooms too, I'll try to find later. Cheers (Hope the Nihon symbols show, ask for further explanations, as it would get further off thread)