Thanks, everyone, for the comments, it's all very encouraging. I'm not sure how much bigger I'm going to be able to go on my lathe...the physical capacity is there, if only by repositioning the bed bars temporarily. However, the lathe is so basic that I still get vibration with big pieces of work, or when I'm making hollowing cuts. Things are substantially better since I replaced the bearings, but I guess that I just have to accept that a lathe as basic and as old as mine is going to have these limitations. So....I do tend to have to rely on frequently sharpened scrapers to take that diaphanously thin cut that produces fluff more-so than shavings, and then lots of sanding.
On the subject of sanding....my current stock of Abranet only goes as fine as 320grit, so this piece (and anything else I've ever turned) has not been sanded finer than that - although I do use fresh 320, followed by well-used 320, followed by worn-out 320, which seems to work.
Bryan...I was intrigued by your word 'chatoyance' and did a bit of searching to find out more about it.
- It would seem that our friends across the pond, who never were ones for adopting words from other cultures, refer to it as 'popping the grain'
It's caused by a confused arrangement of wood fibres close to the surface
It can be highlighted by the use of oils to finish the piece with, as this type of finish penetrates the surface more and reaches the 'confused arrangement of fibres
superfine sanding (1000grit) can increase the effect, as can...
high gloss finishes compatible with oils - such as gloss varnishes
there's an interesting video on youtube that deals with it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipD8SybPgRM - interesting stuff...can't wait to try it out on another bit of ripple!
Cheers guys...Les
