... could I ask how the back is finished fella? ...
Andy...I can't post a picture of the back, as it has the recipient's name on it and she doesn't yet know that she's getting it for Christmas. To answer your question, though, here's my method. There's a chucking point (100mm tenon) on the back. When I've finished all the turning and the pyro work, I mount onto my lathe a plywood disc that I keep for this sort of work. It's about 24" diameter and set onto a faceplate which is never unscrewed (otherwise, with repeated screwing and unscrewing, the screws would fail to hold). I place a soft sheet of 2mm foam onto the plywood disc, then hold the platter against it and bring up the tailstock to a pre-marked centre point. That allow any finishing work to be done, leaving as small a central pillar of grain as you feel confident with, which is governed by things such as the nature of the wood, whether it's side grain or end grain etc. On this piece I was able to turn it down to a 15mm pillar, finish all the sanding, then turn the pillar down even further. The pillar is eventually sawn off and the stub sanded to match its background.
...how do you design the pyro? is it done by computer then transferred or drawn on freehand? sorry for all the questions ...
....the pyro is based on some ancient images as a starting point. I cut a circle of paper (wall-paper lining paper) such that it is a comfortable fit into the rim. Then I draw, freehand, the platter's design on just one side of the paper, plus any of the little overlaps, like the heads of the dragons and the eagles. The paper is then taped into place in the rim of the platter with 2 sheets of carbon paper under it, one ink-side down, the other ink-side up. Next I draw over my design with a sharp, soft pencil (usually a 4B) so that the pencil doesn't emboss any lines into the surface. The purpose of the two sheets of carbon is that one of them transfers the lines onto the face of the platter, the other transfers ink onto the back of my paper pattern. It's then a simple matter of flipping the paper pattern over, with a single piece of carbon paper under it, to transfer the design onto the other side of the platter's rim.
Hope this explains it for you...if not, by all means ask again.
Les