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Hi Guys, I recently watched a Richard Raffan video demonstrating turning a small cherry bowl. When he came to finish the bowl, he merely sanded, didn’t use a sanding sealer, then applied raw bees wax from a large block, before polishing. Anybody else used such a finish? Are there any drawbacks? D.

I have a vintage Elu flip over saw for sale. This can be configured to be either a mitre saw or a bench saw. I have it set as a mitre saw. I am selling it because a) I need more room in my workshop, and b) I no longer have the hand strength to squeeze the start on the mitre saw! Don’t laugh. I...

Unfortunately this machine doesn’t seem to be widely available in the UK (if at all). In addition, replacement belts are very expensive. That’s before you have to have the machining/engineering skills to adapt it. I certainly don’t, so I’ll stick with my Pro Edge. D.

I have always used a drip tray, but water still splashes everywhere; the motor runs slowly at one speed ( that’s the main selling point for Tormek - no chance of overheating tool), i’ve never had a need to change a Tormek Stone, so how long it takes is irrelevant to me, but I think it would take...

I have a Tormek and a Pro Edge. II no longer use the Tormek. It’s messy {water slopping everywhere), is a pain to set up, can’t re-profile easily, and take ages to revive an edge. Changing belts on the Pro edge is simple , taking only a couple of minutes, but I generally don’t have to do that...

Good idea, OJ. Thanks.

Cheers, Stig. Much appreciated. D.

Thanks, Stig. I really struggled with it, particularly with the bowl interior. I couldn’t quite get rid of a little ‘pimple’ at the bottom of the bowl. I think I've learned from doing it, and hope to make a better one next time. D.

First, almost successful, goblet. D.

Another effort. I used a cone centre this time, D.

Thanks for your valuable advice, Ed. I love your goblet. Brilliant work. D.

Thanks cmoops2 and Ed. I thought about using some sort of a support from the tail stock, but I didn’t have anything to hand. I’d have had to turn it etc. I like the idea of a cone centre, but I wonder about centring that on an out of line blank. Would it automatically bring everything into line...

Thanks, Paul.

Thanks, guys. The blank wasn’t held between centres. The problem arose after I had hollowed out and shaped the goblet bowl, with the blank held by a tenon in the headstock chuck. While beginning to turn the stem I got a catch. Nothing spectacular, but sufficient to throw the blank a little bit...

Cheers, Stig.

Hi guys I mostly turn bowls, so spindle turning is not a forte of mine. I was asked recently to turn a goblet, and made pretty good progress with it, until I got a bit of a catch. This had the effect of making the blank wobble slightly. I tried to correct this by just tapping the blank, but this...

The down side to getting wood off tree surgeons, or taking a chainsaw to a neighbours felled tree, is that the wood will usually be wet. This means you have to have somewhere to store it where it can be air dried. This may take any time up to a couple of years, and the outcome cannot be...

Gmoop2 While I didn’t actually mention it, I, of course, would only withdraw the drill bit by turning the tail stock hand wheel. It would be madness to do it by dragging the tail stock along the bedway. I’ve never had a problem holding the Jacob as the drill withdraws. D.

A lucky escape. My first impression at the start of the drilling was that the blank was turning much too fast. I was taught to not drill using a Jacob’s chuck at much more than 350-400 rpm. I tend to use even lower speeds, and continually withdraw to clear the drill flutes. I think it is a good...

Thanks, guys. I think I’ll leave it as it is. It’s not worth a lot of effort. As the saying goes, ‘put it down to experience’. D.