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Is it my imagination, or is the lathe operating in reverse and the turner (if that is actually what he is!) is applying the tool as if the lathe were rotating forwards? (could be an effect caused by lathe speed/camera frame rate/lighting, of course)

Strange - that's the system I have from Hegner. I tend to use the 3" medium arbor with the soft interface pad. I can see how you could melt the velcro if you didn't use the interface pad.

Good work, as always George I particularly like the shape of the 2nd one

What brand of pads did you get, and what arbor etc are you using them with? I use the arbor, foam pads and abrasive sold by Hegner as well as the Grip-a-disc system I've found that the velcro wears our eventually (faster on the Hegner system) but it's usually after many months of use. They...

A few experimental items made from parts of a cherry tree from my sister's garden. All turned wet... 19cm long 19cm wide. Turned slightly off centre in an attempt to get it to lean. Not off centre enough 21cm long. Turned off centre (quite a propeller!). I think this is my favourite from...

For all my shots I use the custom white balance setting by taking a shot of just the white background in my light tent. And I try to take all my shots using natural light only

You may be limited to f8 because you've zoomed in. If you zoom out and rely on actually moving the camera back and forth to get the bowl to fill the frame you will probably find that you can use a slightly higher f stop.

I want to build a vacuum chuck and need an airtight bearing. Does anyone know where I can get one in the UK? I've tried rubber sealed (not sold a double sealed or airtight) ones but the vacuum just pulls the lube and air through them. Thanks Duncan

As others have said - if you use fully automatic mode then you need to switch to either Program (P) or Aperture Priority (A) mode. This will let you increase the aperture. A quick search has revealed that the max for your camera is 11 so try that. Mount the camera on a tripod. If you have a...

How much can you actually see through your welding mask? Don't most of them have just a small glass part in front of your eyes? I know it's more to spend, but I used one of these flip up safety visors from Axminster. Only £7 (plus postage, of course). Also useful around the garden when strimming...

Thanks for the kind comments everyone :oops: Jenx - the pyrography was designed on paper after I printed out some circular grids. It then took many hours sat in front of the tv to complete (luckily I live on my own so can get away with this :) ). I had to stop regularly to give my hands and...

I've finally got round to taking some more photos - a lot of natural edge work and experiments in round bottoms... (all images clickable for larger version) 25cm diameter spalted beech turned wet-ish 32cm wide spalted, slightly rippled holly 29cm wide bleached spalted holly with...

If you can't afford a powered respirator then how about one of there designed for MDF. It's like what I used before I got the powercap. When I used it I put a piece of kitchen roll over the filter to act as a pre-filter. The speed at which it got coated and needed replacing was alarming -...

I'd say that it was nothing like oak - it's very light in weight and not particularly dense. Having said that, I've never turned it dry so it's cutting properties may perhaps change. I found it needs very sharp tools to get as good finish as possible, so as to reduce sanding to a minimum -...

An ambient air filter is what you need to remove dust (that's been missed by the extractor) from the air. I use a Microclene 400. I vacuum its filter at least once a week using my Camvac. It's on pretty much all the time and you can see the airborne dust moving towards it. Duncan

Not all parks alike - last Saturday I walked past Leazes Park in Newcastle and all the tennis courts (6+) and basketball courts (3) were occupied. It's often the same in the other parks which I walk past here. The bowls and croquet greens are often in use as well. Duncan

I've never steamed pear myself, and have only seen it in the flesh once (John Boddys). I only bought one blank and wish I'd got more - it was lovely to turn and it looks great, with a distinct difference between the heart and sap wood... Sorry for the glare on the photo - it's got a gloss...

LW - the Northumberland club has an open day on the 9th May. There are usually a selection of hollowing tools to try on the club lathe (DVR XP). There aren't usually any toothpick type cutters there but I'll try to remember to take mine along. There will also be timber on sale during the day -...

Have you tried approaching the neighbours to see if they'd mind a white building? One thing I considered for my shed was to install a sheet of material or even wooden boards over the top of the existing roof leaving an air gap between (20cm or so). The theory being that the air gap will heat...

I guess they could be optional, or they could always be posted in a separate thread Duncan