Thank you John Keeton

[Brian Kent]

This is a piece of Big Leaf Maple burl from you that I had misplaced in a box under a box under a table.

My whole intent on turning this one is to get as much surface area as possible, in order to show the beautiful grain. I tried the down-turned wing on another piece but some internal cracks stopped me. This one worked (although I am really curious how other people manage to sand the tips of propeller blades when they are spinning.)

[Timothy Mann]

Brian I think you did a wonderful job on this. Beautiful piece of wood and very nice style, well done.

[John Keeton]

Brian, there just isn't much prettier than a nice piece of BLM burl - and you did right by this one!! Glad I was able to feed your addiction a bit.

[charlie knighton]

enjoy, Brain, very nice

[Jerry Marcantel]

Brian, that's a nice job you did on that piece. As far as sanding the tips, you do it very carefully. I would do the outside tips with a half sheet of paper folded into a 2"? x 10"? piece, and do the inside tips with an orbit sander off the lathe....... Jerry (in Tucson)

[Brian Kent]

Sounds good, Jerry.

[Thomas Canfield]

Good job Brian. I also agree that hand sanding of the tips using a random orbital sander and then just hand sanding with finer grits is much safer than trying to do to a spinning piece. I would also like to encourage you to leave a center dimple to use along with a jamb chuck/block and soft liner to remove the majority of the recess (or tenon) down to a nub and then hand remove the nub. That piece sitting sitting on the 4 tips would be a lot more dramatic. Something to think about for future.

[Brian Kent]

Another good idea. Thank you Thomas.

[robert baccus]

Very, very nice piece--design and execution. I thought you were the guy who claimed to be a beginner???

[Rick Gibson]

Very nice that BLM burl is nice wood.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Brian, try going thinner and removing the tenon in the center so that the piece sits on the 4 tippy toes! This is a piece of 21" square cocobolo that I turned about 10 yrs. ago, and the many possible variations of square turnings will entertain you for the rest of your turning lifetime!;)

[Brian Kent]

I'll give it a try, Jamie. On this one my one effort was to maximize surface area. I have a 6" piece of cocobolo and about a 9" walnut blank that I could try. How did you sand and polish the wings - on the fly or at rest?

[Brian Kent]

Thomas and Jamie,

I didn't quite make it this time, but it was good practice. I was trying to make it thinner (which it is) and to rest on the four feet. I turned the middle bottom out and had it on 4 feet until I found out that it rocked on two of the feet. By the time I leveled the feet it was resting on the middle again. I may just leave this one as it is, without hand sanding the wings. The wood and the experience were fun.

[Brian Kent]

I decided to do some more sanding by hand. I just couldn't stand leaving the scratches near the points.

[robert baccus]

Very nice--very soft looking.

[Tim Rinehart]

Nice pieces Brian. That burl even looks like a vortex!:D
On sanding, I won't sand any part of a form where I've got interrupted cuts like that. Sand as best you can in the 'solid' sections and hand sand or locally power sand the rest...that's my $0.02 worth. If you succeed in not having your fingers or pad ripped out of your hands by trying to sand the 'wings', you will typically end up rounding one of the edges on each wing.
Same goes for turning anything with lots of voids or punky/soft areas where the wood isn't a uniform hardness.

[Brian Kent]

My power sanding equipment is a belt sander and a 5" ROS. Good for big flat things and gentle curves. On the walnut piece I took some material off the sides to get the wings pointy again, then used the ROS with 100 through 220 grit, hand sanded with 400, then buffed with white diamond.

In addition to fingers, what power tool(s) do you to sand the small areas? Does anyone use the 2" pads that go on the end of a drill?

[Brian Kent]

Got some good advice to finish this piece with hand sanding. Now I like it, with the tool marks and bad power sanding marks removed. Thanks, friend!

Hand sanded at 220 through 600, then applied the 3-stage Beall Buffing system.

[robert baccus]

Cest bon yeah.