A while back I toured a commercial wood-turning shop that used a CNC wood lathe. They used a special cutter that cut in a slicing mode rather than just scraping. The cutting edge of the tool was razor sharp and they were getting great curls of wood from it. They were getting a fairly decent finish from it which didn't require extensive sanding.
I suspect that the commercial versions are probably pretty pricey - - especially the carbide ones.
For projects like (amateur) sphere making or doing hand copying (like with a pattern follower), I'm wondering if hobbiests have made/used/tried a cutter like this: