I guess this is my first finished turning that came out okay. It’s a chunk of Eucalyptus, from the same euc I previously turned into a pen holder cup here (at the bottom). That seemed like a finished piece, too, but it was more an experiment I kept going with until it suddenly seemed like a finished piece, whatever that means.

I turned this between centers to cylindrical, then in the chuck with first some tailstock support while I made the cup down to the stem, stem not included, then removed the tailstock to do the interior of the cup, then went back and did the stem and base. Finish is 3 coats of Minwax water-based wipe-on-poly (that stuff is waaay more runny than I thought, poured it right past the rag and all over my hand), followed by Hut PPP satin, then gloss polishing wax compound.

This one has been an inspiration to keep honing my skills. It’s a decent finished piece, but I can objectively see that it doesn’t really have that sharpness of a professional turning, and I’m not entirely sure why yet. I think this is where it gets into details, and tightening up the lines and curves – always a difficult thing for me. I’m very technical, and tend to see things in right angles :)

-- Gary, Los Angeles, video game animator