I had a chunk of figured maple that I knew was going to have awesome chatoyancy, and it was about the right size for a small bowl. I've never done a finial top lidded bowl, so I figured what the hell?
I turned the bowl body first, then used a vacuum chuck to hold the lid blank well enough to cut a lip on it, then used the bowl body as a jam chuck to finish the lid. The cats eye is just awesome. The pics clearly don't do it justice, I had a piece of walnut for the finial, but it ended up being all checked when I got it turned down, so I found a really pretty piece of sapele. I feel like the finial is a bit chunky, but it's my first attempt at it, so I'm not too upset. Sanded to 600 then, finished with homemade friction polish and a little Renaissance wax.
First time with this type of bowl, first time with the vacuum chuck and transfer tail stock insert (neat setup!). I did learn the limits of the vacuum chuck, which is probably a good thing too!
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
