I am relatively new to turning and have a Delta 46-525 given to me by a cousin last fall - mostly just for fun and gifts, but I'm starting to get requests for purchases. Woohoo! I wanted it to turn bowls mostly, but have enjoyed turning some HFs. Here are my first two finished HFs:
This is from a chunk of very dry sycamore driftwood. It sat on my shop floor for several months and sucked moisture up through the concrete and spalted beautifully! I sealed the wood with Danish oil and put on 7 coats of Minwax poly and sanded them all back off. For the life of me I couldn't put it on thin enough to not sag. Good learning experience though! I sanded it to 600 grit and polished by hand with Minwax paste wax. I had a buyer lined up, but the wife claimed it for her own.
HF1_1.jpgHF1_3.jpgHF1_4.jpg
This is from a chunk of elm my mom wanted me to try to salvage. The tree was cut last summer and had sat on the ground in her yard since then. It's hard to see all the color in it, but some of the spalting is green. I filled the cracks with coffee grounds and CA, sealed with Danish oil, coated with poly and polished with paste wax.
HF2_3.jpgHF2_1.jpgHF2_2.jpg
Comments and critiques are welcome!