Back story: Friend gives me a huge bundle of 1/2" to 1 1/4" oak dowel scraps. Wife gives me a new 4x36" bench top belt sander for Christmas. Time to experiment!
I'm certain this is nothing new for the experienced turners here, but, as a relative "newbie" to turning (2 years), I thought maybe some of the folks new to turning might like to see how I do this.
Finials with a twist.
I started with an 1 1/4" oak dowel holding it at approx a 45 degree horizontal angle to the end of the belt sander (the part that curves around) with just a slight downward vertical angle. Using my left hand to supply slight pressure at the top of the dowel, I "fed" the dowel into the belt from right to left while twisting it with my right hand. I then turned the dowel to what was my best estimation of 180 degrees and repeated this action on the other side. I made several passes at the belt with each spiral and then moved the piece to the lathe for turning.
I discovered that, after the initial turning I had to take the piece back to the belt to make the spirals deeper and somewhat tapered towards the top. Also the spiral cuts have to be hand sanded before the final finish is applied.
I don't think they turned out to bad for my first attempt. Now I'm working on applying this to a 6" bowl blank, just to see what happens. ;)