Voila!

The Lendrum Saxony is finished!

Yesterday I gave all the parts a final polish with a clean cloth and reassembled. Before screwing down the stops on the wheel posts I installed both a cotton string for DD and a stretchy plastic drive band for scotch tension. If you've ever joined the ends of a plastic drive band you'll know that it's far easier to do so off the wheel than on. It spins wonderfully in either mode, so I have the best of both worlds.

I'm very happy with how the finish turned out. I would encourage anyone who is considering buying an unfinished wheel to not be intimidated by the prospect of finishing it. All you need is patience. The key to a beautiful finish on hardwoods like maple, cherry, and walnut is the sanding. If you do a meticulous job of sanding using progressively higher abrasive grits (180 to 320 to 400/600 to 0000 steel wool or a nonwoven abrasive pad), the application of the finishing compound becomes a no-brainer. You just wipe it on, wipe it off, let it dry, and buff or sand lightly with fine steel wool. Repeat one or two more times and it'll look great.

You also can't go wrong with tung or linseed oil. If I had been finishing a maple or a cherry wheel I might have used Tried & True Original Wood Finish instead of 100% tung oil. This product, which is a combination of linseed oil and beeswax, smelled great and gave me a wonderful finish, but it darkened the walnut more than I wanted. On maple or cherry it would be gorgeous.

Now it's time to start spinning. First up: Corriedale laceweight singles. This wheel makes it so easy...