Here’s how I use my lathe and a sanding disc to produce a perfectly round tabletop. First locate the center of the tabletop blank and cut it roughly to shape. Now cut a short length of metal rod that can be held in your tool-rest base. Using a bit the same size as the rod, drill part way through a piece of 2-in. scrap. Screw or clamp the scrap block to the underside of the tabletop at its center. Now mount the work on the lathe’s tool rest with the block and the rod acting as a pivot. To level and support the work near the sanding disc, mount another tool rest parallel to and about 1 in. from the disc.

Now turn on the lathe and rotate the tabletop against the disc. If the pivot turns out off-center, loosen the tool rest. Advance the work and finish the entire circumference to the shortest radius.

Robert S. Maxwell, Washington, D. C.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, February 1982 No. 32

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