Large apple

I`ve found oversized apples quite popular, perhaps because they are bigger they hold there own better when used as a stand alone piece.
This is how i went about making the spalted Beech apple above.

I started with a 4 1/4" roughly square blank, my first job was to find the center.

Once this was done it was over to the pillar drill to make a pilot hole for the screw chuck.

Next i made a new screw chuck, whenever i have a piece of wood left over from a project that is held in the chuck, i part off the front & put it to one side ready for making into a screw chuck.
Like the piece of Oak below, all i needed to do was fit it in the jaws, true up the face & drill a hole for the screw.

That done, the Oak was removed from the chuck & a screw inserted from the back, a little super glue was applied to the screw head to help keep it secure.

I was then ready to screw this to the pre-drilled blank, mount it back in the chuck jaws & turn the blank down, shaping the top of the apple. With this done a drill chuck & bit was placed in the tail stock & a second pilot hole drilled in the opposite end of the apple.

The blank was then reverse chucked & the bottom of the apple turned to shape.

This was then sanded & put to one side ready for polishing. Next pin jaws were put on the chuck to hold a couple of off cuts of blackwood to turn the calyx & stem.

The three pieces were then polished & the calyx & stem glued into the apple.