Used some thicker timber in this plinth allowing me to round off the full width of the to bevel. Cut to shape with the No 8 plane and finished with a scraper set. Popped on a bit of turps to give an indication of the final finish.
The magic starts to happen at 400 grit 
What is the finest grit you go down to, Bob? and do you think a sanded finish is better than a scraped one?
I’ve got to say Bob, craftsmanship with wood like no other I’ve seen in recent times.
Scraped vs sanded, that one I find depends on the wood. Straight grained wood I find easy to scrape, so Oak and the like. As soon as I get to wilder figuring like the pomela sapele, where there are crossed interlocked grains giving patches of softer and harder (end and side grain) timber, I find it easier to sand the finish on. It can all be done with a plane, I’ve seen cabinet makers achieve this, but I suspect years of experience , technique and tutoring come into play there.
With rippled sycamore I can plane a finish on that by planing with the ripple. The grain inbetween the ripple is fibrous and soft, so fine plane shavings leave a great finish. tried planing it the other way once, never made that mistake again, massive tear out, ouch!
Violin makers are so good at this, shaping and finishing with chisels, miniature planes and scrapers, fascinating to watch.
i would normally go to 400/600 on the timber and then, if doing an oil finish, rub in using one or two thou grit paper. On the first few coats this helps fill the gain too. I don’t think I’ll ever stop trying out different finishes. This one, for instance, I am trying half a dozen coats of Danish (yea I know), then high gloss car polish, car glaze and then wax. Should give a very high gloss finish, but with a very thin coat.
Great answer, thanks!
Have you tried using ground pumice with shellac as a grain filler?
Yea, i used it on that last walnut plinth I made. I followed it with a short oil varish and wax. gave a nice semi gloss finish.
Ah, ok.
I suppose you could use button polish (and a lot of elbow grease!) to achieve a ‘french polish’ finish, which I guess could be as glossy as you are prepared to make it.
Did it once on a pair of speakers, I think my wrist was in figure of eight mode for a week after that 
Just a wash coat of turps to raise the grain and then back to the sanding. Colour and figure showing through nicely.
looking good
The black line visible in this pic differentiates the upper resin plinth from the lower internal mass to which the motor is fixed.
Lovely! What’s the weight now?
About twenty kg, too heavy and it becomes counter productive.
First stage of finish complete, last stage will be applied in about a week. In the meantime I can crack on with my own plinth.
Stunning as always Bob.
Lovely work. The mitre splices look the business 
Lovey Bob, has the 301 had work?
Nah, it’s just a borrowed unit to allow me to set the bolt holes and arm centers in these two plinths.
