Looking for a project to practise your spindle turning skills? Woodturning finials provides an excellent opportunity plus they add beautiful decorative detail to your pieces.

What are finials?

A finial is a natural finish to the top or bottom of a design. They are most commonly found on bedposts, curtain rails and boxes. Finials are great practice pieces to get to grips with your spindle turning tools. 

Watch our Woodworking Wisdom demo with Colwin Way, as he talks you through some top tips on how to turn finials. 


Finial turning tips

are a great way of practising your spindle turning skills spindle turning skills and get to use a range of turning tools including skew chisels, parting tools and spindle gouges. 

Find some scrap blocks and have a go at experimenting with different sizes and shapes. 

Choosing your timber is important. When thinking about turning finials, you should choose a timber that will be structurally sound for the project you are doing.  

Also, when turning your finial, you need to work in sections from the tailstock back towards the headstock. This helps to keep the strength in the workpiece.

More on spindles

Want to practise your spindle turning skills further, then look no further than this How to Make a Rolling Pin project guide. Looking to try something more complex, then watch our How to Make a Lamp Woodworking Wisdom demo.