It was another day of practicing. Here are my latest turnings. I was trying to create beads on the pieces I was working with. This first piece is about 5½ inches long (click picture for larger image). I am not sure what type of wood it is. I think may be cherry but I am not sure.

To make the beads I used a parting tool to make the grooves and the bands. Then I used a skew chisel for rounding. I am not sure if this is how one is supposed to make beads, but it worked for me.

This next piece is aboutg 1½ inches long. I am not sure what type of wood this is, either. However, it has a nice, dark grain. This came as part of a package of small, square blanks. Eventually, I would like to turn my own chess set. This would be a start for learning how to work with small pieces and I like the bottom of this piece as a bottom for a chess piece.

Let me know what you think.