You chose well with tung oil, it’ll harden unlike beeswax. Pure tung’s often my go-to but it just takes so long to properly dry if you’re doing multiple coats.

Beautiful work, very impressive. Did you finish it with beeswax for good measure?

He steams a mean ham.

Oki dokey.

I’ve got no lathing tips for you because I’ve only used a lathe once and I’m more of a carver but you’ve done a great job there for a first attempt! For the finish I’d recommend smoothing it out with some 240 grit sandpaper, cleaning it off with white spirits or similar then giving it a couple of coats of Danish or boiled linseed oil. The grain will look absolutely beautiful.

Be sure to post an update photo!

They could be executed themselves. The stakes are very high.