I needed an 1 1/2" round cylinder for a knob so I tried it. 80 grit on a sanding block barely made a dent in the Macassar Ebony I tried.

So I got out the belt sander! Vroom, vroom.

With the drill press spinning at 1900 RPM all I had to do was lay the sander on the table (it's sides are right on 90^ to the belt) and lightly hold the running belt against the spinning wood. In about 10 seconds I had a perfectly round cylinder.

After such a good result I tilted the drill press table to 45^ and proceeded to "turn" some cones from Ebony, Padauk and Cocobolo. No problem.

Who needs a lathe?

And let's see some pictures!