This is my current personal best. It was a real challenge. The top and bottom were turned separately and each component sanded before it came off the lathe. I used one of those contour tools (wires in a row, pressed against wood, shows the reverse contour on the other side of the ruler) to get the bottom curvature of the top, then transferred that pattern to the African padauk wood base. I used epoxy to join the two pieces, then sanded some more in the middle, so it felt seamless. Several good raps to the knuckles, as the clearance was less than 3 inches between the square base and the top live edge (gloves saved me from damage.). I used long strips of sandpaper and went between the pieces with just an index finger to hold down the sandpaper. The photos are accurate for color. Max top rim diameter 9". Height 3". depth of 'candy holding area 1 1/16" and diameter of candy holding area 3 3/4". Sanded to 2000 grit. finish as shown is walnut oil, but I am going to apply several coats of minwax tung oil finish and build up a little shine on it. Time invested: 15 hours over a period of 4 days.
