This an old project, but not posted.
Cheers
Phil
Some friends cut a limb off their Jacaranda tree and it was nice and dry by the time I got hold of it.
I had bought the pewter Potpourri top at a woodworking show (long time ago) and was not sure what to do with it until I remembered the Jacaranda lying under the lathe
Drew up a plan and cut off a piece on the RAS
Did the final measurements before moving onto the lathe
The blank is turned and ready for sanding on the lathe.
First some hand sanding with the grain starting at 180grit and moving up till all the marks have been sanded away.
Final sanding with 300grit
Doing the final checks to see that the top fits and where the holes need to be drilled for the studs that hold it in place
I used a 50mm Forstner bit to drill out the inside where the Potpourri goes into.
The finish is a couple of coats of Danish oil on the outside only with some 300grit sanding and a final 0000 steel wool rub.
{Edit - fixed a foto link}