Gentlemen,
what can I say except thank you for your very kind words.
Berns,
You are very welcome to copy it as you please, I think the hardest part was cutting it on the bandsaw.
You really need a jig to hold anything spherical, trying to hold anything like this by hand is dangerous.
When you cut through a bowling ball you'll be surprise to find under the plastic cap each side a hole runs right through the ball.
This means orientation on the finished item is limited. In my case it meant I had to use two balls for the box.
however, it does mean you have a ready made hole for the screw chuck. Therefore the piece for the base can be cut off from the second ball
thick enough for the base and plug (for the hole) to keep the grain matching.
As you going to have a contrasting banding between the rest of the body It really doesn't matter. (same for the cap and finial)
I did though try to match as much of the grain pattern as I could.
Here's a pic of the base, Best of luck on your project.
John. B
BTW because Lignum is so dense, it takes a superb finish.
