Sourcing turning blanks that are large enough and already dry is nearly impossible.  Plus the “ribs” in this design are stronger with the grain oriented on the X axis rather than vertically.

The result has been an interesting and labor intensive combination of router circle jig and bandsaw circle jig followed up by a ride on the lathe for the inner pieces that will be too difficult to reach now that this puppy is laminated together.

This whole unit, lid and all are about to get mounted on the lathe where the sides will get shaped and faired into a nice curve.  After that the lid will get pierced out to accommodate glass and a portrait of the client’s deceased pup.  Finally, and most hair-raising, the whole thing will have the bottom sheared off at 10 degree angle so that the whole piece sits at an angle for better viewing of the portrait.

For those of you who might ever want or need to know, I was right.  You can turn cork on a lathe.  Requires leaving plenty of excess for sanding smooth plus a final sanding with paste wax, but it works nicely.  Said cork is part of the inner lid which seals in the ashes (lower right in the photo, oversized to accommodate final inner dimension of vessel.)