Very nice Eric, I've tried to make something similar a few times and I always have trouble figuring out how to do the project in the right order. I always think I've got the steps figured out and then I get to the point I can't figure out how to hold one end or the other. 
From there separated the two half's and chucked each one up, cut off the tenon, sanded and finished the ends.
That is where I get lost. How did you cut the tenons off? How did you hold the other side without damaging the finish? I've tried making a tenon on a scrap block to fit the inside of the piece, but that never seems secure enough to remove a tenon.

.................. John D....................