There are a lot of little pieces in this entry!
 
 I started with the half circles - largest one first. Since this spalted maple can be fragile I prefinished the wood. I’m not sure this step added any protection against splits or cracks but it didn’t hurt.

To dial in the fit I use my ShopSmith disc sander. But I turn the disc by hand - usually only a couple inches of travel at a time.

This way I can safely place my hand close to the disc and limit how much wood gets removed.

First one is almost done. My fingernail dented the wood enough that I had to sand back most of the finish.

Here’s the second half cut and ready to be fitted. One of the requirements is the spalt lines match up.

Next are the medium sized half circles.

To fit the mating piece I cut the blank oversized.

I then set the top and bottom edge locations while keeping the figure matched.

Finally I shape the arc to fit.

Then I continue to work that shape until a final fit is done.

Two sets down - one to go.

The last set is small - 5/8" in diameter. That means one of the halves will only be 5/16” across.

Did I mention that these are small pieces?

Once the pieces are fitted I applied more finish to get a uniform coat.

Now on to the ebony inserts. First I cut a blank.

Then I use the thickness sander to get the thickness close. And rip it in two with the bandsaw.

Now I use the thickness sander to get a uniform height that is close. And cut the first two blanks for the finger pulls on the top. In this picture the blanks are still taped to the carrier used with the thickness sander.

And I shape the end to fit.

Finally I round over the top edge and polish to 2000 grit.

I have to use an eye lupe to help me see what I am doing. This picture give a sense of scale – this box is not very big!

Next up is the center strips.

Then it’s time for the shorter outer strips. I managed to get one clear picture showing how I shape the radiused ends. I first create a pair of chamfers (look at the unpolished insert).

Then round off those edges until I get a fit. It's hard to see, but I set the height of the outer strips slightly lower than the center one.

While the parts are not intended to be unique in size, I went ahead and labeled their position just to be safe.

And now I have all 14 inserts ready to go.

Now everything is disassembled for finish. All these small parts are kept in a bag.

There is one more part to cover the finishing techniques.