Vase

My neighbor and I both have a Catalpa tree . When a branch dies I put them in my curing room . The piece I used for this vase has been in there for 2 yrs . It had a knot and 3 branches where we used a chin saw to get it where it would fit in my lathe . The to was attached to the to the spindle on the head of the lathe . The bottom was held in place by the tail stock. After getting the shape I wanted I used my parting tool to make a groove about an inch deep . I then cut the bottom off with a sliding compound saw . Once back in the lathe I hollowed out the inside leaving a one inch shaft for the tail stock and live center to hold it . Finally I cut the base of the shaft and removed it . I then drilled though the top into the cavity . I painted the inside and the bottom with oil base paint . I then lined the grain on the bottom with the top and glue it back on . Then I poured some oil base paint inside and rotated the vase . Turned it over and let it dry .4 coats of polyurethane. Soon I will use carnauba wax on it .