How to make a turned candle holder out of two contrasting woods

I made this desktop candle holder, out of lime tree and niangon wood.

First of all I planed flat one side of the niangon using a hand plane. I first planed perpendicular to the grain to remove much material fast. I then smoothed the surface by planning with the grain.

I then planed one edge to establish a 90 degree angle between the two planed surfaces.

With two edges jointed I moved to the table saw to cut the piece to size. I completed the rip cuts with several passes while lifting the blade up as I went along. This helped the saw to cut a little bit easier.

I then used my homemade drum sander to sand and flatten the piece to the thickness I wanted to.

I repeated the previews process for the lime tree pieces.

I then glued the three pieces together with wood glue and clamps.

After the glue dried, I used the hand plane to joint one edge of the block.

I then moved to the table saw and cut the piece to size. I used a cross cut sled for the cross cuts and the fence for the rip cuts.

I marked the center of the pieces with the diagonals.

I tilted the blade of the saw at 45 degrees and rip cut all four sides of my block, this procedure saves me time on the lathe.

Using my cross cut sled I cut my blank to it’s final size.

I then mounted the blank on the lathe between centers. I used a roughing gouge to turn the blank cylindrical. I also used a flat chisel to create a tenon to fit my chuck.

I then secured the piece on my chuck. I begun the turning process by using a pencil to mark my basic measurements. I then Used the skew chisel to establish a few key elements of the design. I used the spindle gouge and the bowl gouge for the curves. I also used a flat chisel as a scraper to smooth things out.

I mounted a drill chuck in my tailstock. With a forester bit I created an establishing hole on the end grain. I then used flat chisels to create the hole that receives the candle. I also used the bowl gouge to flatten the area.

I sanded the piece with 100grit, moved to 240, then 320 and finally I applied a coat of yorkshire grit. To do that I applied the paste with my hand, set the lathe at the lowest speed and then with a paper towel I polished the piece.

Finally I removed the tenon on the bottom on the disc sander.

My candle holder turned out really nice, I hope you like it too!