Looks like a really cool project. It seems like a balancing act between the width of the cove and the roundness of the overall base. ?
I thought that one way that I might approach this would be a 4th axis on my cnc with indexing like a lathe for the coves.? Or failing that a jig to hold and turn the cylinder for the coves with pins in the bottom of the base to hold the piece in place.? If the base were really wide you could do it in pieces and assemble after.?
Another way I thought of would be to power carve it, but that might be too rustic for your client.?
Cutting the coves first on a shaper as well. But then you are left with less of a circle depending on how wide the coves are, right?? Barrel staves are pretty thin usually.?
I¡¯m really interested to see how you complete this project!?
