Kent Parker
02-10-2009, 7:37 PM
Ya'll
I had the honor of making an urn for a family member that recently passed. It's always challenging to begin a project like this due to the emotional forces that are so prevalent. Definitely gets in the way of the design process. This one is inspired by P. Weber.
I generally do a mockup first with 1/4 foam board to get the general dimensions and in this case to make sure the internal volume was adequate. Even after numerous volumn calculations, I was still sweating when they placed her ashes in the box for fear the box would be too small (it wasn't).
Here's a few photos during construction, finish in the "dry" stage and then after oil and wax finish. (three coats of oil, soaked in and then rubbed and wet sanded, then a coat of Renaissance wax.
The primary wood is Wenge (thanks Mark S.) the top is partially Pink Ivory and the stone is a tumbled piece of Rose Quartz. Pink Ivory is reported to be one of the rarest woods in the world, the price reflects that.
If you look closely in the second photo you can see that the sides are made up of two thin pieces. I resawed or "split" planks to be able to have the outside and the insides book matched (mirrored grain). I cut a piece of thin clear plexiglass the shape of the sides and moved it around the raw plank until I got the grain pattern for the urn I wanted. Top and bottom are made of multiple thin planks, glued to the curve on a mold. Additionall, thin plastic was used during the top glue up so I could monitor the joints in the pink ivory. There are no metal fastenings in this box. The lid is a press fit.
Lien is Vietnamese, and was a simply elegant women, hence the design.
I about died during the service when the priest threw Holy Water on it, but that's another story.
Hope your well,
KP
I had the honor of making an urn for a family member that recently passed. It's always challenging to begin a project like this due to the emotional forces that are so prevalent. Definitely gets in the way of the design process. This one is inspired by P. Weber.
I generally do a mockup first with 1/4 foam board to get the general dimensions and in this case to make sure the internal volume was adequate. Even after numerous volumn calculations, I was still sweating when they placed her ashes in the box for fear the box would be too small (it wasn't).
Here's a few photos during construction, finish in the "dry" stage and then after oil and wax finish. (three coats of oil, soaked in and then rubbed and wet sanded, then a coat of Renaissance wax.
The primary wood is Wenge (thanks Mark S.) the top is partially Pink Ivory and the stone is a tumbled piece of Rose Quartz. Pink Ivory is reported to be one of the rarest woods in the world, the price reflects that.
If you look closely in the second photo you can see that the sides are made up of two thin pieces. I resawed or "split" planks to be able to have the outside and the insides book matched (mirrored grain). I cut a piece of thin clear plexiglass the shape of the sides and moved it around the raw plank until I got the grain pattern for the urn I wanted. Top and bottom are made of multiple thin planks, glued to the curve on a mold. Additionall, thin plastic was used during the top glue up so I could monitor the joints in the pink ivory. There are no metal fastenings in this box. The lid is a press fit.
Lien is Vietnamese, and was a simply elegant women, hence the design.
I about died during the service when the priest threw Holy Water on it, but that's another story.
Hope your well,
KP