Dave Sharpe
11-04-2009, 11:53 PM
A few years back my mother was dying and I made a cedar box for her ashes to rest in until being scattered. She really appreciated the natives of the Northwest, so I wanted to make a traditional bentwood cedar box, but didn't have time to learn the proper methods. My initial attempts were dismal failures, so I fell back on standard box-making efforts and completed a box only a week or two before her passing.
Now my father has asked me to make him something similar for his ashes when the time comes. (I agreed only after making him promise not to use it anytime soon!) I've searched online and found a number of wooden "urns" of varying quality, and learned to anticipate 1 cubic inch of ash volume per pound of "living wieght". Strange things you learn on the net......
Dad says he has purchased a niche at a VA cemetery in Arizona, but I'm curious if anyone out there knows anything about the practice of storing cremated ashes. Are the niche's sealed airtight? Are they ever opened again for any reason? Any suggestions as to what wood to be used for such a box? Dad is a renowned penny-pincher, so I've half jokingly suggested I should make the box from recycled pallets, but I'm more interested in a product that will stand the test of time. Anyone else have experiences with this?
Now my father has asked me to make him something similar for his ashes when the time comes. (I agreed only after making him promise not to use it anytime soon!) I've searched online and found a number of wooden "urns" of varying quality, and learned to anticipate 1 cubic inch of ash volume per pound of "living wieght". Strange things you learn on the net......
Dad says he has purchased a niche at a VA cemetery in Arizona, but I'm curious if anyone out there knows anything about the practice of storing cremated ashes. Are the niche's sealed airtight? Are they ever opened again for any reason? Any suggestions as to what wood to be used for such a box? Dad is a renowned penny-pincher, so I've half jokingly suggested I should make the box from recycled pallets, but I'm more interested in a product that will stand the test of time. Anyone else have experiences with this?