Strong and stable wood for a cremation urn?

[Brian Kent]

I have done a lot of work recently with green or difficult woods lately, and I need to get my head back into strong and stable wood.

As a pastor, I helped with a memorial service for a 35 year-old dad named Tim, about 14 years ago. Since then his son has grown up, married and had a child, named "Timmy" after grandpa. The 8 month old child died suddenly of a virus called "RSV". I had never heard of it before.

We are making funeral preparations and I want to offer to make an urn, if they choose cremation over burial. So that is the sad background to my question.

What are some very stable woods that I could use? I want to leave it about 1/4 to 3/8" thick so that it will never break. I can either get a blank from Rockler or kiln dried wood from Reel Lumber. Reel has 16/4 Cherry, Poplar, Hard Maple, Genuine Mahogany and Walnut. Otherwise I could glue up other stock to make it big enough.

Thanks for your help.

Brian

[Leo Van Der Loo]

{kiln dried wood from Reel Lumber. Reel has 16/4 Cherry, Poplar, Hard Maple, Genuine Mahogany and Walnut. Otherwise I could glue up other stock to make it big enough.}

Brian, al these kiln dried woods are stable, if you keep the walls `3/8" or better it should stand all abuse it might be subject to.

And sorry to hear of the child's sudden passing.

[Dale Gillaspy]

I'm not a big fan of glue-ups unless it is very intentionally done that way, such as segmenting. I agree....all the woods lusted above. Any Maple, would look great. Turn it big enough for interior dimension of 1 cubic inch per pound of body weight when the boy was alive.

[curtis rosche]

I have a large peice of red oak I cut off my property, its rough turned and sealed, been cut and sealed since about spetember 2011. I was going to use it for my stepfathers urn, but used a peice of cherry instead. If you cant find a good peice of wood to use, let me know.

Im not at home right now to measure it, but Id guess around 10x18 i think

[John Keeton]

Very nice gesture from Curtis, but that size vessel would hold at least 300 cubic inches, if not more depending on the form. For an 8 month old child, I would think 20 lbs would be an average weight. That would require a vessel to hold approximately 1.5 cups, and typically, dried rice is used to test capacity. It doesn't settle badly, is easy to remove and doesn't leave residue.

Any of the 4x4 material you mentioned would work fine. A vase form that was 4" in diameter at the shoulder, and 6" in height should be more than sufficient, IMO.

[Allan Ferguson]

A sad and painful loss. The age of my grandchild.

[loren forney]

So sorry to hear of the loss of this young child. I work in healthcare and have seen more than my share of lives lost but never realized how devastating the loss of a child would be. A very good friend lost her 5 year old son in an accident at home. Ronnie was like a grandson to me and I miss him greatly.

Prayers here for the childs family and for all the lives that he touched during his short life.

Loren

[Brian Kent]

Thank you all for your support. Today they decided on burial rather than cremation. So I will support them in different ways and lead the service.

The information and advice prepares me for any time I need to make an urn in the future.

Brian

[Thom Sturgill]

Just as a data point - I did some research and it seems there is an industry standard of 200 cubic inch for cremation urns that you get from the crematorium. Apparently the bone mass levels out such that that is sufficient for anyone but a giant since soft tissue is burned completely away and only the inorganic portions of the bone remain. That would be slightly less than 14 cups (7/8 US gal) or 3.3 liters for an adult.

[Dave Fritz]

It makes sense that a mass produced product would be standardized to lower the costs of production. Could that be an opportunity for those that make custom products?

Dave F.

[Mel Fulks]

Standards are good and needed . In the specific case of op it is a loving sentiment that provides something beyond the practical. Well done.

[Mel Fulks]

Dave, it could be.But at least seven states have protectionist laws that bar anyone who is not a licensed funeral director from selling 'accoutrements' at retail level. And it's difficult to get in at wholesale level,pretty much a closed system.

[Dave Fritz]

Mel, I can only speak to Wisconsin but in our state the final disposition of the body in the case of cremation is the crematorium. Many times the ashes are given to the family in a metal can unless they purchase an urn.

The funeral lobby may have been successful in some states to required loved ones to purchase an urn to take the ashes.

As the chairman of a local cemetery I can tell you we'll bury ashes in any container the family gives us. Sometimes the family will split the ashes up, placing some in a cemetery with a marker and some in an urn to be kept in the home, or several homes. Some even have necklaces to put ashes in. http://www.cremationsolutions.com/Cremation-Jewelry-for-Ashes-c4.html

We do encourage people to bury some ashes in a cemetery for several reasons. One is to have a record in the court house and the cemetery records when ancestors try to look up their family tree. Another is so the family has a place to go to grieve. Ashes scattered in the backyard have a very short time of importance. The house is sold and another family moves in. A cemetery is forever.

Each cemetery has it's own rules so some may require an urn purchased from a funeral director. Recently a local funeral director suggested we change our cemetery rules to require a vault for an urn. In our opinion it was an added expense to the family ($800) and wouldn't result in any positive benefit to the cemetery as an urn doesn't result in much of a depression through time. If the family wants to buy one, fine, if not no problem.

Sorry for the lecture but I do think it's a market for wood turners.

Dave F.

[Mel Fulks]

I'm interested in this subject and appreciate the information. I've noticed there are some web sites of custom coffin makers. PART of what is driving the increase in cremations is lack of simple dignified wood coffins and state laws requiring concrete vaults. There are ,where laws allow, some cemeteries for traditional burial rather than underground entombment.Edmund Ruffin ,who blew half his head off in his child's house,left a note requesting only a shroud so that he could more quickly become part of his land.

[Dave Fritz]

Mel, another interesting development. I've heard it called a green burial. We've talked about it but haven't done anything yet. The body by itself buried without a coffin and a vault wouldn't leave much of a depression as it returns to the soil.

I've been honored to make a couple of cremation urns for some dear friends. I was honored to have been able to do it.

Dave F.

[Mel Fulks]

Thanks, Dave .I'v read a couple of news paper pieces about them. Don't think we have any nearby ,yet.