Some help with a cremation box

[Joe Shinall]

My grandmother is not doing that great, they have called hospice in to make her last few days comfortable. My Pops has asked me to make a double sided cremation box for them that will go to my mother's house. I'm making it of Cherry and Avodire and will have a satin lacquer finish. I have a couple of questions and need some help.

1. Do you leave the ashes in the bag they provide you and place in the box? I see ones with lids that open so my thoughts were probably to leave them in the bag and place them inside. I couldn't imagine just pouring them inside unless the box was completely sealed.

2. Do you line the bottom of the inside with felt like you would a jewelry box or is that really just a preference?

Thanks for your help guys.

[Mel Fulks]

I have a relative who is an undertaker and usually serves our extended family. Seems around here the plastic bag is often
put in the urn or box. I specifically asked about it when my father died and insisted that nothing plastic be used. Without asking you don't know.

[Dick Brown]

Hi,
Sorry about your grandmother. Very nice of you to build the urn. Will mean a lot rather than a purchased one. I make them and give them to folks through our church that can use a bit of help at the time of their loss. I always make the bottoms removable with a few screws rather than the top opening. Have never been there when they put the ashes in but my understanding is they leave them in the plastic bag. I never line the box but do try to make it reasonably well finished on the inside. This one was made from an old dirty pallet. Have no idea what kind of wood. 12 equal sides.
Dick



291891

[eugene thomas]

Leave in the plastic. Over the years probably will get opened....

[Andrew Hughes]

My mother in laws ashes are in a bag in the box I made.The box is easily to open so the bag is proper.

[Mel Fulks]

If it is opened it would be for some reason. Like a family member wanting to take a few ashes to Italy or some other place
that was important to the deceased. And therefore done in careful, reverent manner....not opened because the vacuum cleaner salesman forgot to bring a bag of dirt. I would absolutely not allow a plastic bag.

[Bruce Page]

Joe, I’m sorry to hear about your Grandmother. I made two simple cremation boxes for my MIL and FIL that passed away very close together. The ashes were left in the bags. I had brass plaques made with name, DOB & DOD at a local laser engraver. I did not line the box but I think it would be a nice touch.

[John W Johnson]

My grandmother is not doing that great, they have called hospice in to make her last few days comfortable. My Pops has asked me to make a double sided cremation box for them that will go to my mother's house. I'm making it of Cherry and Avodire and will have a satin lacquer finish. I have a couple of questions and need some help.

1. Do you leave the ashes in the bag they provide you and place in the box? I see ones with lids that open so my thoughts were probably to leave them in the bag and place them inside. I couldn't imagine just pouring them inside unless the box was completely sealed.

2. Do you line the bottom of the inside with felt like you would a jewelry box or is that really just a preference?

Thanks for your help guys.


Joe,

I've made a couple, for my dad and uncle. I was given the ashes in a sealed, hard plastic box. I put those into the boxes I made. Now both were interred in a small vault made for that purpose, so that is different from your situation. And I only had a couple of days to get each box ready. Still, if it were me I'd want the ashes stored in a container inside the box.

[Max Neu]

I was talking to a guy that makes them as part of his business,I remember him telling me there is a specific interior size that the piece needs to be able to hold all the ashes.He makes some interesting shapes and sizes for customers,so the interior capacity is alway's a critcal part of the design.I don't remember what he told me the interior size needs to be,but I am sure that info. is out there somewhere.

[Kevin Womer]

I am working on one now for my mother who passed in April. We are having a ceremony on her birthday in August. The dimensions I was given by the funeral director was 8.5 by 6.5 by 4.5 inches. I have made mine a little oversize so the family could place letters or momentos inside with the ashes. The ashes come back in a box containing a plastic bag I believe, but the dimensions I gave were that of the box. It wasn't very ornate or fitting to me when I asked to see what the box would look like, he had an example on hand, so I decided to make one myself.

[Brian Tymchak]

I've read on several web pages that the rule of thumb is 1 cubic inch per pound body weight.

[John A langley]

This is a little off the subject. My wife's ex-husband was a 30 year career Marine sergeant major with two purple hearts and a Silverstar. The kids decided to have him buried at Arlington and they wanted my wife to go. So I went to the ceremony ( kicking and screaming). It was absolutely awesome!!! 21 gun salute, a band, honor guard and a caisson. Bob was cremated and put in a stainless steel container the container was probably a 12 inch cube. The gravesite was just across the street from where the ceremony was held. At the end of the ceremony here comes a bobcat with a post hole digger on it. A Sergeant Major dropped the box in the hole. Couldn't help but just see a little bit of humor in that

[J. Greg Jones]

I just finished this walnut and maple urn last week for my brother, and we held the service on his birthday like was mentioned by another in this thread. The urn went inside a plastic vault that was buried, so I sized the urn large enough to hold the plastic box and bag that contained the cremains, while still small enough to fit inside the vault. I found out later that I could have just placed the cremains bag inside the urn without the plastic box. A local shop did the laser work for me (my brother was a HUGE U of M fan). The false maple floor is removable, and we placed family photos, etc., inside the urn. The design is one that I first saw on the Dorset Custom Furniture site.

http://f.cl.ly/items/2b351i1Z0T0V2z031824/IMG_0291.JPG

http://f.cl.ly/items/1R073v2Q433N0i2v1q3j/IMG_0292.JPG

[Dell Littlefield]

When my father passed away, my two brothers decided to put his ashes in his favorite Colorado fishing creek from a bridge crossing. Both being a little squeamish , after arguing who was going to deposit the ashes, they agreed to do it together. They removed the lid, neither looking in, and together turned it over so the ashes would fall into the stream. They were in a plastic bag and Dad was on a voyage to the gulf of California. We will never know if he made it because then then argued about who should retreive them until it was too late.

[John T Barker]

My father' ashes were given to me in a metal box and I will be making a wooden box for them soon and a holder for the flag I was given as well. If you object to plastic why not find a suitable metal container to put in the wood box you make?

[Joe Shinall]

Thanks guys for the advice, I also read 1 cubic inch per pound on many urn sites. I've got some good ideas and just have to see how I'm putting this together with what I have cut. This will be a pretty big box as I will have space in the top for photos or mementos as well. Those photos you guys posted are gorgeous and I hope mine turns out as nice.

John, not opposed to the plastic at all, just wondering what the norm was.

Thanks again guys.

[jeffrey bailey]

I made a box for my son and his wife who lost a baby last year. When someone loses a baby now the hospital gives the couple the gown, cap, blanket, etc as well as the ashes. When I gave them the box, I included an aluminum cylinder for the ashes. They come in a variety of sizes and completely seal.