Cremation Urn

Bill Arnold

1974
Staff member
Messages
8,622
Location
Thomasville, GA
Our next door neighbor's husband died at age 96 in August. They have been great neighbors for the seven and a half years we've lived here. When Mitzi started talking about a box or urn and how expensive they are, I offered to make her one. The first design I thought of was Rennie's urn with a G&G look. With his permission, I tweaked around with it a bit and came up with the following:

Urn_Cremation_00.jpg


I won't go into great detail on the steps involved here. Rennie did a great tutorial in his thread.

One difference was my Incra router fence got the assignment for the fingers.

Urn_Cremation_04.jpg

I used my Sketchup drawing to create a layout to follow on my fence, using the standard ruler that I slid in the top slot on the carriage. After zeroing the fence to the 1/2" straight router bit, I simply had to set the fence at the appropriate location for a cut.

Urn_Cremation_05.jpg

Not that we plan to move in anytime soon, but I made two urns at the same time - one for the neighbor and one for my wife and me. Both are made with inside dimensions that total about 250c.i., which should be big enough for two people.

Urn_Cremation_11.jpg

For the finish, I used Target sealer, three coats of clear gloss, and a final topcoat of semi-gloss. I did not use any dye or stain as we wanted to keep the wood natural.
 
Great job Bill. I like what you did with the base - I might just steal it! :eek: :pirate: I'm positive they will be cherished for many years to come.

Thanks, Rennie! After I played with drawing the base that way, I thought, "Wow, that's going to take longer than a flat base". In my case, time didn't really matter. For production, it might be a different story. Oh, and you don't have to steal the base design! It's all yours. Thanks for letting me borrow your overall design!

By the way, I should add a couple of details. The base is four pieces glued to a rectangular panel. That panel and the top have a 1/8" deep rabbet sized to fit the internal dimensions of the box for registration purposes. I used pocket holes to hold the top in place. The bottom has a screw in each corner to attach it after the ashes are placed inside.
 
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Nice job!

A couple of thoughts for those who may contemplate making these. I noticed when my Mom died and her ashes were interred in the columbarium that it would be handy to know the inside dimensions of those cubicles. If there is one box with two cremains or if there are two boxes with individual cremains, they still have to fit.

That said, I am with Larry. However, in my world as pastor, just scattering ashes is getting more and more difficult to do and rules and regs vary all over the place and what we think ought not to be a problem can become a very big one dumped on already grieving people with far too little time to make a very permanent decision. Make your plans early and make sure that there will be no unseen problems. In other words, assume nothing in this area.
 
Carol am i to infer from what you are saying that there are regulations relating to being able to sprinkle ashes in the forest?

In my Dads case he wanted his ashes sprinkled out at sea.Having been a sailor for a big part of his life. The SA Navy accommodated this wish for a fee.

I am with Larrys idea, in the woods with great trees will do me. :)

Great work Bill and great gesture and gift for your neighbor:thumbup:

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rob, yes there are being more regs on how to deal with ashes its just another means for someone to get some cash.. the morticians arent getting all the deceased so they might be behind this as well.. they claim health issues but ashes are ashes they have been sterilized completely.. so if they give a family a tough time just get the card board box and do with it what they want once its in there possesion.
 
Thats what i was thinking, who is going to catch one of my sons pouring out my ashes in the woods. lol sometimes it amazes me what we can come up with in regs all over the place.


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@Rob. Depends on who own the forest. Some BLM land is OK but not all. Generally, national forests are not allowed for this purpose. Of course, the sea is an option but there are fees and costs for the logistics.

As for who is going to catch you. Who knows. There is much more surveillance than we can imagine. Satellites have cameras that can read the newspaper over your shoulder. And land we think is remote likely isn't as remote as we think. And here is the scary part. Should a local zoning/building entity discover ashes have been scattered on your property, it could be declared as a burial site. That would require a whole new set of annual fees, affect your property insurance and taxes, go into the legal description of the property directly affecting the saleability. Who wants to buy a piece of property described as a cemetery? And that is a designation that never goes away.

Why the fees and reg? Simple. we are governed by those who seek to make money, even with punitive fees. Not a political statement. Just a simple fact.

Why do I know this stuff? Had to do the research when the church was left with cremains because the surviving son (only child) did not want to deal with his mother's ashes. He wound up with them anyway. The church is obligated to do things legally. No church I know can afford the fines or the publicity for doing unlawful things.

OK. Did not want to hijack this thread. Simply wanted to point out there are standard sizes to comply with if you plan to make urns. And if you are making urns, then regs that require legal disposition of the cremains are your friend. Something about what goes around, etc. So check with a columbarium and ask to measure. Then Bob's your uncle.

An idea to sell urns is to offer a two compartment urn so husbands and wives can be interred together. Just wanted to offer up ideas for you entrepreneurial types. Give the gift that serves you into eternity.

You're welcome. ;)
 
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