Making a Small Pet Urn or Keepsake

Mike Turner

Member
Messages
361
Location
Laurinburg NC
We lost our beloved lhasa apso "Jubilee" last week.She was 15.We had her since she was 4 weeks old.The mom quit feeding so vet said it was ok as long as she was eating.Anyhow the family is just devastated now.

Anyhow we had her cremated and brought her home for the last time.My wife will get the urn she is in now.Myself and my mother in law want some of the ashes in a urn for ourselves. Since I am a turner I want to make a turned one...pretty one but simple.I have some nice wood from a tree we had cut down in our yard.I think it is spalted maple..very nice whatever it is and dry. It wouldnt be big at all..She was only 13 lbs.It would be sort of a keepsake urn.

Any thought, ideas or directions on making this would be appreciated.

All this is sort of in a thinking mode for now....In a way I want to just leave her all together in the one urn.I do want to treat this the best way with full respect..She was our heart.Thanks for any ideas on any of this!
 
Mike, Very sorry for your loss. We know how much the loss of a pet hurts.

I've made a couple of pet urns using plumbing parts to make threaded lids and they worked out well. The black ones (ABS?) worked better than the white ones (PVC) because the threads on the white ones seemed to be purposely tapered and were difficult to screw in. Of course, for a really small urn you might not want to go to the trouble of a threaded top and just do a snug press fit or a few dabs of glue.
thread-b (Medium).jpg

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?24277-Pet-Urn-in-Spalted-Silver-Maple&highlight=

http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?27463-Urn-in-Spalted-Sweetgum&highlight=
 
Sorry for your loss Mike. Many of us here on this forum know the pain you feel at the loss of a beloved pet.
I've made a few urns, not turned, but I am always looking on sites like Etsy for both inspiration and a look at the competition. Many good ideas there. Take a look.
 
Sorry for your loss

Rule of thumb for size... 1 cubic inch for each pound of live weight. Human ashes are returned from a crematorium in sealed heavy plastic so I have been assured that you don't need to worry about leakage (my fear because of wood movement until I heard that). If the pet crematorium didn't use a sealed bag, I recommend adding it.

Some people like to play with and divide the ashes - my bias doesn't matter. I like the urns that have a screw on bottom, so there is no temptation to play at a party, and virtually no risk of spilling.

Don't make the urn too big. I just measured a pill bottle and it was 10 cubic inches, close to what you would need. Inside dimensions of a cube of 2.5 inches would be ample. When people talk urns, they think of those for people, often the size of a lady's shoe box.
 
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So sorry for your loss, Mike. Such sadness comes from losing a beloved family member.

Based on the two bigger dogs we had cremated and given back to us in jewelry size boxes...keep the container as compact as possible. Otherwise, you'll be tempted to put it away in a box somewhere at some point. Looking online, I like that you could have the front of the box to include a picture of your loving friend, Jubilee, so it's kind of like a picture frame. Maybe, make an actual frame that slants slightly back and hides the box to a certain extent. Best wishes
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and replies.Ill look around and see what I come up with.I just want to do the best I can in memory of our little girl Jubilee. Blessings to each of you!
 
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