Thread: Australian Red Cedar - Urn

Started the job last November, then we had the big monsoon wet ( 70" in 14 days) and the timber, although coated with oil before assembly, all cupped and warped. The timber sort of unwarped a bit after the big wet after being held flat in clamps fr a month before doing the glue-up.

This thing just did not want to be built, fought me at every stage. There is a hidden 4mm thick 8mm wide plywood spline inside the mitre joints, running the full 300mm height of the box. I had to put it aside several times, as the going was too tough and stressful. Box dimensions are 310H x 185W x 150D.

The lid and the base are both floating in slots on the sides, to allow the sides to expand and contract. These are the most cupped pieces, but I seem to have got away with it. A big pity I didn't have any quartersawn ARC.

The ashes come in a plastic box from the crematorium, and it is a snug fit inside the urn. Once the ashes box is installed, the lid is slid on, and the small upper rear piece glued into position.

The box is finished with many, many coats of Danish Oil, as I was unhappy with a lot of the finish, so would just lightly sand and re-do. Hence the high gloss finish, and the associated problems of photographing it without the reflections imposing on the finish. I found it very difficult to get uniformly coloured pics showing the true grain and colouring.

My Daughter-in-law did not want a name or cross, but was happy with an inlaid polished mother-of-pearl disc, 40mm diameter. It is to be located in her loungeroom on a shelf. The ashes were surprisingly heavy, so some care will be needed in positioning the urn

Many thanks to rustynail for his advice on finishing red cedar, and to Alex Springall and others for their suggestions with the urn design here

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