Cremation vessel - WIP

My latest commission was another unusual one - a cremation vessel for the client's late wife's ashes.
The brief was for a light timber, with an inlaid art nouveau tulip pattern on one end. The capacity had to be a minimum of 3.85 litres, and the client wanted to be able to place the ashes in it himself.
The client chose Tasmanian myrtle as the main timber, and I gave him drawings (pics 1, 2 & 4) showing either a frame & panel construction, or solid construction with jarrah quad corners, which was the one he chose.

The first part of the job was to create the inlay. The pattern was scaled and printed, and stuck to heavy cardboard. I cut 2mm thick veneers in various timbers that I thought may be useful be suitable.
I cut out panels of cardboard that would be replaced by wood from the pattern stuck to it, using the scroll saw, and tidied the negative template up using a scalpel. Usually, I cut out two panels that would be made from the same wood at a time. (Pic 3)

The template was used to trace the shape onto the selected veneer. It was cut out slightly oversize and sanded to fit into the template using a Dremel. As each piece was fitted, it was taped in place with masking tape.
When the pattern was completed, double sided tape was stuck to the back of the template, and the veneer removed from the template by carefully cutting through the masking tape and the double sided tape. (Pics 5 & 6)

Great progress report,looking forward to seeing the journey.:)

For the sides of the urn, two pieces were edge joined, marked out for mitre joins and cut to length.
The pattern was positioned and attached to the front if the box using the double-sided tape. I marked around the pattern using a scalpel and pencil (pic 5). the pattern was routed out to a depth of 1.5 mm (pic 3) and cleaned up using a scalpel and small carving chisels. After checking for fit, I went around the margins of the pattern on the myrtle with wax, so that any squeeze-out would be easy to remove. I then set the pattern in the routed area using tinted epoxy (pic 2). At a couple of places where there were small gaps between the pieces of inlay, I tried to match them with the tint, and for the rest, I tried to match the myrtle.
After the glue had set, I cleaned up the squeeze-out and used a scraper to lower the pattern to the level of the background. I then rebated the edges of the sides to accept the corner mouldings (pic.1) On the front of the box, the rebates are cut top and bottom, and on the sides and back, they are cut only on the bottom(pic 15). On the sides, the mouldings are glued directly to the top edge.

The horizontal corner mouldings were shaped by rounding the corners of a rectangular length of wood using a router and cleaned up by light planing and sanding, then removed from the wood on the table saw. The vertical mouldings have to be cross-grain to avoid differential expansion, so it was created in the same way, except that they were cut from a very short, wide piece of wood.

The horizontal mouldings were glued in place overlength (Pic 2), then the mitres cut on the tablesaw. Biscuit slots were cut, and the dovetail tracks in which the lid will run were cut. Slight undercuts on the front, and on the piece that will eventually be glued at the back to hold the lid in, were also cut on the router. A slot was also cut to take the bottom panel.
On the mitres, I had to remove 6mm from each corner to take the vertical mouldings. This was done using a straight cutter on the router. The ends of the mouldings were retained as guides which ran against the router fence, and the ends cleaned up by hand.
Coves around the underside of the bottom panel were cut on the tablesaw and cleaned up with a gooseneck scraper. The lid was also shaped. It runs in dovetail tracks at the sides, with the top flush with the mouldings. The ends also have slight projections to fit the undercuts on the ends. The deceased's name, birth and death dates were laser engraved on the lid by Kopycut, who have done a lot of work for me.
After giving all components a coat of white shellac as a sanding sealer, sanding lightly to 800 grit, and oiling the inside of the panels, the box was assembled, minus the vertical moldings (Pic 1). The vertical mouldings were then cut to length and glued in place.
The lid is held in place by a small piece that the client will glue in place after the ashes are placed in the box.
The box was then checked for any small dents which were steamed and sanded out, and finished with 5 coats of Kunos oil.

As the box was made during a period of very dry weather, I had to make an allowance for expansion in the width of the lid. Fortunately, on the day before the client took delivery, the humidity rose to almost 100%, so I was able to check that the allowance was satisfactory.

Alex that is one fine looking box and displays your superb craftsmanship admirably!:clap::clap::clap:

Recipient should be well pleased.

Thanks for sharing the detail of your construction process AlexS, your client should be very happy with the result, a beautiful vessel.:2tsup:

Excellent Job, Great marquetry.

Cheers


Steve

Outstanding craftsmanship Alex, as usual. :2tsup:

Thanks for sharing.

Des

Thanks all. The client was very pleased.

Alex

Great work, little wonder you keep on getting commissions!

Stunning work, Alex. Came up beautifully and little wonder the client was impressed. It would be a hard time for him and something like this would be quite a comfort, I think.

Cheers,
Dave