Cremation Urn

[karossii]

So I have seen several various designs of cremation urns carved on the carvewright over the years, but I now may be carving my first, for my wife's grandfather. I've read up on it some; seems like 200 cubic inches minimum, roughly one cubic inch per pound of bodyweight is the proper size. But I have a few questions...

Is there some liner, or some kind of inner container, which is used?
Or are the remains put directly into what is basically just a normal (if decorated) wooden box?
How do you seal it once the remains are in it - or do you?
Aside from the basic box design, are there any hints/tips you'd offer to me in making one?

Thanks!

[fwharris]

My local urn guy who I do odd jobs and designs for seals the inside corners with latex caulking. The urn is built with a removable bottom attached with wood screws. The bottom can either be sealed or not.

http://bigurn.com/Carved.html

[normrichards]

I have carved several I recess two screws in the lid and screw the lid down. The ashes come in a sealed plastic bag and I just put the bag into the wooden box as is and screw the lid on.

[Carl H]

First sorry for your loss.
I just made an urn last month for my niece. I didn't use my carvewright though I used a scrollsaw.
The one inch per pound rule is pretty accurate.
The cremains came in a ziplock bag and although there was enough volume, the shape of the cavity made it necessary to split the cremains into two bags.
I did not seal the urn. I made an extremely tight fitting back and attached it with 8 screws.
At a later date several small tokens were also placed into the urn.
The urn I made was in the shape of a teddy bear.
I would make the cavity a little larger if I was to do it again.

[karossii]

Thank you all for your input. I am almost finished carving the last piece for the urn. I had to rush through it, and spent three nights sitting up with my machine until 3 or 4 AM, but I am assembling the urn in about 2-3 hours, and then driving a few hours before staining it later this evening, to deliver it in time for the funeral tomorrow morning. I would normally have never tried to carve so much in so little time; but it is for my wife, and her family... so...

I ended up making a design very inspired by the http://store.carvewright.com/product...24&cat=&page=1 - in concept, at least. I had to alter the dimensions quite a bit, and of course each panel has custom carved elements pertinent to my grandfather-in-law. I'm gluing and screwing it all shut, except the bottom which will be screwed only. Sealing all internal corners and edges with silicone. Five carves, each with images and/or text as a memorial, for the sides and top, and a simple scrap piece cut to size on the chop saw for the bottom and some internal screw blocks.

The external dimensions are 15" x 8" x 8.25" tall, with internal dimensions of 11.5" x 6.5" x 6", minus the screw blocks which are twelve pieces of 3" x .75" x .75"; so 448.5 cubic inches minus 20.25 cubic inches; or right at 428 cubic inches.

He was about 275-280, according to my mother-in-law; though I think he was closer to 300... but in any event, there should be more than enough internal room.

Ended up carving it from cherry wood, gluing up some 1"x5" and 1"x3" boards to get the 8" height I needed. The wife is still picking out the stains, I think a Jacobean (almost black) for the lettering, and a very light gray (almost transparent) for everything else will be her final choice.

In a few weeks, I will probably re-design and re-carve this, with a lithophane front panel, and made a bit more carefully. I can tell this will not be 100% perfect, but there were some minor issues I normally would have caught that got overlooked in my rush. I'll post some pictures in a few days, once it has been finished, and I have the time to do so.