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A couple Sundays ago my father in law passed away unexpectedly. He was to be cremated so I volunteered to make an urn for his ashes.

This box is made from aromatic cedar and walnut. I put (walnut) corner splines in place and ran a strip through the boards used for the top and bottom. The sides were cut from a single piece of cedar that I split down the middle and bookmatched. I kept the pieces in order so the grain is continuous over three of the four sides. I used a simple wax finish on the outside.

My wife seems to really like it and I think that it will be a fitting place for his ashes to be. I think that it came out pretty good.

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Very attractive piece. I like toe bookmatcing!!

Cheers, Jim
 

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Excellent fit and finish.
 

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Yes, it looks great. What is the size?
 

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Thanks for the compliments.
Overall, its 10.5×8.5×8.5…if i had to do it over, I'd probably make is a couple inches shorter. I think that proportionally, it would look a little better that way. Having it taller allowed for family members to put items in the box, though, if they want (keepsakes, letters, etc)
 

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Great looking piece. Never considered cedar and walnut to be a match, but you have shown otherwise. I"ve made boxes for cremains and if they looked too good, the living hesitated to bury the piece. Will this be kept as a keepsake or put into the ground?

A little side note. When I made our own boxes I inlayed initials on the one side. When finished I noticed I had the "J" backward and had to redo it. Now the backward piece is visible in my shop as a reminder that I am not perfect!

Jerry
 

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Thanks for the compliments, Jerry.

The family is undecided about whether the box will go in the ground or not right now. It's funny that you mention this and the engraving because (1) I've already had someone tell me it's too nice to be buried and (2) I was going to engrave an initial on this one but my wife asked me to hold off because it MAY 'just end up in the ground' (she doesn't want me to spend extra time on something that won't be seen/appreciated). We'll see what happens.

I keep my mistakes sometimes, too, as a reminder. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one!
 

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My condolences to you and your family. This beautiful urn storage did indeed come out good which is at the same time a tribute from you to him which is so meaningful.
 
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