turning sugestions.....challenge me

[Indy Cindy]

I somehow missed your final piece. Nice work. I agree about the stopper. Maybe consider a larger dome shaped one? The lip of the vase also seems fragile compared to the body.

 

Regarding cremation urns, this came up with some of my woodturning friends recently. Apparently there are standard sizes, most people no matter how large end up being about the same amount of ash. You can measure the volume of your vessel by filling it with sand and then measuring that volume of sand.

 

Instead of people, how about making pet urns? I think I would like a larger opening for use as a cremation vessel whether for people or pets. I don't know what is standard, but I unfortunately lost two of our dogs at separate times this year. The ashes were returned to us in a plastic bag inside of a nice metal box. I think I would want the ashes in a bag even if it were inside an urn. I would want to add other memorabilia such as collar and dog tags. Also as an FYI, it has become common for a cast paw print to be made. It would be nice to add that to an urn in some manner.

[tim0625]

I somehow missed your final piece. Nice work. I agree about the stopper. Maybe consider a larger dome shaped one? The lip of the vase also seems fragile compared to the body.

 

Regarding cremation urns, this came up with some of my woodturning friends recently. Apparently there are standard sizes, most people no matter how large end up being about the same amount of ash. You can measure the volume of your vessel by filling it with sand and then measuring that volume of sand.

 

Instead of people, how about making pet urns? I think I would like a larger opening for use as a cremation vessel whether for people or pets. I don't know what is standard, but I unfortunately lost two of our dogs at separate times this year. The ashes were returned to us in a plastic bag inside of a nice metal box. I think I would want the ashes in a bag even if it were inside an urn. I would want to add other memorabilia such as collar and dog tags. Also as an FYI, it has become common for a cast paw print to be made. It would be nice to add that to an urn in some manner.

And not to be insensitive Cindy...a pet urn would not take a lot of wood and a 'firewood size' piece of wood, would probably be big enough.  It could become something lucrative without a high dollar investment.  Only difficulty is with an urn, you're turning a lot of end grain. 

[Indy Cindy]

And not to be insensitive Cindy...a pet urn would not take a lot of wood and a 'firewood size' piece of wood, would probably be big enough.  It could become something lucrative without a high dollar investment.  Only difficulty is with an urn, you're turning a lot of end grain. 

Agreed, a pet urn could be smaller, but maybe not a whole lot if you want to include space for memorabilia. Urns don't have to be end grain. John Jordan's closed hollow vessels are the same orientation as bowls. The base is at the center of the log with the top towards the sapwood. But to be big enough one would have to have a pretty good diameter piece of wood to start with. Still, its a lot of hollow turning.

[duckkisser]

thanks for the sand volume idea was thinking of the best way to calculate the space needed. 

[Rick A McQuay]

I've been asked to make an urn for a friend's father so it's been on my mind. The rule of thumb is 1 cubic inch per pound of person or animal. But the plastic urn I got back from my cat's cremation was pretty big for an animal so maybe they just took a big scoop (although he was a big cat, 33 lbs). Or the inside might be smaller than it looks, it's sealed and I didn't open it. Might not even be my cat, no way to know. Anyway, a box shape is easy enough to calculate but the sand idea is good for cylinders. If I turn an urn, I'll calculate the approximate volume mathematically and just drill/hollow it out. At least the inside doesn't need to be finished nicely as no one will ever really see it. Maybe I should start a thread about this as I really don't know what's normal for an urn.