Chris’ Dad’s Cherry Urn

I’d like to share the urn I built for my father with The Wood Whisperer community.

My father jumped into woodworking when I was a kid and had me in the shop with him as much as possible. We settled into the woodturning subculture, but dabbled in “flat” woodworking. For a number of years he did the juried craft show circuit in the NJ/PA area selling his wares.

Dad had big plans to build a cherry 4 post bed for him and mom. Twenty years ago he acquired all the lumber, but that was as far as it went. Last year Dad passed away after a long illness. We thought it would be fitting if I built his urn. I decided to build matching urns for Dad and Mom out of the cherry that was supposed to be their bed.

After months of trying to settle on a design, I came up with what you see here. I went with mitered corners with contrasting ebony splines. The lid is a table saw cut raised panel with an ebony inlay. The interior was lined with one of Dad’s old flannel shirts (Dad was a Norm fan). The finish is Danish oil with 4 coats of wipe on poly.

This project definitely put my skills to the test, but the process went flawlessly. I was only able to pull this project off thanks to the skills and design inspiration I gained from countless “internet woodworkers” who take the time to share their knowledge with the rest of us.