Urn plans?

[Bonnie Campbell]

Not a great subject, but does anybody have 'simple' plans for an urn? My daughter is having her dog put to sleep today and I'd like to do something special since she'll be having him cremated.

I don't have any hollowing tools, and have only made bowls....

Thanks!

[Steven Triggs]

I don't know if this would be considered "simple", but take a look at the one I did in this post:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58712

It might give you some ideas...

[Philip Duffy]

Bonnie, I finished one this morning; simple hollow holly with a "fancy plug" that could be epoxied. Put any spindle gouge into the end-grain of a green or dry piece of wood about 5in dia x 5in long and let her rip! If you have a 1/4in step down tool that will work even better. In the end, try to get the wood out of the middle without getting fancy about it and be careful not to snap the piece out of the chuck. You can boil it for an hour and let it dry for a few days and then smooth turn it, if you start with green wood. Either way its not that hard and don't make it harder! (Kiss Principle) Phil

[Bonnie Campbell]

I'm sure this question sounds horrible.... but what size of hollow space should I figure on inside? The dog is a rottweiler.

[Sean Troy]

200 sq. inches

[Paul Engle]

Bonnie , sorry to hear about your daughters pet, most urn's are 220 cubic inches for avg size adult, I have made them in flat work. http://www.1728.com/diam.htm this site has calculator to figure demensions for round urn.

[Matt Haus]

Don't know if you have decided on an idea but you might make hollow the vessel with a large fostner bit and make a lid for the vessel. YOu will have a cylinder and it's not something that will opened again. I would just glue the lid in place. If you have a jacobs chuck, you can drill down pretty far. I have also hand held a drill with a fostner, but be careful.

This way you will not need hollowing tools

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Bonnie your heart is the best plan there is when it comes to these things. Follow it, and you will not fail to give a gift of love. This link shows what I made for my best buddy, my dog. She was about 70 lbs and she and her collar are inside. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...light=cremated This was done with regular tools, nothing special to hollow it out.

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Bonnie

I am sorry to hear of your daughter's loss. A good friend of mine just had to put his rottie down a couple of days ago.

I have turned a number of urns for pets as well as humans. The standard rule is one cubic inch for each pound of weight. Then, using the formula for a sphere, where V = 4/3(3.14)r^3 - that is, r is cubed, and r equals the radius of the sphere.

For example, if the dog weighed 100 lbs, you would need 100 cubic inches. I alway add in a few just to be sure. Plug 100 into the formula above and solve for r. R would equal a little less than 3", so a round hollow form of 6" in diameter would give you enough volume to handle a dog of that size and a little more to boot.

Below is one I turned for the father of a woodworker who was himself a woodworker. It is about 14" high and 10" in diameter. I went in through the bottom and turned a rabbeted ledge so that it could be sealed with a piece of hardwood veneered plywood and screws. Good luck, and if you have more questions, I would be glad to try and answer them.

Bill

[Bonnie Campbell]

I like the vase shape Bill. Ya think I could make the bottom flatter (to accommodate not being very good with hollowing)? My daughter likes putting flowers on her other pets graves. This way, if I hollowed the neck down some she could keep dried flowers in it..... ya think?

And I'm about as bad at math as anybody could get... I'm guessing at the most her dog weighed about 110 (it'd been sick for awhile) What size cylinder would that require? Or if you can explain in idiot terms(for me ), how do I figure out the square inch business.....

[Bill Grumbine]

Bonnie, I think that the flower idea is great. In fact, I have been thinking about the same thing for the pet cemetery up the road - turning urns of this general shape with a test tube in the neck for flowers.


A 6" sphere is good for 113 lbs. If you increase that all the way up to 6 1/2", you can accomodate 128 lbs. An easy way to check your measure is to fill it with water from a measuring cup. One ounce of water is equal to 1.8 cubic inches. You do not have to turn a sphere, and you can make the bottom larger and flatter if you like. Turn leaving yourself plenty of room, remove it from the lathe from time to time, and fill it from a measuring cup that has been filled to a particular mark. Subtract the volume left in the cup, and you have the volume of your vessel.

If you wanted to make a cylinder, you would need to decide how wide it would be. The wider it is, the shorter it can be. For example, if you made it 6" in diameter, you would need to make it just under 4 1/2" high.

Bill