My Grandmother's box part II

Just before Christmas I had the opportunity to put my planning into action when my mom asked me to build my grandmother's box. She had died peacefully surrounded by her family after a 2 day hospital stay. My uncle Ernie was stuck in Manitoba so he gave me the go ahead to build the casket.

The foot board was a 2" thick piece of pine that was full diameter cut of a log that I did with a chain saw. We left the outside of the log as is apart from some hand sanding. The beetle channels were visible in the wood

Sides were just over 1" and then planed down to 7/8". They were nicely stained blue at the edges.


I lined the box with aromatic cedar that gave off a beatiful smell


Picture of me with the box





This is what the box looked like prior to final finishing. It was decided that it would be nice to provide an opportunity for some of the extended family to finish the box.


As you can see several family members were happy to put some time completing the finishing sanding and applying the Danish Oil.







The lid was a three piece tongue and grove design that I had seen from another casket maker in the states. The board in the middle had a piece of Russian Oak that was raised and symbolically represented a tree trunk (being darker in color) The board fit snuggly and provided a key which closed the box withouit any metal hardware.

Here you can see the lid design with the branches symbolizing her 6 children. They will be inserted at the grave side service.




Quilt on finished box