| Project by Triumph1 | posted 1126 days ago | 5593 views | 68 times favorited | 59 comments |  |
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I was asked by a close friend to design and build an urn to house a cherished family pet. His wife’s cat had passed on after many years of sitting by her side. She wanted a nice home for her for the rest of her lives. Of course I agreed and the design of “Nine Lives” shortly followed. “Nine Lives” was the first urn that I worked on.
Being that the urn was for a cat I knew it had to have a slight Egyptian arc style since cats were worshiped there in ancient times. I wanted it to have graceful curves and slim legs. There was to be no handle on the urn since, well, you really only needed to get into the urn one time. I designed an internal, spring-loaded lift for the lid. There is a hidden button protruding from the bottom of the box, when you push it, it pushes the corner of the lid up.
The main body of the box is constructed of Curly Maple. There is a 1/16” thick band of Gaboon Ebony and the top rim portion is Bubinga. The legs are Bolivian Rosewood and a folding miter joint was used so the grain would wrap round the corner. They are also tapered 5/32” from top to bottom.
The lid is a piece of beautiful crotch walnut. This has to be one of my favorite pieces of wood to work with. Machines like butter and once you put oil on it, it blows up with figure. I did a pattern of nine round inlays. Eight Spalted Maple and one Gaboon Ebony. I designed it to be a “LED” life meter. It shows that her cat has just gotten to her fifth life so she has many more to go.
“Nine Lives” was finished with multiple coatings of an equal mixture of Boiled Linseed Oil, Mineral Spirits and Spar Varnish. After drying it got two buffings with BriWax. It is approximately 9” x 6.5” x 5.375”.
Enjoy and keep making sawdust!
-- Jeff , Illinois Please...can I stay in the basement a little longer, please!
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59 comments so far
KnotCurser
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1409 posts in 1237 days
#1 posted 1126 days ago
Fantastic – very well done – that’s about the best miter joints I have ever seen on the legs. If you hadn’t stated they were mitered I would swear you cut them from a single thick piece!
-bob
-- Man is a tool-using Animal. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all. - Thomas Carlyle http://www.ffrf.org
76winger
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151 posts in 1285 days
#2 posted 1126 days ago
Oh, that looks awesome! I first thought it was a very nice small jewelry chest or something. And the colors of the various woods look AWESOME together. Very NICE!!!
-- Dave, See some of my creations at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/76Winger
AngelofDeath
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116 posts in 1244 days
#3 posted 1126 days ago
Beautiful as always….. great job and keep up the great work…
charlton
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76 posts in 1577 days
#4 posted 1126 days ago
Very nicely done!
gbear
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328 posts in 2267 days
#5 posted 1126 days ago
Beautiful…great design and craftmanship.
-- gbear, Carmichael, CA
Woodenwizard
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846 posts in 1223 days
#6 posted 1126 days ago
You do incredible work. Thanks for sharing.
-- John, Colorado's (Wooden Wizard)
Walt M.
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243 posts in 1178 days
#7 posted 1126 days ago
Very nice work and design.
jayjay
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639 posts in 1214 days
#8 posted 1126 days ago
That is a brilliant piece of work. The finish on it looks superb.
-- ~Jason~ , Albuquerque NM
sandhill
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1978 posts in 2092 days
#9 posted 1126 days ago
Very elegant, nice design and well executed.
grizzman
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5381 posts in 1471 days
#10 posted 1126 days ago
whoa…....dang jeff…you sure know how to dazzle the eye…...another beautiful project…and one i know must be appreciated by the owner…every detail you have explained is one that just joins this who project into one of beauty ….a fantastic mixture of woods…and very elegant..this is for sure a urn for a beloved kitty…fantastic job..
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
OutPutter
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1194 posts in 2158 days
#11 posted 1126 days ago
Up to your usual standards and since it’s for a cat, it is even a little better. Could you please elaborate on the “folding miter joint” used on the legs?
Best,
-- Jim
Maveric777
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2593 posts in 1245 days
#12 posted 1126 days ago
What a beautiful piece of work. I can’t get over how well the legs where done. Not only does it set the whole piece off (to me at least) the miters are so well done you have a hard time believing they are two pieces. I would love to know how you pulled that off so well. I know I will be studying these pics for a while now.
You truly are an artist Jeff. Very well done my friend.
-- Dan ~ Texarkana, Tx.
Broglea
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654 posts in 1259 days
#13 posted 1126 days ago
I’m not a cat lover, but this is a great urn. I love the design and selection of materials.
live4ever
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981 posts in 1178 days
#14 posted 1126 days ago
Oh dear, this is really beautiful.
-- Optimists are usually disappointed. Pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised. I tend to be a disappointed pessimist.
Rj
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1036 posts in 1799 days
#15 posted 1126 days ago
Jeff another winner! I love how every aspect of it flows together and the wood combinations are superb.
-- Rj's Woodworks,San Jose & Weed Ca,
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