700 Crosses for Consecration Sunday

Our church recently had a building project to build a new Welcome Center on the front of the Sanctuary. In order to build the center they had to take down one of the treasured Oak Trees in the courtyard. In order to commemorate the Consecration I was tasked with making and engraving 700 crosses to give to the congregation this Sunday from the two of the Oak Tree branches.

First I cut the branches into useable lengths with my chainsaw, and split those in half on the band saw. I let the halves set for a few weeks before resawing them into 5/8 of an inch thick boards on the band saw. Once I cut the boards, I put them on the top shelf out of the way to cure for six weeks, spacing them with dowels so the air could circulate around them.

After curing them I squared them into 7/16 inch posts and cut them into 5 and 2 ½ inch lengths on the radial arm saw 20 at a time. I then built two dado sleds to cut the slots to join them together, I was able to do 24 posts at a time with the sleds.

I spent three evenings gluing them together and engraving them in the laser, I cut a template out of poster board that the crosses fit into and was able to engrave them 36 at a time, with a load / run / unload time of 40 minutes a batch.

It was a time consuming project, but it was a labor of love that I would be happy to take on again if the need ever arose.

-- I am responsible for how I respond to everything in my life - - Katy TX