Special Gift from Mesquite

A friend asked me about crosses, where she could get one as a gift to honor five years of service for a woman leading a church group.  Naturally, I told her I make them gratis and asked her when she needed it.  It was a short lead time, but in a week I made this beautiful 8 1/2" tall cross from mesquite.  Mesquite is a soft pink color, but when stained with Minwax Puritan Pine, it turns a deep rich color.  Two coats of polyurethane make it shine. This is one of the favorites I've made, number 2719.

the finished cross

Here's a quick look at the process: cutting a strip from a slab then joining, ripping with my Grr-Rippers then cutting the dadoes using a Dado Stop jig, both from MicroJig.  I then glue and assemble, sand both faces smooth, carve the corners and sand the edges.  Last, I finish with stain and apply two coats of polyurethane, lightly sanding with fine sandpaper between coats.  Finally, I rub down the finished cross with a piece of burlap.

Giving the cross is the best part.

the slab - wild grain

joining the cut strip

ripping to width - using Grr-Rippers

setting dado width - using Dado Stop jig

cutting dado on vertical piece

ready to glue

glued and assembled

stained

(When making one or a few crosses, I use the Dado Stop.  When making a batch of smaller crosses, I use a dado blade.  See my post of October 30, Hickory - a batch of 75.)

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