Mesquite - for a special friend's special friends

 I'm always humbled when a special friend asks me to make a cross that they can share.  This cross will be given as a wedding gift for a special couple.  I was asked to make it about 18" tall; my initial reaction was "too tall" but after thinking about it, I decided it would be a great size, using mesquite that I milled to 1/2" thick x 5/8" wide.  To accentuate the height, I made the cross piece shorter than the ratio I usually use, and placed it higher.  The result was very pleasing, and the Puritan Pine stain on mesquite with two coats of polyurethane really brought out the beauty of the wood.  It will look nice on the wall.

finished cross on dwarf mondo

From the first cut to dried and burnished with burlap took only nine days.

cutting strip from slab

milled and dadoed

ready to be stained

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Note: Made 2 smaller crosses from the cut strip, 8" high and 4.5" high

3/8" Oak

finished

From a 3/4" oak board, I resawed to 3/8" thick (and 3/16" for a future batch) and made 24 crosses that are 2 3/4" high and 3 small ones 1 13/16" high.  I assembled them on November 3, Election Day.  

I kept the cross on the left with the dark spot for my collection.  I always drill a hole across each vertical piece so people can put a chain or cord through to hang or wear it. I made a mistake and drilled through the face instead of the side, so I glued a piece of 1/8" diameter dowel and sanded it flush.  No one would ever have known if I didn't tell you :-)  Here is the rest of the story:

Years ago when I started making small crosses, I didn't drill the hole for hanging.  My idea was that a cross could be carried in one's pocket or set on a table.  As I gave them away, almost 9 of 10 recipients turned the cross over and said "I could put a hole in that and hang it."  Since then, I drill the hole before assembling.

cutting dadoes

cut strips

cutting pieces

assembled

my specs

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Oak wall crosses - 4" high

 These small wall crosses from oak are 4" high with a thickness of 7/16" and a width of 5/8", attractive in their simplicity.  I used my MatchFit Dado Stop to guide the cutting of the dadoes.

Heart Pine - old hickory stained

After nearly 3 months of not working in the shop (amazing how busy one can be at home during the COVID-19 pandemic), I used some rough sawn old heart pine and made 44 crosses 2 3/4" high.  Half were rough sawn on one side.  Having the can of Old Hickory stain sitting on my workbench from the prior batch, I stained them and then applied two coats of poly as I usually do to finish them.  When totally dry, I burnished the smooth sides on burlap for a finishing touch.

finished

This was the first time I've used the Old Hickory stain on heart pine and probably the last.  The finished crosses look very nice, but I think my Puritan Pine stain looks better.

staining with Old Hickory

drying

burnishing after totally dry

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