Cypress Scraps from Olivier - Crosses to Olivier

 In mid-November we visited Chalon at Olivier Woodworking in Natchitoches to buy some Christmas gifts.  She was making reindeer from scraps of cypress patterned from a design of one that her father had made years ago.  We bought a "herd" of them. While we were there she took us out into the shop to give me a couple pieces of cypress from their scrap bin, knowing that I enjoy making crosses.

Chalon Olivier with reindeer

One of the boards was such beautiful natural wood.  From it I made ten crosses that were so handsome that I didn't apply any finish.  When we visited in early December to buy some more reindeer, I took most of the crosses and gave them to Chalon for her, her daughter, and those who work in the shop.

Completed, left unfinished

The Karen tree - for baby Camille

Patrick Moore provided me with a piece of cypress from a special tree.  Read the story first.

Cypress log, about 3" diameter

Thanksgiving 1998 - Planting of "The Three Sister's Cypress Trees"
(select image to enlarge)

 

Patrick with 3 finished crosses

the finished crosses

I shaped the log on the bandsaw, jointed one side, planed the other for parallel surfaces.  Then I cut strips 13/16" wide, 1/2" thick, cut the dados, assembled, sanded the faces, cut all the corners (my signature), and stained them with Old Hickory oil based stain.  The tallest cross is 15".  The smallest one I didn't finish because the sanded wood looked and felt so wonderful.  Then I applied 3 coats of polyurethane sanding lightly between coats. The firs coat took several days to dry, the second took several weeks, the third coat dried overnight.  Knowing the history of the wood and that the crosses will each have a special recipient made this a very meaningful project for me.

before staining

the largest cross

finished

From a special Olive Tree - for a special family

 On October 8 Patrick Moore brought two pieces of wood, a branch from an olive tree and a 3" diameter branch from a cypress tree.  First - the story about the olive tree and the wood.

(select images to enlarge)

9/2/2012 - Patrick with transplanted olive tree, 7 ft. high

10/18/2021 - after 2 hurricanes and severe
2021 freeze damage, 15 ft. high

Now the making of crosses from the wood for Christmas gifts for his siblings and others.  

Olive branch and Cypress

Let's start with the olive wood.

Rough cut to square on bandsaw

Used jointer to get flat on one side, planer to get parallel on opposite side

Resawed before planing to desired thickness

3 short pieces for 1/2", 4 long pieces for 3/8"

Planing to thickness

1/2" thick

Olive wood "resting"

Nearly a month later, as the wood was starting to warp,  I started to cut the 3/8" thick pieces into strips.  Using my MatchFit Dado Stop, I cut dados.  Then cut strips to length on bandsaw and press fit before glueing.  There will be some "scrap" from each board so I will put as much of that to good use, too.

Strips ripped to 1/2" wide, 3/8" thick

Cutting dados using Dado Stop

Each cross will be different (unglued in this photo)
height varies from about 5" to 7", wood is 3/8" thick

The finished crosses are handsome!

Started working on 1/2" thick pieces.  The wood had started to warp so needed to machine some more.

1/2" thick ready to rip to width of crosses

finished crosses - 7 1/2" to 9" tall

Patrick received 16 of the olive crosses on 11/21; I kept 2 for my collection.

The project of making these crosses from wood with a special background for a man of special character was quite meaningful for me.  They will be shared well, I am sure.

Crosses for some at the Mega Shelter

Over 1,000 displaced people from south Louisiana whose homes were destroyed or damaged beyond use are currently being housed at the mega shelter just south of Alexandria.  From my inventory I sent about 125 crosses to be shared by some as a sign of hope during the long journey ahead.  I'm so glad to have the opportunity to do this. 

From One Cross Maker to Another

 This batch of crosses is quite special in several ways.

ready to cut and assemble

First, I describe the crosses, then the stories that make them special.  At the end of July 2021, I started by resawing a piece of Spanish cedar from 3/4" to 2 pieces 17/64" after thickness planing.  I planed a piece of cherry to the same thickness.  From this wood I made 36 crosses from Spanish cedar and 8 from the cherry. Vertical pieces 2 1/4", cross pieces 1 1/2", width of 3/8" and stained them with Puritan Pine stain on 8/30. 

stained

First special story - Hurricane Ida

On August 29, Hurricane Ida devastated areas of southeastern Louisiana, exactly 16 years to the day from when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.  A million households were without electricity, many homes, boats, businesses were demolished or severely damaged.  We were fortunate that it didn't touch Alexandria.  Many evacuees were going to be coming to the mega shelter south of the city, so without finishing the crosses with 2 coats of polyurethane, I decided to take them to the shelter and give them to people, similar to what I did in September 2017 after Hurricane Harvey.  As it turned out, there were not many people there yet when I took them down but gave them to a few and left some for workers to put on a table when others came.  When I gave a cross to a teenager who was out front with her grandparents, she told me she was from Jefferson Parish which was hit very hard.  I told her to keep the cross with her throughout the journey ahead, and she said with tears flowing, "I will keep it with me for the rest of my life."  I kept one of those partially finished crosses in my collection.

Second special story - Cross Maker to Cross Maker 

My dear friend and maker of crosses, large and small, passed away at age 97 two years ago.  Milford was a special man, proud of his service in WWII, and one who enjoyed working with wood.  He used a scroll saw to cut out some of his crosses.  One of the favorite crosses he made was a Celtic cross.

Celtic cross by Milford Crumplar

Here is a piece of Spanish cedar that Milford had drawn and drilled holes to cut out on his scroll saw.  From another piece like that, I made the small crosses, and plugged the holes with a dowel.  It was a joy to work with wood that dear Milford was planning to use for a cross before he no longer could work with power tools.

I'm keeping one of these crosses with the dowel plugs, special to me, a question to others.

Months in the Making

 It took me 3 1/2 months to make 38 crosses; I've been so busy with little time in the workshop.  From a piece of heart pine, rough sawn on one side, a group of 38 crosses about 2 5/8" high with strips 7/16" x 3/8".  They finished nicely.

7/1/2021

Dados cut, ready to rip strips

Ready for assembly

Special Cross from Special Wood from Special Friend

 Early in January of 2021, I received a call from a friend who wanted to give me a slab of wood about 1 5/8" thick by 24" by about 10".  I'm so glad she thought of me, so kind.  It was old sinker cypress from which a carpenter made her a rough "coffee table" that sits in front of her fireplace.

When I cut into the slab, the natural color was like coffee with cream, very rich, very handsome.  I machined a strip to 5/8" thick from which I made four wall crosses, 7 1/8" tall.  I look forward to making more crosses from this beautiful wood.

(select any photo to enlarge)

Finished Cross

the Slab of Sinker Cypress

Story of the Wood

the Slab was left over from making this Table

Bandsawing

p. 77 of my Logbook

Cutting Vertical Piece