20 crosses 2 7/8" high, 2 1/3/16" high |
Stained half neutral, half golden oak |
In September of 2010 in my new workshop, I completed my first "batch" of crosses made from apple. I set a goal to make thousands of crosses and give them away. Having surpassed the goal, I will continue as long as I can. It is a joy! (This blog focuses on the material aspect of making crosses rather than the best part - the spiritual act of giving them away.)
After a 3 month hiatus, I made 18 crosses from sinker cypress, a great wood to work with. The wood is darker than new cypress, lighter weight and with tight grain. It machines so well. In a week and a half, I made 19 crosses, including some made from scraps glued together. 5/16" thick, 3/8" wide.
Some wood in its' natural state just doesn't need stain or urethane; such was the case when I made 17 crosses from a piece of heart pine given to me years ago by Milford Crumplar. One side was rough sawn by a large blade at the sawmill. The other side when cut, was very resinous and made the workshop smell wonderful. It was slow sanding the crosses on the belt sander. The crosses were 2 3/4" tall including a couple from scrap that were 1 3/4" tall, 5/16" thick and 7/16" wide.
natural "finished" crosses |
rough sawn (strips used in next batch of wall crosses) |
notebook and crosses |
I had an old cypress board that was rough sawn and stained with various stains, and it had some wood rot. I made some beautiful 5/16" x 7/16" crosses, 41 were 2 13/16" tall, 7 from scrap were 1 3/16" tall. When stained with golden oak along with 3 coats of urethane, they really looked nice. I was able to use the wood rot to advantage in some of the crosses.
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wood rot added character |
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48 finished crosses |
Apple is a light colored hardwood with some interesting grain. I made 30 3" tall crosses 1/2" wide and 3/8" thick. I used three different stains for unique results.
While visiting Comfort, TX we stopped at a sawmill and I picked out a 2" thick handsome piece of mesquite, gray and rough sawn. When machined in early August, the beautiful pink of this hard wood looked so fine.
I cut some half inch wide strips and made three nice wall crosses about 6" tall.
stained with golden oak, a rich look |
And from another 7/16" thick piece came 6 beautiful wall crosses 5 1/2" tall and a small 1 3/4" cross.
page 101 of my notebook |
From a machined piece of elm 5/16" x 4 7/16' x 23 1/2", I made 55 crosses 1/4" wide, most 2 13/16" high, others 2 1/8" high. I started them on 3/31 and finally finished them on 6/8. Elm shows some nice wavy grain when stained.
stained with Minwax Golden Oak with 3 coats of Arm-R-Seal urethane |
unfinished |
strips cut with dados |
Today, June 8 my nephew's oldest daughter, Sofia, became a Bat Mitzvah. We are proud of her. I made her a Star of David from a piece of mesquite as a special gift. Back in January I started planning how to do it, made a prototype out of scrap pine to learn from my mistakes, and began the process in March with a nice piece of mesquite 5/16" x 2 5/8" x 25".
Finished Star of David for Sofia |
Stained and 3 coats of urethane |
the Process (click image to enlarge) |
Doing the layout and carefully cutting diagonal dadoes was challenging.
Cutting diagonal dado |
Depth of cut = 1/2 thickness of board |
Cutting triangles |
From a piece of 5/16" sinker cypress that had its best grain on the edge, I made 42 crosses, most 2 13/16" high, a few 4 3/4" high. The face grain wasn't what I wanted so I used the Thin Rip Guide to cut strips. Turned them on their sides and laid out where to make dado cuts using the MatchFit Dado Stop. See process notes from my journal, page 98.
thickness planing |
cutting strips |
edge grain nicer than face grain |
ready for assembly |
finished |