3000 Crosses

Between June 10 and June 25, from a piece of willow I created 21 small crosses about 2 5/16" tall, 1/2" wide, and 3/8" thick, also one larger cross.  This brings the total since 2010 to 3008.  I've never worked with willow before, a medium colored wood with very little grain pattern.  When stained with old hickory oil stain, coated with 2 coats of poly, and hand-rubbed, they look quite handsome.

layout

cutting before assembly

p. 72

a Quick Tour of my Shop

A friend from afar said he wished he could see my shop where I make these wooden crosses to give away.  Well, here it is, un-narrated - my 12' x 18' special place.

Thanks for visiting.

Birdseye Maple

On 5/25/2020, I pulled out a small piece of birdseye maple on my wood shelves - 1/4"x2 1/2"x16" and developed my plans which I changed on 6/7/2020.  I did the layout on 6/7 and cut and assembled; on 6/8 I drilled hole on verticals, sanded faces, and cut corners.  On 6/9 I sanded edges and stained with Puritan Pine, bringing out the beauty of the wood.  If dry tomorrow, I will add a coat of poly.

Small batches are very enjoyable to make; cutting corners and sanding edges can be boring with a large batch.

ready to start

stain shows the richness of birdseye maple

Rough Sawn Heart Pine

From a piece of rough sawn heart pine with dark saw marks on the surface, I made 40 crosses, half with the rough sawn on the face, half from the interior wood, 3 inches high.  Stained with Puritan Pine stain and a couple of coats of polyurethane brought out a rich color.

beautiful rough sawn surface 

dados cut, strips ripped to perfect width

assembled

finished

p.71

Spanish Cedar - varied sizes

This wood had such a nice color that I kept one for myself unstained.  I made 19 of various sizes and shapes. Also a couple from oak.

natural color, unstained

staining

p.70

from a scrap of Walnut

These six handsome tall and thin crosses were made from a piece of walnut in my scrap bin.

finished walnut crosses with elm crosses

Pandemic Elm Crosses

As the corona virus pandemic swept through the world, we isolated ourselves at home.  We worshipped virtually, visited virtually, and relaxed amidst the tension from the news.  This gave me an opportunity to spend some time working in our gardens and making some crosses in the workshop.  Enjoy this photo video of the process which I started on 3/17 through staining on 3/24.  Then a couple of coats of polyurethane to finish them.


 Made from elm in Louisiana, USA.