I don't have anybody's ashes in mind, but this box has the quiet dignity and humility to be the keeper of ashes.
It's 8" x 10" x 7" high, full-dimension cocobolo. It's a dense, heavy wood, wonderful to work with -- like working with hard wax instead of wood. And except for things like ebony and pink ivory, it's one of the most expensive woods. It finishes to an incredible smoothness. The pegs in the hinges are Bolivian rosewood.
The bottom part is sort of regulation box, and the top is a glued-up block that I sculpted with a chain saw blade on an angle grinder and other standard wood-sculpting tools. These are the best wooden hinges I have come up with to date, cut out of the same pieces of wood as the top. The floor of the box is hardwood ply with English yew veneered onto both sides. I wouldn't use plywood, but it has more stability than wood that thin.
I was buying material for a commissioned job and had enough money left over for the pieces of cocobolo. I had been having something like the block that writers get, couldn't get back into woodworking, and so I bought these pieces and resolved to make something luxurious just for myself and not put it up for sale. But now that I've had a couple of years to wear the new off it, it's for sale.
This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 08 July, 2008.
