FAQ
Returns & Guarantees?
All urns are guaranteed. Unused STANDARD urns (no customization) may be returned for ANY reason for a refund or exchange within the first 10 days. Return authorization is required. Shipping costs cannot be refunded. Insure a returning urn for its full value.
CUSTOM urns (including urns with inscriptions, custom sizes, or custom finishes) are not returnable, but if I make an error on your order, I will of course correct it. While these cases are exceedingly rare, I will fix them quickly and cover all shipping costs.
How do I order?
Contact me any way you like - here’s my contact page. I’m happy to chat (phone, text, or email), answer your questions, or consider special requests. Take your time. I will take your order personally when you are ready. There are only 2 basic things to think about: your urn choice and any options that you'd like. After you've placed an order you will get an invoice from me by email, and, by a second email, a way to pay it with your credit card using PayPal. Full payment is required before I can begin. While it causes a delay, checks through the mail are also accepted.
Shipping? Timing?
While some urns are available for quick delivery, in most cases please allow 2 weeks for building and 3 or 4 days for delivery. Let me know your time constraints - I will try hard to accommodate your need. Ground shipping within the 48 states will cost $65. Faster or further shipping is available and will be quoted on request. Everything is shipped FedEx “Adult Signature Required” - an adult must be home to sign at delivery. If you will guarantee that you have a safe place for the driver to leave the package, you may request “No Signature Required.”
How can I decide, if I can't pick it up and hold it in my own two hands?
Purchase a standard urn, no customization - unused urns can be returned for any reason whatsoever for a full refund minus shipping costs. Or you may make an appointment to visit me in NW Arkansas for a hands on look.
How big is the urn? Will the urn hold all the ashes? Will it fit the niche? Are other sizes available?
The dimensions and cubic inches of each standard design are indicated on their page. Most urns here are the industry standard of 200 cubic inches, but I believe a medium size of about 150 cubic inches is perfect for the vast majority - and so I include a few of those, too. Let me know if you need another dimension or volume. Most designs can be enlarged to any volume required (as for a companion urn) - or reduced to 3/4 the size, but usually no smaller. I can reconfigure a few to fit a niche - contact me to discuss.
Here are three methods for calculating the cubic inches of cremated remains - starting with the easiest, but least accurate. If any of this is confusing, contact me - I’ll ask a few questions and estimate it for you. (If the deceased underwent alkaline hydrolysis then use method three or add 32% to method two results.)
1. A commonly repeated method is to figure a cubic inch per pound that the deceased weighed. I believe this usually results in exaggerated numbers, ruling out smaller urns that would have been just fine. This is anecdotal, but recently I made an urn for a 230 lb. man. The volume of his ashes was actually 144 cubic inches. A medium-size urn would have worked fine. I suggest you move on to method 2 or 3 for a more accurate figure.
2. A more accurate method is to determine the ideal weight for the deceased - given their gender, height, & age. (Here is an ideal weight calculator.) Then calculate a cubic inch per pound of ideal weight.
3. The most accurate method requires opening the temporary box the cremation service gives you and measuring (in inches) the inner length & width of the box, and the depth of the ashes only. Then multiply these dimensions together (inner length x inner width x depth of ashes = the urn volume required). This will give you the exact volume necessary in cubic inches. (If this is confusing, or if you prefer thinking in metric, or the temporary container happens to be round, or in a plastic bag; then grab a ruler, and call me.)
The funeral home has its own urns. Can I use these instead?
Funeral homes in the USA & Canada are legally obligated to use any urn you provide for them. I’m not sure about the UK or other countries.
How is the urn opened for use?
The openings are on the bottom of the urns, unless the description says otherwise. Turn the urn over on a protective surface. If necessary have someone hold the urn for you or prop it up with some pillows. For bronze urns (except the Pyramid urns) remove the solid brass screws that hold the cover plate. The Pyramid urns have a brass snap-in cap. For ceramic urns: twist out the circular opening cap counter-clockwise with a quarter or large screwdriver. If you do not wish to handle the ashes yourself, ask a friend or ask your funeral home to do this. Here are pictures.
Can you personalize the urn with an inscription?
A name and dates, a phrase, or a complete paragraph can be inscribed directly into the bronze. Here are inscription details.
How should I care for the urn? Can I use the urn outdoors?
The bronze urns with the classic screw-down cover plate can be placed indoors or outdoors in a garden. (If you are placing these urns outside, then read the waterproofing instructions that will be enclosed with your urn.) Ceramic urns and pyramid urns with the standard snap-in closure are for indoor use only. Any urn kept indoors requires no special care. Bronze urns (with screw-down plate) placed outdoors will undergo slow changes to the patina over several years time. You can choose to let the urn age naturally or you can give it a fresh coat of lacquer every three years to help maintain it’s original appearance. Instructions will be provided with the urn. Also, consider that tall urns with a smaller footprint can be susceptible to high winds and should be placed accordingly.
Are custom urns available?
Yes. There are many ways to customize: size, patina or color, gold stardust, inscriptions - possibly an entirely new design. Urns can be enlarged to any size. They can be reduced in size to 3/4 their standard height. Contact me for details.
Custom symbols for the Starfield and Far Hills Urns are often possible.
If your urn will go into a crematorium niche or mausoleum space of limited size, I have several designs that can be altered to fit a niche without reducing their volume - even as small a space as 9” on a side.
And finally, if you need something you don’t see here, I don’t mind talking. Some of my standard designs began as a special request. Can’t guarantee anything, but it’s worth a conversation.
How are the urns made?
In case you are interested, here is my process and a couple of thoughts:
10-foot sheets of solid bronze are heavy & awkward. I drag one into the shop and wrestle it up onto the bench. Each of the urn designs has a set of patterns to be nestled together at one end of the plate. A few rough cuts and everything becomes more manageable. I settle down and carefully trim the various pieces to their final shape with a high-tech plasma cutter and a low-tech bench shear - each tool remarkable in its own way.
Next, odd pieces of steel and even the rocks out in my drive, are used to impress the bronze with lines, hatches, and small dents. This is an artistic, custom process - it gives the bronze surface complexity, a sense of memory, and an honesty about the vagaries of human life. Hand worked bronze is capable of great depth & delicate nuance. I linger with this part of the creative work until it shows a satisfying emotional complexity. At this point any custom inscriptions are carefully laid out, punched freehand, and double checked. I live in terror of misspelling a name or word - even though it has never happened. I aim to keep it that way.
The three dimensional curves require a boatbuilder's eye. Fortunately I have built a few boats. All the curves of a sculpture must be nautically fair and well-defined. It takes a while to get the pieces just right so that the edges and corners fit together snugly - gentle persuasion upon various anvils required here. Once I'm happy with the flow & fit of the parts, I tack the corners and edges in a few places with a large MIG welder. Finally, I use the smaller more intense TIG welder to trace delicately along each corner joint. Its arc is a tiny sun - bright and quiet. This is a magical moment in which the many parts disappear into something seamless & whole - a ray of sun has touched down & something new has appeared. I need this little miracle - it keeps me going.
An opening is formed on each urn (usually on the bottom, sometimes on the back) and a cover plate fitted carefully and bolted down tight. Grinding, sanding, and burnishing bring a satin sheen to the urn and prepare it for the patina. The ancient patina solutions are applied over and over until the bronze glows with the warmth of time & life. The result seems both contemporary and ancient - an object complicated by time, life, & love.
Perhaps it is human folly to imagine that an urn could express a fraction of our grief & gratitude. But help arrives from so many directions. The bronze helps - first formed in vast supernovae and now reaped from the depths of the earth. The tools lend their strength, their ancient ways, and subtle efficacy. People tell me their stories and help with their patronage. And finally, there simply seems to be a gentle hand from above - an opening into the universe. Art is always collaborative.