How to make a wooden 3 bar Orthodox Cross

[Melista]

We are wanting to make a couple wooden 3 bar Orthodox Crosses as thank you gifts for the priest teaching our catechumen classes and our sponsors. I’ve searched and searched but can’t find the specifications for the distance between the bars and proper width to height. I found them for the more modern style cross commonly used in Protestant churches as shown above so I wondered if anyone here might be able to offer some input. Thank you

 

[HTacianas]

View attachment 319476 We are wanting to make a couple wooden 3 bar Orthodox Crosses as thank you gifts for the priest teaching our catechumen classes and our sponsors. I’ve searched and searched but can’t find the specifications for the distance between the bars and proper width to height. I found them for the more modern style cross commonly used in Protestant churches as shown above so I wondered if anyone here might be able to offer some input. Thank you

That's funny you should ask. I had the same problem several years ago. Long story short, I measured a small cross and extrapolated the dimensions from it. Here's what I ended up with:

 

[Melista]

That's funny you should ask. I had the same problem several years ago. Long story short, I measured a small cross and extrapolated the dimensions from it. Here's what I ended up with:

That’s beautiful! Thank you

 

[ArmyMatt]

View attachment 319476 We are wanting to make a couple wooden 3 bar Orthodox Crosses as thank you gifts for the priest teaching our catechumen classes and our sponsors. I’ve searched and searched but can’t find the specifications for the distance between the bars and proper width to height. I found them for the more modern style cross commonly used in Protestant churches as shown above so I wondered if anyone here might be able to offer some input. Thank you

do you have any local monasteries that do woodwork?

 

[Melista]

do you have any local monasteries that do woodwork?

I’m not sure. There’s one in the next state over so I can definitely check. I could probably order one online I suppose-I’ve actually seen some nice ones on Etsy but we have a woodshop so I figured it would be a nice to try to make it ourselves. Thankfully I have until our chrismation in December to figure it out.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I’m not sure. There’s one in the next state over so I can definitely check. I could probably order one online I suppose-I’ve actually seen some nice ones on Etsy but we have a woodshop so I figured it would be a nice to try to make it ourselves. Thankfully I have until our chrismation in December to figure it out.

maybe they could at least give you the measurements so you can make your own, if that makes sense.

 

[Melista]

maybe they could at least give you the measurements so you can make your own, if that makes sense.

Yes, thank you! That’s a great idea Father.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Yes, thank you! That’s a great idea Father.

no problem!

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

View attachment 319476 We are wanting to make a couple wooden 3 bar Orthodox Crosses as thank you gifts for the priest teaching our catechumen classes and our sponsors. I’ve searched and searched but can’t find the specifications for the distance between the bars and proper width to height. I found them for the more modern style cross commonly used in Protestant churches as shown above so I wondered if anyone here might be able to offer some input. Thank you

How large did you want to make them? I have one here. It is 15" long and the middle bar is 6.5" long across. The top bar is 4.5" long. Each bar and the main cross is about 1.5" wide and 3/4" thick. The top bar is 1.5" from the top and as I said is 1.5" wide. The middle bar starts 1.75" below the bottom of the top bar and as I said is about 1.5" wide. The lower bar starts 1.75" from the bottom of the middle bar. The cross bars are connected to the main cross by notched joints, like Lincoln logs. Mine is similar to this one:

https://res.cloudinary.com/woodland.../d/i/dimensional_religious_cross_orthodox.jpg

 

[Melista]

How large did you want to make them? I have one here. It is 15" long and the middle bar is 6.5" long across. The top bar is 4.5" long. Each bar and the main cross is about 1.5" wide and 3/4" thick. The top bar is 1.5" from the top and as I said is 1.5" wide. The middle bar starts 1.75" below the bottom of the top bar and as I said is about 1.5" wide. The lower bar starts 1.75" from the bottom of the middle bar. The cross bars are connected to the main cross by notched joints, like Lincoln logs. Mine is similar to this one:

https://res.cloudinary.com/woodland.../d/i/dimensional_religious_cross_orthodox.jpg

Thank you so much. That one seems like a good size to me. Those measurements help tremendously. I was just getting lessons in the woodshop from my husband and brother in law so once I figured out more specifics I would know how to use the different saws and router. I can’t thank you enough!