ST. JOSEPH'S APPRENTICE - Portable Altars

           The Rosewood Altar

            This full sized altar is made from a very dense and strong wood, which is often used to build musical instruments.

             It's color ranges from a deep dark brown often with a reddish hue to a light brown with some occasional cream 

             running through the grain. A finished altar will weigh about 45 lbs., which makes it more of a "home altar 

             than a portable altar.  Because it is so dense, it is very rough on my saw blades. It is like working with

             stone rather than wood. I like to first inspect the wood grain in all the boards to determine which are most

             suitable for a beautiful mensa and lid. The sawdust has a flowery aroma. I recommend one use a luggage

             trolley to transport this altar due to its weight.  

            The altar stone does not automatically come with the altar - you must provide your own, or you may check

             out the altar stones I offer. 

           The Martyrdom Red Altar

              This is a full sized altar made of hemlock but with a two-stage dye process using a red base coat followed

              with a dark toner. Under normal room lighting it appears quite dark with a slightly red undertone.  Under

               intense/bright lights one can observe the bright red undertone.  It has multiple coats of clear lacquer, to give

               it a high gloss finish.  It is very time intensive to achieve this rich deep two tone finish but it is quite beautiful 

               to behold. This altar can be built either with drawers, or with a hinged compartment that opens up to the 

               storage area under the mensa. I can inset an altar stone you provide, or one of the altar stones I have cut

               and engraved (no relics in mine).