Coffins

[Anonymous]

Has any one here experience of building coffins, proper wooden ones not chipboard, cardboard or basket ones, This is an area of work I may want to be involved in in the future. Do any one know the legal/H&S implications etc? Can any one offer any tips or advice?
Cheers Mr Spanton

 

[jasonB]

Don't know why you want to get involved, its a bit of a dead end job :wink:

Scrit did post a picture of a coffin clamp machine on another forum, maybe he will post it here or he may be saving it for next weeks mystery object.

Jason

 

[Anonymous]

Well I found when your talking to folk and they know your a woodworker the subject often comes up. I thought why not, something extra to be able to do if its faesible; I wouldnt want to make coffins and nowt else though, more a sideline? Have you ever done one jase?

 

[jasonB]

No, not done one myself or been asked about one for that matter. Did see an episode of "how its made" on discovery where they showed one being made, more of a casket with the barrel vaulted top.

Jason

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Mr S,

No experience but I've been to one or two funerals where they've had these massive, American style coffins that have to be wheeled in on a trolley. I would have thought that with our increasingly multi-cultural society, with its diversity of customs and traditions, there might well be an evolving market for different style coffins. Why not trawl around some undertakers and suggest that if people want something special you might be able to supply it - it's undertakers who would know what the market and regulations are I would have thought :wink:

Paul

 

[houtslager]

oo so many moons ago , when I were a lad.
I had the misfortune to work in a Funeral parlor , where the guv'nor
bought in almost all of the casks.
Most were recycled wood - ie chipboard nicely venneered, I had to polish them up before fitting the hardware.
The custom jobbies - fielded panal heavy on the mouldings
were made outta solid -did they cost a bomb or what iirc :shock:
Generally the guv said for the specials - when he ordered them,
"6 planks by 6' or 6'6", plus the wrapping" if it was a larger person he generally added another 2 planks to the order, and the maker got it right most if not all the time.

Joinery is simple - butt joints with loose tenon the length of board, dowelled head and footers. All wrapping screwed on from the inside, handles screwed or bolted through a backing pad to allow for the wieght and not fall off seen it once gawd did we laugh or what 8)

Then into the spray shop, stained and sprayed - left over the weekend generally before the stuffer came and lined it out ready for the body.

Hope this is of some use, reckon if the Funeral homes can charege up from grand to more then 8 or 9 K your in with a chance.

all the best
HS

 

[Scrit]

Mr Spanton

Kerf bent elm were the magic words. Elm was one of the timbers traditionally used. The top and base were cut from a single plank of part-dried elm, up to 30in wide ex 1in stock (although a heavy body might require a thicker base), rebated and the sides applied to the base with 1/4in square oak dowels (and glue) which would be hidden behind a beading. Traditionally the coffin would be french polished to a finish. The maximum length for cremation is generally about 6ft 6in and maximum wifth 2ft 6in to 2ft 8in - you'd really have to ask the local crematorium. If a coffin is to be cremated no metal is permitted and the screws, handles, plates, etc are made from either man-made fibre or plastic (although some crematoria will permit the lid to be screwed on). You'll need the measure of the person to be buried/cremated: around height + 2 inches, shoulder width + 2 inches, height about 14 or so inches, anything over that is just excess timber. These days they just use veneered chipboard, fibre screws and hot melt glue although they still kerf-bend the sides.

Scrit

 

[Anonymous]

Yes good point
If theres too much hassle with paying fees to the govt to be able to make coffins, then its probably unlikely. I see they make custom coffins in africa shaped like taxis, nike trainers, boats etc, might be a bit extreme for Suffolk :shock: But you never know some folks might just be willng to pay for a well crafted solid casket rather than an ikea/mfi falt pack sort :wink:
I'll make a few "discrete" enquiry's

 

[Anonymous]

Crikey things have "livened up" all of a sudden!! :lol:

 

[Paul Chapman]

There was an interesting programme on the radio last week where they were talking about obesity and one funeral director was saying that nowadays it was not uncommon to come across people who were 30 or 40 stones :shock: :shock: The major problem with this (apart from having to wheel the coffins about) is that the coffins won't fit the crematoriums so it's putting pressure on those that have large enough facilities :wink:

Paul

 

[Scrit]

I don't know about oversize coffins, Paul, but a couple of years back I did some batches of birch plywood frame components and seat bases for what are called "bariatric chairs" - designed to accommodate the clinically obese. The frame components were three thicknesses of 18mm birch plywood bonded together and the seat bases were 1in thick S/B aircraft grade birch plywood. The guy making them sed 4in square clear ash for the legs. They were tested and certified for 65 stones, although the one they put through overload test managed a 98 stone "drop loading" before it failed :shock:

HS, were your timbers planed and thicknessed both sides or were the insides as rough as anything? I seem to recall only planing the bits that showed.

Scrit

 

[Paul Chapman]

Blimey, Scrit, you've had some interesting jobs in your time :wink:

Paul

 

[Scrit]

To be honest the chairs were just plywood components to a spec. until I had to deliver some. Then the guy showed me the end product, a brochure and the test certificate - I've never seen such huge people! All part of the "we'll machine anything" approach I had.......

I've also machined batches of veneered chipboard coffin sides and tops/bottoms - horrible nasty things - which is why I'm determined to make my own box (before I need it, obviously). My great uncle was a joiner and cabinetmaker of "the old school" and I always recall that he had a "his and hers" pair of coffins in the corner of the workshop, nicely polished up and covered over with canvas for the day he died. Apparently that was the tradition at one time because joiners were also frequently the undertakers in small places.

Scrit

 

[Roger]

You should approach the people who do the 'natural' burials also. There's a growing trend to have coffins made completely from natural materials; no Chipboard, plywood or plastics, so that it will degrade completely. There are several cemeteries around the country that are set aside for this type of burial. Only a small shrub or tree is used as a memorial so that the ground can be re-used in a few years.

I would suspect the Government would have a say in coffin making for the crematoriums, as regards toxic materials giving of smoke and fumes after cremation. You'd probably have to have a 'certificate' of some sort and be inspected no doubt for something like Death and Safety

 

[Paul Chapman]

My great uncle was a joiner and cabinetmaker of "the old school" and I always recall that he had a "his and hers" pair of coffins in the corner of the workshop, nicely polished up and covered over with canvas for the day he died.

I think that's really nice - nothing like going out in style :wink:

Paul

 

[engineer one]

since the family used to be part of the kenyon group, which used
to be the royal undertakers, the group used a number of different
kinds of boxes, from special cardboard ones up to full oak.

now kenyons are part of a large group called dignity, and still have
a factory in essex, near southend. a local watford company makes their
own.

in my experience, the only people who would actually need the
product are likely going to be the smaller and maybe even newer
funeral directors. often surprisingly these days run by youngish
lasses. as scrit said in the old days in the villages, the joiner
tended to also be the undertaker and coffin maker. rather like
the clint eastwood movies :lol: :lol:

always seems a waste to use real wood for cremation, but some
of the modern mausoleums need rather well built polished boxes.

i am sure that some of the older books would have included
building a box, but of course now there are very many different
designs. the biggest problem is allowing for the internal lining.

almost all the boxes use mouldings to hide the joints and add to the
strength.

i guess the answer is to go and talk to a few undertakers and see
whether you can compete on price, and whether it is worth
the effort.

good luck

paul :wink:

 

[Permutation_Jim]

Folks,

I had to do a bit of searching to find this, but...

In 2003 I remembered reading what I thought was a pretty heartfelt article on making your own casket (or rather, building one in your own workshop... I suppose you could bury anyone you wanted in it).

It came from Mother Earth News and can be found here:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/2003_April_May/Handmade_Caskets

Also, if you're willing to buy one, you can find it at (surprise) Rockler:
http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_details.cfm?cookietest=1&&offerings_id=5016

Hope that helps.

Thanks, Jim[/url]

 

[Mitch Kelly]

Two of my uncles were apprenticed as carpenters / cabinetmakers just after the war, and they started off by working on coffins, apparently because (back then when everything was built proper...) a coffin included examples of all the skills and joints that you would need on any wood butchering job. If you could make a decent fist of making a coffin, you could build essentially anything.

This is what they both told me - not that I'd know any better. Carpentry's a black art to me.