request that stunned me

Saturday I was at my inlaws. After lunch I was about to leave when my LOML told her mom that I had made a cedar chest. I went out to my pickup to get my camera to show her a pic. After looking at the pics she asked if I would make their caskets. That set me back a little and I replied that it would be difficult for me because of knowing the end user. It is a honor that she likes my work, but still would be hard me just the same. Have any of you been asked that question or build any adult caskets?
 
Yup, My job recruiter asked me a while back about doing one. I admit it's a little strange, his concern was what they charge for the manufactured ones. My wife and I already made the choice to be cremated, my parents have already made there arrangements for it as well. Their head stone is already in place and dad formed the concrete tubes for the urns himself.
 
My old harness maker was Amish. His casket stood in his shop with shelves in it. When he died, they knocked the shelves out and put him in it. I plan on building my own casket and doing the same thing. I have checked with out local funeral director and I can be cremated in my own wooden casket. Rockler has plans and hardware for caskets. My funeral director told me once mine was done he wanted to see it, they are terribly expensive and if I wanted to build more he might be interested if he liked what he saw and we could agree on a price.
I think Rex, it will become a labor of love. What respect they have for your work that they prefer to lay in your craftsmanship. It will make for interesting thoughts as the building process progresses.

Here you go, the Rockler site to the page.

http://www.rockler.com/search_results.cfm?srch=usr&filter=casket&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
 
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I have never been asked to build a casket for a human but I have built a couple for people's pets.

Like Steve I have turned a few urns as final resting places.

Last June John C. Campbell Folk School held a class in which people learned to build caskets. It was quite a process to see the amount of work that went into building one. My understanding is that it is hard to get the proper hardware for a casket as the casket companies intend for it to be that way.
 
Yes.......a cousin that was inflicted with cancer. Luckily he never has had to use it. It was very creepy.

I got plans for it off the internet somewhere.

I can look for them if you need them.
 
The idea certainly is not new.
It is actually a short throw back in history. Little more than 100 years ago having your casket built in advance by a local person was the norm.
Making them could be a nice sideline for home shop people. As said, caskets at funeral homes are very expensive. They are a major profit source for those businesses. We lived in a town that had a large casket factory. The people who worked at the factory had little respect for funeral home directors. They were simply called 'casket peddlers'.
Personally, I feel a fancy casket is the wrong way to show respect for someone you loved. That should be shown before they die.
 
Wel, I certainly see it as an honor to your work, and what they think of you.

There's an incredible description of a casket being made for a dying person in William Faulkner's novel, "As I Lay Dying."

In some places now, folks can get cardboard boxes for the purpose of burial. I was at my county transfer station, and looked in the metal recycling dumpster [big one] and saw what looked like a flimsy metal coffin that had been burned. It was what was left after a cremation. Apparently in NY state, one must be cremated in a coffin. What a waste.
 
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