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Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 20 Dec 2021, 20:39

I was talking to DaveR about this yesterday. Apparently, in the US, it is common for there not to be a coffin funeral at all, the body goes from the morgue to the crem and the relatives get a small casket or urn of ashes. Then there is the funeral service. I did go to a funeral in California once, but it was 30 years ago and I can't remember much about it.

Another practice that is becoming common over there is to rent a coffin. Yes, rent.
The body is in a cardboard tray on a board, the coffin that you see is over the lot, like a cloche. The coffin cover is removed before inceration, ready for the next time.

It sounds bizarre, but it is much more eco-friendly, saving the planet and all that. Who'd have thought that the USA would lead in Green anything? :) I'm obviously just as prejudiced as the people I have been known to criticise....

Or would it be Criticize?
:)
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Doug » 20 Dec 2021, 21:32

The USA are at the forefront of Alkaline Hydrolysis which is said to be more environmentally friendly than cremation so it doesn’t surprise me Steve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_ ... y_disposal)
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 20 Dec 2021, 21:46

Doug wrote:The USA are at the forefront of Alkaline Hydrolysis which is said to be more environmentally friendly than cremation so it doesn’t surprise me Steve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_ ... y_disposal)


Ooh that looks good to me.
And Severn Trent says No. What a surprise. Ignorant, Stupid, Incompetent.

S
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Doug » 20 Dec 2021, 22:01

Steve Maskery wrote:
Doug wrote:The USA are at the forefront of Alkaline Hydrolysis which is said to be more environmentally friendly than cremation so it doesn’t surprise me Steve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_ ... y_disposal)


Ooh that looks good to me.
And Severn Trent says No. What a surprise. Ignorant, Stupid, Incompetent.

S

He’s not honestly Steve a very clever chap really, I’ll ask him the reason it was turned down the next time I see him, he has told me & it was a good reason but I can’t remember as it was a while ago & id have been eating a curry at the time so not fully concentrating.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 20 Dec 2021, 23:41

OK, well maybe that was a bit harsh. But I bet it's a case of the rules not keeping up with positive developments. History is littered with such situations.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 23 Dec 2021, 21:38

With my boards glued up into panels, I could cut the grooves for the base. I stacked ny dado to 3/8", a tad shy of 10mm. I have a special fence for this job. There are two featherboards which both hold the board down and also pull it snug against the fence, because the fingers are slightly angled. I don't use it very often, but when I do need it, it is just superb.

grooving head board.JPG
(197.85 KiB)


cutting groove wide.JPG
(174.07 KiB)


I then routed a rebate on the underside of the bottom, to leave a tongue for my new grooves. This stabiliser foot is a godsend, especially at the corners.

rebating with stabiliser.JPG
(167.14 KiB)


Nothing yesterday, but good progress this morning.

The first job was to check that the tongues I had routed were a nice fit in the grooves. The head and foot panel were, the sides need a bit of fettling. When I was happy with them I put the tail board to the base and marked out where the footboard rebates needed to go.

marking for angled rebates.png
(1.27 MiB)


Then I increased the size of my dado stack and tilted it to the angle of the taper. I didn't measure it exactly (it's somewhere wetween 4 and 5 degrees) but I simply copied it from the base using a sliding bevel.

tilted dado.JPG
(199.07 KiB)


It's important to get the tilt the right way round (!) so the rebates for the footboard have to be done with the fence to the left

tailboard rebates.JPG
(145.99 KiB)


Close but no cigar, so I moved the fence back to give me a slightly bigger cut and tried again. Perfect.

fitting tailboard grooves.png
(1.25 MiB)


The headboard rebates are cut with the fence in the conventional position, on the right, But if I take a lot of sneak-up-on-it cuts, I shall have one clean face and one which is raggedy. So I lowered the blade for a test cut, intending to raise it once I knew I had the position right. As it happened it was Right First Time, but I still had to make the second cut because the blade was too low.

For all these rebates, I have to have the depth sufficient to remove slightly more than the depth of the groove, so that no ends of grooves are visible in the finished joint.

The rebates on the sides are next, but I don't think I shall get any more time on this until after The Great Inconvenience. I've also got to psyche myself up pyro Stuarts signature onto the footboard. I think that that is going to be troubling.

The other thing I've done today is to chase up the Crem. I spoke to the same lady as last week. I had emailed her for confirmation of what I intended, but not heard back from her. I now have an email saying that what I plan is kosher. Phew.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Stuart » 23 Dec 2021, 22:30

Good on you Steve, - I couldn’t do it.

Bad enough giving the eulogy at my best friend’s funeral.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Cabinetman » 24 Dec 2021, 01:38

That’s some beautiful pine you have there Steve, It’s going to turn out fine, even burning his signature, you’re probably like me and worry too much!
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Doug » 24 Dec 2021, 06:13

Looks like good progress Steve, will you be applying a finish?

BTW I passed your email & mobile number to our mutual friend.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 24 Dec 2021, 06:50

Doug wrote:Looks like good progress Steve, will you be applying a finish?

Just beeswax. Not allowed solvent varnishes, though water-based would be OK. But I'm just going to wax it.

Doug wrote:BTW I passed your email & mobile number to our mutual friend.

Yes, sorted, thank you.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby thetyreman » 24 Dec 2021, 18:27

that's a great gesture for a friend Steve, I bet it's been difficult.
'Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do' Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 24 Dec 2021, 20:45

Yes it is, but it's an honour.

Today was a late start as I was in the kitchen making the world's best ice-cream at a quarter-to-four this morning...

I've pyroed (is that even a word?) Stuart's signature into the footboard. I'm not going to screw this box together, it's going to be pinned with trenails (trennels? tree nails? I forget). But I've screwed the head and foot in place temporarily, with screws and washers, so that I can fit the sides. I've drilled a clean 6.5mm entry hole for when the pins are inserted (it's cleaner than tring to enlarge a screw hole with a twist drill). I've kept them fairly central so as not to compromise too much on the ability to expand and contract. I don't think that there will be much movement between now and...then, but the last thing I want is a call to say that the coffin has burst open.

screwing footboard.jpg
(244.05 KiB)


Having the head and foot boards in place should make it easier to fit the sides.

I made my first cockup today. I bevelled the very ends of the tailboard the wrong way. Fortunately I wasn't so tight on dimensions that I couldn't rectify it with a few swipes of a plane, but it was a nuisance, all the same.

That doesn't seem a lot of progress for 5 hours in the workshop, but there was a bit of this and a bit of that along the way. The important thing is that this is now right.

I have a problem with my thumbs at the mo. Particularly my left thumb. I can't grasp anything properly, it hurts to hold anything, I can't exert enough force to swich on a light. I assume it's arthritis (it runs in the family and I am exactly the right age) so it is difficult to manoeuvre the larger panels into place. I might have to call on my mate Charlie for help. But he has plans for tomorrow, so it might get held up for a day or two. We'll see. My last-minute Dec 25th guest has cried off, so I'll get a bit of time in the workshop, I think.

Stuart is now waiting for a Hospice bed. He is confused, thinks he is in Spain and wants to come home :(
God, cancer is an evil disease. I know I shall never see him again. I'm glad we had time to say goodbye.
Last edited by Steve Maskery on 24 Dec 2021, 22:21, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Blackswanwood » 24 Dec 2021, 20:59

I really admire your woodworking, humanity and stoicism in this post Steve.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby AndyT » 24 Dec 2021, 21:10

Blackswanwood wrote:I really admire your woodworking, humanity and stoicism in this post Steve.

:text-+1:
--------------
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Lurker » 24 Dec 2021, 21:47

AndyT wrote:
Blackswanwood wrote:I really admire your woodworking, humanity and stoicism in this post Steve.

:text-+1:


:text-+1:
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Andyp » 24 Dec 2021, 22:08

Lurker wrote:
AndyT wrote:
Blackswanwood wrote:I really admire your woodworking, humanity and stoicism in this post Steve.

:text-+1:


:text-+1:


:text-+1:
I do not think therefore I do not am.

cheers
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Malc2098 » 24 Dec 2021, 22:52

:text-+1:

And probably all the rest of us, too.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Dave R » 24 Dec 2021, 23:59

This is looking good, Steve. It's a tough thing to have to do but like you say, an honor (honour?).

I've told my wife that when I die I want to be shot out of a cannon so I can go out with a bang. I haven't found a place that rents cannon so I might have to buy one.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 25 Dec 2021, 00:19

Dave R wrote:(honour?).

Correct :)

Dave R wrote:I've told my wife that when I die I want to be shot out of a cannon so I can go out with a bang.

Boom-boom! :)
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Dave R » 25 Dec 2021, 00:22

Steve Maskery wrote:Boom-boom! :)


I think a single boom would be more appropriate for a cannon. :D
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 25 Dec 2021, 15:38

I've done a couple of hours this morning.

I squared off one end of one side and cut a rebate, I hogged it out with a router, then finessed it with my side-rebate plane. It's a beautiful tool to use and great for a job like this.

finessing rebate.JPG
(196.47 KiB)


Then I offered it up (hard to do on my own, especially with a rather painful thumb at the mo), marked the other end and cut the second rebate in the same way. Then I had an unpleasant surprise.

near miss.JPG
(116.43 KiB)


I'd got the biscuits too close to the end for comfort. There wouldn't be much point going to all this trouble to prevent the grooves from showing, only to have biscuits poking out. Fortunately they don't show, but it was a very near miss.

So I've got one side dry clamped in place and it all fits nicely. It looks huge though, I hope I haven't made it too big. Stuart did say to make it plenty long, though. "I want to be taller than my brother". Always a laugh.

dry fit side.JPG
(244.06 KiB)


I've started to make a batch of wooden pins

dowel plate.JPG
(214.14 KiB)


But I've had enough for today. Even I, who makes Scrooge look positively philanthropic, would like today to be just a little bit different from every other. So I'm going to have my annual bath, put some nice clothes on, rather than the scuffs I seem to live in permanently, light the fire, open a nice bottle of wine, do the Christmas crossword and cook myself Beef Wellington. With chips. And Yorkshire Pudding. And a pear tarte-tatin. Not exactly Keto...

That's another year that my Christmas Pudding will not get eaten.I think that this is its fifth, or possibly sixth, year in the cupboard...

Happy Christmas to all my readers.
S
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Lurker » 25 Dec 2021, 17:11

There’s no law that says Christmas pudding can only be eaten at Christmas.
Always goes down nicely with a cup of coffee.
Can help out if you can’t manage it all by yourself.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Malc2098 » 25 Dec 2021, 19:30

Lurker wrote:There’s no law that says Christmas pudding can only be eaten at Christmas.
Always goes down nicely with a cup of coffee.
Can help out if you can’t manage it all by yourself.



…..or chop it up and mix it with ice cream.
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Steve Maskery » 25 Dec 2021, 20:49

Actually I made a batchof TheWorld's Best Ice Cream only yesterday.
S
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Re: Has anyone here ever made a coffin?

Postby Malc2098 » 26 Dec 2021, 00:24

Malc2098 wrote:
Lurker wrote:There’s no law that says Christmas pudding can only be eaten at Christmas.
Always goes down nicely with a cup of coffee.
Can help out if you can’t manage it all by yourself.



…..or chop it up and mix it with ice cream.



…..or chop it up and mix it with The World's Best Ice Cream.
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