We and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic. Your hand-crafted coffin can echo the personality of your lost loved one with a number of different finishes. It is possible to build this entire coffin with only basic hand tools including a mallet or hammer, hand saw, tape measure, square, and a screw driver. Starting with the lid, fasten together the long boards that make up the lid with 2-inch ribs and glue. Clamp the plywood to a flat workbench or sawhorses so the cut lines are hanging off the edge and use your circular saw to cut out the outline of the lid.

The designer has his very own set of ‘Shelves for Life’ and will send you a free personal design if you send him your measurements. If you are interested in green burial or natural burial, this coffin can be built without the use of metal fasteners (screws or nails). For my Grandfather’s coffin we preferred the raw and natural appearance of unfinished pine in the simplest of traditions, but yours can be stained, stenciled, painted, burned, stamped, carved, or decorated with bumper stickers and photos to reflect upon the life and times of your lost loved one. Start with a 24 inch board for the widest part of the floor and cut top corners at 10 degrees and bottom corners at 6 degrees. If you use your circular saw, you will need to clamp the pieces to a flat work surface with the cut lines hanging off.Warren runs a furniture and product design consultancy, is a Senior Lecturer at London Metropolitan University, and also lectures at three other universities and colleges. Cut the short sides where they connect to the long sides at 76-degree angles and the long sides where they meet at 80-degree angles.

In this case, 89% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. When I built my first coffin for my Grandfather with the help of my father, bother, and sister, we found the experience of working together to be comforting and satisfying. This floor board along with the joiner ribs will secure the head end and toe ends of the casket together.You can either use a power miter saw or set the blade to different angles on your circular saw to make the cuts. After finishing high school, he took a gap year to work odd jobs and try to figure out what he wanted to do next. Thicker lumber will add unnecessary material weight and thinner will compromise on the strength and rigidity of your completed coffin. Whether you take the opportunity to work by yourself or together with friends and family, crafting a coffin for a loved one can be memorable and therapeutic. These instructions use a traditional rib design with glue and screws for easy construction and superior holding strength of the wood joinery (see figure 3).