Replies

1. 
   DCarr10760 | Dec 19, 2005 09:24pm | #1

   Yep, apparently people are dying to get their products.

   I'll shut up now...

   David C

2. 
   WillGeorge | Dec 19, 2005 11:09pm | #2

   Not sure.. Depends on how tall you are?

   If you are near one most ROCKLERS have plans for one.. Sneak a peek!

3. 
   Handrubbed | Dec 22, 2005 12:22am | #3

   My understanding is that most caskets are mdf / hardwood veneer.  Only trim is really solid wood. 

   These manufacturers are master finishers and have the art of using toners and lacquers down pat.

   I recently had a conversation with a gentleman who supplies the intarsia pieces for the U.S. eagle emblem that goes on the caskets that U.S. servicemen are buried in.  The instarsia pieces are CNC laser cut from dyed veneer and then assembled on a paper adhesive backing.  The casket company does the actual fabrication and finishing. The casket itself is a natural color oak veneer.  Unfortunately, this is a fairly brisk business these days.

    

    

    

1. 
   Griff | Dec 24, 2005 04:21pm | #12

   Try http://www.trappistcaskets.com/ if you don't have a problem with the religious background. Trappist monks making plain caskets and offering them at retail. Most expensive model using walnut is less than $2000. They also offer a simple pine box if you wish it.

   Sounds about right for me. Since even an embalmed body doesn't last any appreciable length of time, what's the sense of burying it in a box that will last 50 years longer?

   And, no discounts for walk- ins. They have a pre-order department.

    Griff

1. 
   KnotNow | Dec 24, 2005 04:39pm | #13

   Do caskets have a lifetime warranty?

1. 
   Griff | Dec 25, 2005 03:50am | #14

   Sure do! They guarantee that they'll never be opened from the inside. Forever.Griff

4. 
   creekwood | Dec 22, 2005 04:48am | #4

   I hear they give 20% off for walk-ins.

   I'm waiting for at least half-off.

1. 
   WillGeorge | Dec 22, 2005 04:51pm | #5

   OH DANG!.. I loved that one!

1. 
   jeffwoodwork | Dec 22, 2005 08:17pm | #6

   Wow what a waste of beautiful hardwoods just to bury it or burn it.  Give me an old cardboard box one that the new washer came in for my wife she just bought with the insurance money then lite a match.

1. 
   joinerswork | Dec 22, 2005 09:50pm | #7

   jeff,

   Yeah, it's a shame to cut down those big old trees, just to make coffins, and put them in the ground to rot.  Better to leave them in the forest so they can mature, fall over and ro...wait a minute... ;-)

   Cheers,

   Ray Pine

1. 
   cleanwater | Dec 22, 2005 11:32pm | #8

   As luck would have it, I was offered a job at York Casket Company a few years back (at their York, PA facility) and got to spend a good deal of time on the shop floor watching them work.

   As of that time (and probably still is), everything was solid hardwood and was hand-crafted.  They made (most of) their own moldings and carvings in house too.  They have a kiln on premises that would blow most people's mind at how much it holds--their wood warehouse is none too shabby either. 

   It is a pretty neat operation.  Even they employees have a good sense of humor about their products--they described it to me as single use furniture.

   I regularly contemplate the scraps and off cuts I could get my hands on if I had been only been smart enough to have taken that job.  Oh well, at least I know what kind of coffin I want now.

   Family Man

2. 
   jeffwoodwork | Dec 23, 2005 01:23am | #9

   Well with some luck people will be digging up those old graves 50 years from now and making some nice furniture.

   I've heard the jobs at York aren't bad and pay is good but you don't want to get on the graveyard shift because it's a real deadend position!)

3. 
   creekwood | Dec 23, 2005 02:44am | #10

   Stop it, you're killin' me!

   Wonder if they've ever had any deadbeats working for them?

5. 
   tangomike | Dec 24, 2005 08:00am | #11

   With the aging population and relatively high degree of wealth being carried forward, casket manufacturing is going to continue to be a pretty brisk business. Right now the market is $3b a year in the U.S. alone and with the antitrust lawsuit filed against the big funeral homes and casket manufacturers early this year I would think there may be some opportunity here? BTW, I already checked and http://www.caskets.com is taken...

   Just thinking out loud.