2nd casket for the same person???

[Robert Alexander]

I just finished building another casket for the same deceased person. Probably my only repeat customer.
So a story is in order.

This was told to me by the funeral home, who ordered another casket on Monday afternoon. When the first casket was put in the ground at the cemetery there was some problem with the ropes, so the worker (who I am assuming no longer works at this cemetery) jumps from the height of 3 feet onto the top of the casket and breaks the casket lid. This was done in front of 150 to 200 horrified people. People had come from across the country and some from around the world to pay their last respects to the deceased. Had the worker just slid into the hole and put his feet on the sides of the casket instead there would have not been a problem. I tried to do some calculations of the forces created from that distance and came up with around 400 to 600 foot pounds of force on the casket lid.

[Charlie_L]

Robert,
You do great work. It looks great. I would really like to be prepared and have one of these around for the day it is needed. Good project.

[Claude]

I love your casket!!!

[T.R.MacMunn]

Wow , Robert, that must have been horrible for the people there paying their last respects.

Awesome work, as usual.

[Bruce Page]

You do beautiful work although that's now how you want to get repeat business.
I wouldn’t want to be in the workers boots but my dark side has to chuckle a little bit at the situation.

[Robert Alexander]

Possible business venture

Thanks for the compliments everyone. Just as a side note, casket making is a recession proof business. My customer base has been growing, so much that I have been referring customers to others who make caskets from around the country. If any of you Camheads are looking to market products in your state. I would ask that you consider making custom caskets using the wood grown in your area of the country. At this point I can make 8 caskets from 4 pcs of 3/4" cdx ply for the bases and 5 pcs of 3/4" veneer ply for the sides and 14 to 16 2by 4's or 1 by 6's. The lids are the hard part. They are made from selected blue pine, and I put them on a jig and have a program that profiles the lid in about 40 minutes. I can make 2 caskets a week (among the other business items I do) or 3 if I need to. Word of mouth has been my only advertizing and it keeps growing. My total cost for casket materials is under $97.00 per casket. And I sell them for $900 to $2100 depending on complexity of the casket design.

[Impact Image]

Man, I'd die to see your work in person.