Heirloom caskets and urns
I build caskets and urns to order, by hand, in my Baltimore shop. Pine and reclaimed hardwood, mostly for people who would rather choose this themselves than leave it to someone else on the worst week of their life.
The timing, said plainly
There is one thing worth being straight about before anything else, because it decides whether I can help you at all.
A burial usually happens within a week. Building a casket by hand takes longer than that.So if you have lost someone this week, I am probably not the right person to call, and I would rather say so now than take an order I cannot finish in time.Your funeral director can help you today, and that is the right call to make.
What I build is the one you plan ahead of time. There is no clock on it, you choose the wood, and you get to have an opinion about something that is otherwise chosen for you in a hurry. Plenty of people keep theirs at home until it is needed. It is a wooden box: a good one sits in a garage or a loft, and some people use theirs as a blanket chest in the meantime.
What I build
A plain pine box, done properly. Reclaimed hardwood if you want something with more history in it. Urns, which are the same work at a smaller scale. All wood, joined and finished so it holds together and does its job.
Every one is made to order. I do not keep finished stock on a shelf, which is the same reason the timing above matters.
Green and natural burial
If you are planning a green or natural burial, the requirement is usually straightforward: all wood, nothing that will not break down, no metal fittings. That is how I build anyway, so nothing has to be adapted. Maryland has natural burial grounds and the number of them is growing.
From your own tree
If there is a tree on your property that means something to you, it can become the casket. I mill my own lumber, so this is work I actually do rather than a nice idea.
The honest catch is drying. Wood from a tree felled today is not ready to build with for a long while, so this only works if we start early. That is the whole argument for planning ahead, in one sentence.
Questions people actually ask
- Can I buy a casket before I need one?
- Yes, and most of what I build is exactly that. There is nothing unusual about it. People arrange it the way they arrange a will, and it means the choice gets made calmly by the person it belongs to.
- Will a funeral home accept a casket I did not buy from them?
- Yes. Under the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule, a funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought somewhere else, and cannot charge you a fee for doing so. They also cannot require you to be there when it is delivered.
- What does one cost?
- It depends on the wood, the size and the detail, so I quote each piece rather than post a number that would not mean anything. Tell me what you have in mind and you get a real figure.
- What wood do you use?
- Pine for a traditional plain box. Reclaimed hardwood when you want something with some history in it. If you have your own timber, that works too.
- How long does it take?
- Weeks rather than days for a build from wood I already have dried, and longer if we are starting from a standing tree. Once I know the piece and the wood you get a real date, not a guess.
- How long does a wooden casket last?
- A wooden casket is built to break down, and for a green burial that is the point rather than a flaw. How long depends on the wood and on the ground it is in. If you want something built to resist that, I am not the right maker for it.
Start the conversation
There is no rush and no obligation. Tell me what you are thinking about and I will tell you honestly whether I am the right person to build it.
Start a commission(443) 534-7457tyler@oakleafcustomwoodworking.com