How to Build a Coffin

Posted on October 28th, 2009 by monsterguide

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

No Comments (Post Comment)

Republish

If you are looking for a great addition to your Halloween haunted house (or if you just want to freak people out when they come to visit), try this cheap and easy-to-build home made coffin!

Required Materials:

Cardboard or ¼ inch Plywood
Duct Tape
Black Paint
Cabinet Hinges

Required Tools

Screws
Screwdriver
Saw (if using plywood)
Wood Glue
L-Brackets
Hinges

Instructions

Most coffins are seven feet long by three feet wide. However, the best way to make sure your coffin is the right size, is to measure the space that you want to use (or the person you want to fit inside of it), and then also measure any of the props or pieces you want to be able to fit inside.This will tell you how big your coffin needs to be.

coffin

Get you cardboard or plywood, whichever you are using. Measure out the dimensions onto the building material of choice and then cut out the appropriate lengths. Assuming you want a coffin that is seven feet by three feet, you should end up with a base of that dimension (two, if you decide that your coffin needs to have a lid). The coffin sides should be seven feet long and up to three feet high, one and a half to two feet should suffice if you aren’t putting too much into the coffin. The short sides (the top and bottom), should be three feet long by however high your sides are.
Attach sides of the coffin to the coffin base. If you choose to use plywood, all you will need to attach the sides is duct tape-a lot of duct tape. If you choose to use plywood, you can use L-Brackets on the inside of the coffin or wood glue and screws to make sure the sides are secure. If you only want a temporary coffin, use the L-Brackets and then you can save the wood to use again later.
If you use L-Brackets, drill the L-brackets into the base and then screw them into the sides. You can also add an L-bracket in each corner to make the walls of the coffin more secure.
If your coffin has a lid, you can simply set it on top of the coffin. Decide on which side you want the coffin to “open.”
If your coffin is made of cardboard, secure the top to the side with a lot of sturdy duct tape. With plywood, you can use two regular cabinet hinges. These hinges should be attached on the inside of the coffin and should be screwed in.The hinges should have about three feet of space between them.
If using plywood, screw in a small scrap of wood to the bottom and the top of the coffin, at the edges. These small pieces of wood will support the weight of the lid. If you do not have these pieces of wood in place, the coffin lid might just fall into the coffin.
Paint the whole thing black, or you can weather the wood to give it a more realistic look.