Templates

• 1). Tape the two sheets of shelf paper together. Tape the long edge from one to the long edge of the other. Turn the paper upside down so the tape will not interfere with your drawing. This will be used as your template to be able to double check exact measurements.
  
  
• 2). Draw a "T" on the paper, with the horizontal line 75 1/2 inches long and the vertical side 34 inches long. Draw this vertical cross-section 17 inches from the left of the beginning of the longer line, thus creating your "T."
  
  
• 3). Draw perpendicular lines at the ends of the long line. On the left edge (the top of the coffin) will be 24 inches in total, bisected at the direct center by the long line. The other end will be 17 inches in total bisected in the direct middle as well.
  
  
• 4). Connect the dots. You will connect the top end of the left vertical line to the top end of the next vertical line and then connect that end to the top of the last vertical line. Repeat these steps for the bottom of the lines. It should now look like a coffin with a cross inside of it.
  
  
• 5). Check your measurements. Double check each measurement you've drawn so far. The line between the left and middle vertical lines should be 18 inches long and the line between the middle and right vertical lines should be 59 inches long.
  
  
• 6). Tape together the remaining two pieces of shelf paper and create another template exactly the same way but with different measurements. The left vertical line will be 22 1/2 inches, the middle vertical line will be 32 1/2 inches, the right vertical line will be 15 1/2 inches. The long horizontal line will be 74 inches and the middle vertical line will bisect it at 16 1/4 inches from the left vertical line.
  
  

Construction

• 1). Tape one template onto a 4- by 8-foot piece of plywood and cut it out using a circular saw. Follow the lines carefully to cut the shape out exactly.
  
  
• 2). Repeat the previous step but with the other template. You will now have your top and bottom sides of the coffin; the smaller is the bottom.
  
  
• 3). Cut the final 4- by 8-foot piece of plywood into four separate 12-inch by 8-foot pieces. Cut two of them at 59 inches for the long sides, two of them at 18 inches for the short sides, one of them at 24 inches for the top and finally 17 inches for the bottom.
  
  
• 4). Screw each side of the coffin according to where they fit. You will be screwing through the side of the sides and into the edge of the bottom side. Do this with each side and you will have an open-top coffin.
  
  
• 5). Screw the piano hinge on either the left or the right hand side of the coffin's side edges. Now screw it to the top. The coffin lid should now be able to open and close.