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Wood Casket Materials
Poplar – a smooth, white softwood with very fine grain, grown in the dense eastern forests.
Pine – a common, versatile tree from rich U.S. forests, a natural soft wood with a rich varied grain.
Ash – a light colored hardwood with a straight, open grain, so well known for its strength and light weight that it's also used for major league baseball bats. Grown mainly in North America.
Oak – a heavy, strong hardwood with one of the most recognizable grains, grown throughout the U.S.
Maple – a white, tight-grained wood that can be stained in a wide range of colors; increasingly costly in the U.S.
Cherry – a rich, heavy fruit wood. Cherry features a rich, dense grain and a distinctive amber color.
Mahogany – an exotic wood, grown in the dense, wet forests of Africa, Central America and the Pacific. Exceptionally heavy and beautiful, it requires a long, labor-intensive hand finishing process to bring out its distinctive red color.
Walnut – One of the richest and most beautiful woods. U.S. Walnut is exported for fine furniture all over the world. The deep, rich grain gives a distinctive beauty to caskets.
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Wood Caskets. Our wood caskets offer families a broad selection, from appealing, affordable veneers all the way to the natural warmth and beauty of the finest hardwood. Understanding the choices available begins with an understanding of these important casket features:
Finishes. The exterior finish both protects and beautifies a wooden casket. Some of our caskets feature elegant, understated satin finishes, while our most luxurious models feature a gleaming, hand-polished finish designed to emphasize the extraordinary beauty of the wood.
Interiors. The fabrics used in the interior of our wood caskets are another important part of their overall value. Basic models use lighter twills and crepes, while more luxurious models feature rich velvets for extra beauty and elegance.
Materials. Our selection of wood caskets uses woods from around the world, carefully chosen for their beauty and durability. From poplar, grown in the U.S. forests, to the exotic beauty of mahogany, each wood offers a distinctive look. A description of wood materials used in our caskets can be seen to the right.
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Metal Casket Materials
Standard Steel – Strong and durable steel is used to build everything from automobiles to skyscrapers. Our steel caskets offer simple, solid value and are offered in three weights; lightweight, or 20 gauge, Middleweight or, 18 gauge, and Heavyweight or, 16 gauge.
Stainless Steel – Adding chromium and nickel to ordinary steel yields a metal with extraordinary properties. Stainless steel is used to protect valuable equipment in the harshest environments. This remarkable metal resists the elements with exceptional strength and durability.
Copper and Bronze – For sculpture, for monuments, whenever craftsman have wanted their work to defy the elements, they turned to copper and bronze. Our most enduring caskets are made from these metals.
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Metal Caskets. Our selection of metal caskets includes a wide range of styles and prices, to accommodate the needs of all the families we serve. The differences between them stem primarily from three important factors:
Finishes. The exterior finish on all of our caskets is applied by skilled craftsman who understand the special role that the casket will play in the remembrance of a loved one. Our simplest finishes are a single color of paint, carefully applied and oven dried. More artistic finishes include adding a second color for "shading" to highlight the casket's shape, deep, rich lacquers for a brilliant shine, or even machine "brushing" to highlight the natural, gleaming beauty of the metal itself.
Interiors. The fabric used in the interior of our caskets is another important part of its overall value. Simpler fabrics like twill and crepe offer an exceptional value, while heavier velvets offer a sense of extra beauty, elegance and luxury.
Metals. The raw material used to build a casket plays the most important role in its value. Choosing stronger, more corrosion-resistant metals increases both the cost and the ultimate value of a casket. Using stainless steel, copper or bronze yields a casket that offers superior resistance to the elements, along with timeless beauty.
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