Halloween Prop / DIY Plywood Coffin

This DIY Plywood Coffin project was created using only 1 sheet of 4 foot by 8 foot plywood with very little scrap left behind. This coffin comes with a lid and is 4 foot tall. It’s shorter than an average coffin, but it still looks great when added to your Halloween display.

If you follow our plans, all the pieces are glued together and attached with a brad nailer. The side angled portion of the coffin was supported by a piece of scrap wood on the inside.

Here is a list of tools that we used for this project.  As an Amazon Associate we earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Tools:

Circular Saw
Kreg Circular Saw Track
Hand Saw
Air Compressor 
Brad Nailer
Wood Glue from a Glu Bot
Irwin Squeeze Clamps

Materials:

1 4×8 sheet of 1/2 inch plywood (or you could use MDF or OSB)
Glue
1 inch brad nails
Black Spray Paint

Steps:

Step 1, we used the plans on from our Printable PDF to layout our cut lines on the full sheet of plywood.  We started by marking 2 foot increments on the board and cutting the plywood into 4 equal pieces that were 2 feet wide and 4 feet long.

Step 2 was to take 2 of these 2 foot by 4 foot pieces of plywood and stack them together so that they could be cut at the same time.  These pieces would be for the top and bottom of the coffin.  We wanted these pieces to be identical and we also saved some time by only cutting the angles 1 time.

Step 3, we cut out the 4 pieces for the sides (2 long, 2 short) and the pieces for the top and bottom (Head and Toe)

Step 4, we assembled all 7 pieces (bottom, 4 side pieces, head and toe) with glue and brad nails.  There was one piece that was just a little to long to fit into place so we used a hand saw to trim off about half inch.

Step 5, we used some of the scrap wood for side supports for the long and short sides of the coffin walls for added support since these sides could not be attached to each other.

Step 6 was to give the coffin a coat of spray paint.  If you use a light coating of black spray paint, it gives the wood a “burned” look.

Here is a copy of the project plans as a PDF:    Build a 4 foot coffin

DIY Plywood Coffin / Halloween Prop

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