Quality Caskets to Honor Your Loved One
Quality Caskets to Honor Your Loved One
Most families select caskets for their beauty and finish. But there are a lot of little things about high-quality caskets that most people never notice--and that frankly aren't meant to stand out.
Details in design, construction, and finish are meant to enhance the display of the casket in an attractive and dignified manner and to keep the tasks involved in handling, closing, and transport to a smooth minimum. These are details that all good caskets share.
Metal Caskets
There are many different types of metal caskets, and each type has its unique features and advantages.
Bronze, copper, and stainless steel are considered semi-precious metals. Steel caskets are categorized based on the thickness of the material used (e.g., 16-gauge steel, 18-gauge steel, and 20-gauge steel.)
Hardwood Caskets
The oldest material known to man makes it a natural and environmentally sound choice when selecting a casket. Hardwood is also strong, beautiful, and shock-resistant. And just as no two pieces of hardwood are exactly the same, each Aurora casket handcrafted of hardwood has its own, warming identity. Choosing a hardwood casket also leaves a legacy for the next generation because wood is a renewable resource.
The most popular species of hardwood caskets are:
Cherry
Mahogany
Walnut
Oak
Ash
Elm
Maple
Poplar
Cottonwood
Professional woodworkers, skilled in the art of cabinetry, follow many steps to ensure that the quality of the final product is comparable to that of the finest furniture. These craftsmen apply a wide variety of exterior finishes that accent the graining pattern that is unique to each species of wood.
Mahogany Caskets from Aurora Casket
Mahogany is a moderately heavy and moderately hard wood, and is considered a valuable wood.
Mahogany is resistant to termites and rot. It can easily be worked with either power tools or hand tools.
It's used in the manufacture of caskets, as well as in furniture, interiors, cabinetry, and as a decorative veneer.
Mahogany's heartwood varies from light to dark reddish-brown to deep red. The grain is straight (sometimes interlocked) and the wood has a moderately coarse texture. It's highly figured when it's sliced into a wood veneer.
Mahogany is a tropical hardwood, and doesn't grow in the US; it's native to the rain forests in South America and Africa. Due to heavy harvesting, the use of mahogany is more limited than it once was, and the wood is not often used in construction anymore, as it frequently was in the past.
Bronze Caskets from Aurora Casket
Bronze, a semi-precious material and an alloy of copper and either zinc or tin, is the strongest and longest-lasting of any casket construction material.
It's so strong and precious that even historians have recognized its highly prized properties by naming an era The Bronze Age (3500-1000 BC) after this alloy.
Bronze is resistant to corrosive elements, an important consideration in selecting a casket. Aurora's bronze caskets are available with a hand-applied natural, brushed finish. Bronze makes an elegant, exquisite remembrance.
Copper Caskets from Aurora
Copper is considered a precious metal and evidence of its longevity rests in the original copper roof and pipes existing in the world's great architectural gems.
Copper also has excellent resistance to corrosion.
Copper is one-third stronger than stainless steel and available in 32-ounce weight.
Aurora Casket copper casket finishes are natural, brushed, or painted; finishes are applied by skilled artisans. This natural and precious metal help families memorialize a remarkable life.
Cherry Caskets from Aurora
Cherry is a light, strong hardwood used to manufacture many types of products, including furniture, interiors, cabinetry, and as a decorative veneer.
Cherry heartwood ranges from from a deep, rich red to reddish brown, and will darken both with age and with exposure to natural light.
The sapwood of the cherry tree is a creamy white color, with a fine, uniform, straight grain and a satiny-smooth texture. It may also naturally contain brown flecks and small gum pockets.
Stainless steel Caskets from Aurora casket
Stainless steel is an alloy of carbon steel containing ten percent or more chromium.
Nickel and other chemical elements are also used in the formulation of various types of stainless steel.
Although we have no conclusive data on the life of stainless steel in specific burial conditions, the results of an independent laboratory test are quite revealing.
In a 95 degree Fahrenheit salt water solution, stainless steel (type 409) was found to be approximately 8.3 times longer lasting than 16-gauge carbon steel. In the same test, stainless steel was 67% as long lasting as copper.
Copper is, of course, not subject to the chemical reaction of water and iron, which with salt acting as a catalyst, forms rust.
The question of magnetic properties has been an issue that has been quite misrepresented. Of the four structural types of stainless steel, only the Austenitic type is non-magnetic. This is due to the nickel content of the alloy.
It's seldom a factor in determining which alloy is used for a particular product or application. It's accurate to say that the magnetic properties of a stainless alloy have no effect on the durability of a burial casket under normal burial conditions.
It's important to note that a type of stainless alloy contains the combination of ingredients which makes it best suited for its final use. For example, the 409 (Ferritic) stainless steel alloy is often used for casket manufacturing because it's known for its properties in resisting atmospheric oxidation and high durability in outdoor use.
Aurora Casket Company pioneered the use of stainless steel in casket manufacturing in 1966, and has been the main source of development and production of the stainless steel casket since. The company has used many varieties of stainless steel alloys since then, and as new varieties are developed, they have continued to experiment and innovate.
Although the subject is complex, it's clear there are many considerations in determining which type of stainless steel is best for a given end use. Aurora has chosen type 409 on the advice of its supplier, Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation--one of the nation's largest.
Aurora Casket applies a brushed finish to its stainless steel caskets. Skilled painters apply each coat by hand, then re-heat the top coat, letting it harden into a smooth-as-glass finish.
Oak Caskets from Aurora Caskets
Oak is highly resistant to water and other liquids, and is often used in shipbuilding.
It's a heavy, hard, strong wood with a coarse texture and a straight grain. The heartwood ranges from a rich, light brown to dark brown.
Oak is used not only to manufacture caskets, but also in flooring, furniture, kitchen cabinets, architectural millwork and construction, paneling, and in barrel staves.
Poplar Caskets from Aurora Casket
Excellent strength and stability make poplar a sound choice for caskets.
Poplar's color ranges from creamy white in the sapwood to pale yellow-brown or olive green for the heartwood.
The heartwood tends to darken when exposed to light, eventually turning a rich brown.
Poplar has a medium-to-fine texture and a straight grain, as well as a mostly uniform texture.In addition to being used as a casket material, poplar is also commonly used in furniture manufacturing, cabinetry, interiors, and as a decorative veneer.
Steel Caskets from Aurora Casket
The long-lasting nature of metal combined with its affordability and performance make steel caskets one of the most popular selections.
The range of colors from respectful blues, browns, blacks, and grays to peaceful pastels in purples, pinks, and blues makes each selection unique.
Two major classifications of Aurora Casket Company's steel casket product line are 18-gauge steel and 20-gauge steel
