# $25 Full-Size Toe-Pincher Coffin



## ScareFX

I just posted a quick project description for one of our new coffins. 
http://www.scarefx.com/project_coffin.html


----------



## Spookkid

Wow. Great idea!


----------



## Vlad

Good job ScareFX! Keep them coming.


----------



## mrklaw

nice little tutorial. I'm going to have to build one.


----------



## Wildomar

ScareFX, you did a really great job on that, not to mention the nice write up. I started building a half toe pincher using some wood I found on the freeway, but I still probably spent as much as you just to complete the project. Using the fence bords is brilliant. Wish I had thought of that before hand.  If I ever build another or a full size, I will probably use the fence boards instead of hunting the freeways of California for "free" wood. On the flip side, my toe pincher has some really great radial tire marks on it and yours doesn't.


----------



## ScareFX

Wildomar said:


> ...On the flip side, my toe pincher has some really great radial tire marks on it and yours doesn't.


LOL  Fair enough Wildomar. I'll try that aging technique next time.  Thanks!


----------



## Front Yard Fright

that looks really nice scarefx! i wish i would have seen this earlier so i could have made one for this year! ahh well, i'll just have to add it to my to-do list for next halloween!


----------



## Smelly-Skelly

frontyardfright said:


> that looks really nice scarefx! i wish i would have seen this earlier so i could have made one for this year! ahh well, i'll just have to add it to my to-do list for next halloween!


Me too! I just started my coffin but sing 1x3 furring from Home Depot. If I figured everything correct I should be able to make a 6ft x 25" toe pincher for under $39 (24 -1x4 at $1.59 each).

I checked our local HD today for fence board prices and they are $1.99 each. Where did you get yours and are they a full 3/4" think? Also are they cedar or pine (I know the tutorial says pine, but I have only seen cedar before)?


----------



## ScareFX

Smelly-Skelly,

Here at the Home Depot in Virginia the pine pickets are 99 cents right now. The cedar pickets are $3.49. The pine is 1"x6"x72" nominal. I guess lumber rates vary significantly across the county.


----------



## HibLaGrande

Thanks for the how-to, I was looking for a better coffin and I think this will do just fine.

Thanks again.


----------



## Smelly-Skelly

ScareFX said:


> Smelly-Skelly,
> 
> Here at the Home Depot in Virginia the pine pickets are 99 cents right now. The cedar pickets are $3.49. The pine is 1"x6"x72" nominal. I guess lumber rates vary significantly across the county.


Wow, we are getting the short end of the stick or in this case, picket! And here I thought I was doing good making the toe pincher for under $40. Oh well! Maybe I can sell it to my neighbor for $50 and have some beer money!


----------



## ScareFX

HibLaGrande said:


> Thanks for the how-to, I was looking for a better coffin and I think this will do just fine.
> 
> Thanks again.


You're welcome Hib. Glad you can use it. BTW Happy Birthday again.


----------



## ScareFX

Smelly-Skelly said:


> Wow, we are getting the short end of the stick or in this case, picket! And here I thought I was doing good making the toe pincher for under $40. Oh well! Maybe I can sell it to my neighbor for $50 and have some beer money!


It's probably just transportation costs. We have plenty of pine tree farms here in the southeast. But we don't have the cedar around here so those boards cost us plenty.


----------



## zeenon

Woody,

For the life of me I can not find 1"x6" like the ones you have. HD and Lowes sells pressure treated 1x6 for $5 and pine 1x6 for about $4. I'm in New Jersey and called about 3 lumber stores and 2 fence places and nobody sells this stuff. Of course for $47 I can buy an 8' section of fence and get the wood that way  Do you have a SKU number on the fence pickets maybe I can special order them from HD? Any NJ people seen this stuff around?

Z


----------



## ScareFX

zeenon said:


> Woody,
> 
> For the life of me I can not find 1"x6" like the ones you have. HD and Lowes sells pressure treated 1x6 for $5 and pine 1x6 for about $4. I'm in New Jersey and called about 3 lumber stores and 2 fence places and nobody sells this stuff. Of course for $47 I can buy an 8' section of fence and get the wood that way  Do you have a SKU number on the fence pickets maybe I can special order them from HD? Any NJ people seen this stuff around?
> 
> Z


Hey zeenon,

Here's a screen cap of the product with the sku from our local HD. The price now is up to $1.59... but way less than $4 or $5. Hope that helps in your search.
http://64.226.23.133/woodycarr/images/fence.gif


----------



## slimy

Didn't post on this thread, but will. Hope you get the right wood, cause this has been my favorite project this year. Built three of them over two nights. They look awesome and are easy to build. It's ONLY friday. You could build one before tuesday. 



hee hee hee hee.


----------



## Fangs

WoW!!! Those look cool!!! Unfortunately for me, it may just have to wait till next year..  Thanks for the link, I've added it to my faves along with next years list! LOL


----------



## MarrocBoneMage

Thanks...gotta add that to my "To Build" list...man is it getting long....lol


----------



## Lilly

Great how to thanks..
coffin looks mighty fine I say!!!


----------



## Riff_JunkieSFR

Just built one of these for my first yard haunt. Great walkthrough, the coffin was easy to build and the fence boards were a fantastic idea. Cheap and easy, you can't get any better than that.


----------



## Spooks-Magee

Thanks for this. I can do this for free by waiting for my neighbors to go to work and pulling down their fence  but then I would have to break into their garage and use their tools too.


----------



## imthegoddess

This was my very first homemade prop. My boards were a bit different in size, so I had to adjust the plans on the fly.


----------



## kevin242

awesome!


----------



## SkullyBones

Very cool. When I start building Toe Pincher's, this will be the guide that I use. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Offwhiteknight

This is a good one...simple, clear, inexpensive. The first two, good for me. The third, good for my wife who gets to say how much gets spent...


----------



## abaron13

I just bought the materials for this! thanks!


----------



## tupes

Really awesome. Thanks for posting this.


----------



## Buzz

Sweet. Years ago I built the one out a single sheet of plywood. But now I'm green with envy. Love the look of these. We'll building one this Sunday!


----------



## spookyman

I went one step further, when I was finised building this, I went over it with a propane torch and browned it up so it shows the grain a much darker, after that i put 2 coats of clear polyurithane on it. it turned out awesome!


----------



## scarypapa

Scare FX...I buit your toe pincher coffin a couple of years ago. I has been a great prop. I added a windshield wiper motor to animate it and put skeleton hands and arms inside the coffin pushing up on the lid. It is a great effect and very inexpensive to build.


----------



## Kraken

I built this last year and have used it twice. I put one of those "weasel balls" that is battery operated in it. It makes just enough noise that almost everyone is scared by it, but the coffin/lid make no movement....power of imagination....

Heavy thing though....


----------



## tortured_serenity

I am wanting to get some pallets for free and try to make coffins with these.


----------



## [email protected]

I made mine with pallets. Looks great, but is on the small side. That suits my tiny front lawn just fine.


----------



## medicf43

This is going to be my first prop that i build. I love your website keep the how to coming


----------



## UsedCoffins

I did this exact project 3 years ago and it works great. When I bought the pickets at Lowes, the guy helping me pick them off the pile thought it was curious that I didn't mind getting the ones that aren't perfect. A little mold and discoloration makes it all the better. The first year, I stored it outside and there was some warping of the boards so the lid didn't quite fit the next year. I cut off the end of the one that was curved inward and holding the lid up and used that spot for a skeleton hand to stick out. 
Mine has a wiper motor in it with push rod to bump the lid up and down for motion. The lid can get heavy if it gets rained on, and the motor burned out this year from the effort. I'm going to add some springs to help with the weight next year.


----------



## Lamborgman

Looks great. I actually got a whole bunch of fence boards for free as a neighbor had just replaced 70 feet of fence, all 6 footers being 45 year old redwood just had to trim off a few inches on the bottom where dry rot had gotten in. The dump is another great place to get building supplies cheap or for free a lot of wood is recycled.


----------



## jmarkc

Used these plans to build one this year. Turned out great! In fact, my wife wants me to build another one!

Though it could double as a great prop storage container in the offseason, I decided to add hinges to all the side panels so I could dismantle it and store it flat. The hinges I bought are 2 1/2" long and have a removable pin, much like those used on doors. If you're considering building one and don't have much storage space, you may want to try the hinges.

Thanks Scare FX!


----------



## ilikebike

Thanks for the great idea! I was able to head to Lowes this weekend and they had a pile of culled fence boards that looked real ratty, perfect for what I was doing. Best part was I was able to pick up 15 pieces for $10! Whole setup only cost me about $15 and it looks great.

We're thinking of piping in some fog from the top and maybe put in a spooky blue or red light.


----------



## Spoonhead

From the looks of yours I'd say the culled boards are the way to go because it looks great! We build one of these last year and plan to this year as well. Great job!


----------



## bnbowman78

I just finished one I made from reclaimed pallets and it cost way more than this. Guess I'm making another. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## bnbowman78

UsedCoffins said:


> I did this exact project 3 years ago and it works great. When I bought the pickets at Lowes, the guy helping me pick them off the pile thought it was curious that I didn't mind getting the ones that aren't perfect. A little mold and discoloration makes it all the better. The first year, I stored it outside and there was some warping of the boards so the lid didn't quite fit the next year. I cut off the end of the one that was curved inward and holding the lid up and used that spot for a skeleton hand to stick out.
> Mine has a wiper motor in it with push rod to bump the lid up and down for motion. The lid can get heavy if it gets rained on, and the motor burned out this year from the effort. I'm going to add some springs to help with the weight next year.


 Do you have a diagram for the push rod - I finished my coffin but I can't figure out the rod mechanism. Did you end up using springs?


----------



## Pedagog

Thanks for this great tutorial.


----------

