What happens to coffin handles when a body is cremated?
Question:I know this might seem an odd question BUT when a body is sent for cremation, is there a little man behind the scenes frantically unscrewing the lovely brass handles to sell them on or whatever?
This is something that has baffled me for years as people ONLY collect the ashes and even though the furnace temperature is mega hot and could possibly melt the handles, surely there would be a clod of molten metal building up if the handles were left on each time.
Maybe the handles are recycled (taken off and resold to the next person)
Answers:
What happens about the handles and other coffin fittings?
Crematorium regulations require that all fittings shall be of combustible material and normally the handles and name plate are today made of hard plastic. Ferrous nails and screws do not burn and stay with the ashes until they are withdrawn from the cremator when they are subjected to a magnetic field which removes them.
They melt!
It gets prety dam hot in there.
They run a magnet over the ashes after to get rid of things made of metal & then crush the bones in a big drum!
They make lovely ear-rings
The Code requires that the coffin be placed in the cremator in exactly the same condition as that in which it was received at the crematorium. Crematorium regulations require that the coffin and all its fittings and furnishings be made from materials suitable for cremation. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 has placed a new responsibility on Cremation Authorities to ensure that the process is completed under controlled conditions which will minimise the impact on the environment. In these circumstances it will be necessary for any items included in the coffin for presentation or viewing purposes to be removed by the Funeral Director before the coffin is conveyed to the crematorium. It will not be possible for any floral tributes to be included with the coffin for cremation.
I've heard they don't even go in the box. They just burn them naked!! IT'S WHAT I HEARD!!
Cremation doesn't take place in a coffin. A Crematorium will use a card board box or simple wooden casket. No metal and no handles to deal with. Only ashes!
In the US, Where I happen to live, The ornate coffin we are familiar with is not put into the crematorium. If there is a viewing/visitation usually the coffin is borrowed.
In the UK it seems there is another option to "borrowing". There are occasions where the deceased or the family of the deceased have opted for using a cardboard coffin in which their loved one will be cremated. When this happens families sometimes want to have a more aesthetically pleasing coffin or container on the catafalque during the service. Families therefore will opt for either a pall (a cloth covering the cardboard coffin), or a 'cocoon coffin' (an outer shell that covers the cardboard coffin) or will decorate a cardboard coffin themselves. Neither the pall nor the cocoon is cremated. It is important to understand that the pall and cocoon do NOT contain the body of the deceased; they are simply superficial coverings for a cardboard coffin.
If you were to place a wooden coffin in a crematorium, the handles would go with and you'd get a big glob of molten what ever the material. It follows then that if a metal coffin were used, you'd get a really big glob.
The body alone takes up about the size of a shoe box.
Hope this helps
if they are brass they are romoved anything else is burnt
They are not real brass, just brass effect plastic and they just burn with all the rest of the coffin.
I'm sorry to say that I know the answer to this. My husband worked for a funeral director for a while. The handles are not brass (unless you are very very wealthy in which case it's usually a burial). they just look like brass and burn as easily as the coffins. What a morbid question!
It's OK all you people saying that the handles are not real brass, but what about people that have metal plates in their heads or metal pins in their arms. Apparently after cremation fragments of bone are crushed in a sort of pulveriser, before this takes place any large fragments of metal are removed (such as those from casket furniture and jewelry) These are then disposed off in a remote area of the cemetory. The bones are then crushed and any remaining metal 'chunks' are sieved out. Well I sure has fun researching this topic.
When a body is cremated it must be in a container. That container can be a casket (wood, metal etc) and will be incinerated when the body is cremated. A magnet removes any metal fragments. After the process is completed the skeleton is pulverized into very small pieces and returned to the funeral home or family. What you call 'ashes' are really pulverized bones.
Cremation takes place in a cardboard box.
yes the handles are removed before the cremation and reused
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