Introduction: Pixel Trash Can

By My instagram account
About: My name is Britt Michelsen. I am a chemical engineer from Germany especially interested in computational fluid dynamics. To balance all the theoretical work, I like to make stuff in my free time

From the second I saw this paper pixel trash can I fell in love with it and I knew that I wanted to make a real life model.

I love working with wood, because I grew up on a lumber yard and now that I'm living in a city I really miss the smell of it. Piece by piece I am equipping my cellar room, so that I'm able to make what ever I like.

Step 1: Material and Tools


material
  • wood 1.5 cm thick (I've used plywood because it was easier for me to get)
  • paint (3 different types of gray)
  • wood filler (putty knife)
  • wood glue
  • primer
  • masking tape
  • screws (20 mm long)
tools
  • circular saw bench
  • scroll saw
  • belt sander
  • drill
  • ruler
  • paint brush
  • clamps
  • protection: working gloves, safety glasses, ear protection

Step 2: Sawing

You can of course build the trash can entirely out of wooden blocks, but I wouldn't suggest it, considering the work to cut them.

Make sure, that you now what you are doing and don't hurt yourself!

The first picture (higher resolution) shows the template of the pieces you will have to saw. I made them by cutting rectangles, marking the corners with a pencil and cutting them out with a scroll saw.

In order to saw the lid and bottom I drew a grid on the wood, as shown in the fifth picture.

Step 3: Filling and Priming

Now you will have to sand all the pieces. If you are working with plywood you should use a wood filler, to fill the holes.

Priming is important when you are working either with MDF or plywood, because the edges won't take a good and even coat of paint. In order to get a good result you should prime the wood more than once and sand in between the layers.

Step 4: Painting

In the pictures you can see how I've painted my trash can. Those are of course only suggestions, if you don't like them, just paint it however you would like it to look like. Don't make it to complicated though, because it takes some time to paint all the pieces.
Masking tape helps a lot in order to get nice straight lines.

Step 5: Assembling

Picture one shows the basics of the assembly for one side. The light blue areas mark the surfaces on which we apply glue.
I've assembled one side at a time and then glued all the sides together. To support the bond between the pieces I used screws and later covered the holes with wood filler. In the end add the bottom and if it's necessary support it with screws.

Congratulations, you are done!