I live in a small flat and I needed a place to store my girlfriends ever growing collection of clothes and fabric. The only space left in the flat was at the end of the bed and behind the front door. All the ready made storage chests were a bit to deep and not long enough for this space so I decided to build my own. I wanted to make it quickly, easily and cheaply so I decided to make it from the cheapest wood available. I've often seen gloss painted rough cut timber used in shop interiors and I think it looks great, gives everything a more rustic vibe.
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I have chosen the materials almost entirely based on cost. All the wood for this build cost only £26.00. I designed the whole thing based on my chosen materials.
I am using:
-10 pieces of Rough Sawn timber 2.4m x 100mm x 19mm
-4 flush hinges
-32mm screws
-15mm screws
-Chest handles and a locking hasp from eBay
-Some coasters left over from an Ikea thing
In total the materials cost less than £35
p.s. be a bit careful when picking your timber because sometimes the treated stuff can still be a bit damp.
I am using:
-10 pieces of Rough Sawn timber 2.4m x 100mm x 19mm
-4 flush hinges
-32mm screws
-15mm screws
-Chest handles and a locking hasp from eBay
-Some coasters left over from an Ikea thing
In total the materials cost less than £35
p.s. be a bit careful when picking your timber because sometimes the treated stuff can still be a bit damp.
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Great Job! Congratulations!!
I am from India and this is my first post.
I had done similar *thing* a couple of years ago. It was 1ft in height and 2x5 sq ft in area. For whoever wants to do similar design here is my 2 cent/ penny/ paisa worth of experience after those 2 years.
a) I used my *thing* to tuck away the huge suitcase and its smaller version that are used in international air travel. I of course filled the suitcases with all important files/ docs, and remaining portion with whatever I wanted to be out of my sight! Overall the weight became too much and after a few days one of the wheels broke in half and the Aluminium holder made deep scratches on the floor when I had to pull it out anyhow.
Learning: Use over-sized wheels, you don't know what you might end up trashing in to the *thing*!
b) I used the same uni-directional wheels with the idea that anyway I have to move it in-out under the bed, right? Well, eventually when I wanted to move the bed, I had to completely empty the *thing* and then haul it in the next room. Learning: Use wheels that can move in 360 degrees (sorry, I don't know the word for such wheels) then you can just trolley it within your house if the need be.
Thanks for your patience
whatever I made does not have drawers or even a lid (I had planned to make a sliding one) so by the book I can not call it a chest. At best *thing* = sliding, horizontal, book-shelf with one large and one small compartment!
Also....
the wheels I am talking about seem to be called "swivel caster"!
It's lovely to hear about your project, it's a shame about the few hick ups you had whilst using it but it sounds like you sorted them all out. It's very satisfying making something really practical that you can use every day. I found that using non swiveling casters was a better option for me as it prevents the chest from being accidently pushed away from the bed (if I accidently kick it in the night or something). Are you still using your "thing"? Do you have any photos?
I do about a couple of projects a year. I would love to work with wood but I have no talent in recognizing the type (Mango Vs Teak, for example!) and no idea about processed wood or polishing it (although I luv the look of a polished grain-structure in the wood. Here we do not have an equivalent of "Home Depot" so one without basic knowledge is sure to get ripped off by the *seasoned* timber merchants!
What we get in branded products is plywood and so I use it. Plywood has its own demands like covering with laminates (sunmica - is it a brand name or common name? bit like photocopy and Xerox) and edges with lipping strip. Since I have the looks of polished wood in my mind, I never quite get myself to put money and efforts on decorating/ protecting the ply - which is not much compared to completing the piece but its a mental thing.
Short point is the *thing* is very much functional and I am using it but I did not bother to put sunmica / lipping on it. May be this year I will do 1 project and in lieu of other do sun-mica/ lipping work on the rest. Will post photos too.
Thank you for your interest.
I would imagine the termite problem is not too big an issue on the south coast.
I checked out your photo site there is some good stuff there, Im on flickr 'hogthrobb'
As for Termites I don't even know if we get them in England? We get wood worm... is that the same thing? I liked the Flickr page by the way. It'd be nice if it was organised into some sets though. Sometimes that really helps things flow nicely.
Keep it up though!
Cheers though
Funnily enough I was thinking the same thing about Pallets earlier on. I saw a massive abandoned one lying in the street. I think it even used the same size timber!