Garden chest
Published at Nov. 11, 2020
Sometimes it's nice to get up from the computer and do something with your hands. I noticed our old garden chest was falling apart, and since I had some timber and hinges laying around, I decided it would be nice to build a wooden chest.
A little word of warning: I'm not a professional and I have not much tools, so prepare yourself for some weird working methods and building solutions. During the recent years I have only built a sandbox for my children.
I used Blender to design the chest. Here I'm trying to fit the hinges to my plan.
The hinges were also too thick, so I used a hammer and a vise to force them to better shape.
Here I'm working with the base. Since the sandbox ended up being a little crooked from here and there, I decided to use some clamps and cargo straps before I put any screws in place.
I was very happy with the result.
Then the walls...
Here are some vertical decoration boards that hide the screws and other crap.
Like I said, I didn't had good tools, so cutting the slot for the hinges was PITA. But finally I managed to get it done. For the second slot I bought a chisel.
The hinge fits otherwise nice, but the screw holes will be very close to the edge. Well, let's hope for the best, because I cannot figure any better way of fitting it here.
The top.
I realize I cannot screw the last piece of the top because those inner vertical boards block the screw holes. But luckily I have these clamps helping me.
It's starting to look ready.
I bought some chains to limit the opening angle.
I added some dark brown wood oil for protection and for giving it a nicer look. The autumn was too humid for the oil to dry, so I ended up drying it in our bathroom. I also added the second layer there.
Ready! It's a little bit too big for this place... And the door hits it... And its lid hits the fence... 😬 But I'm still satisfied with the result. It was a fun project and I learned lots of new things.
Later I added a small (and ugly) rubber bumper to the lid so it doesn't leave marks to the door.
