Pics of my storage box and question about sheet metal lining

[wahoowad]

Attached should be pictures of a wood storage box I made for my living room. It uses #2 grade pine lumber for a rustic look (and because lumber has gotten freaking expensive). I need to putty the screw holes, sand it and paint or stain it. I would like to line the inside walls with some kind of sheet metal. I found a roll of roof flashing at Lowes for $15 that I think I can work with. The intent is to create a surface that will make it hard for some bugs to climb up and out of the box. Jut wondering if anybody has done this or thoughts on the idea in general.

I usually remove my bark when splitting so I don't expect to have too many bugs, but still imagine I'll be dragging in a few critters here and there.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Looks great! I would think the bugs can still climb sheetmetal, mabey of you lubed it up with silicone or something, and make a rubber seal where the lid and frame join. Thats a sweet looking wood box.

 

[Corie]

looks great! What kind of jointing did you do on it, or is it just screws and buttons?

Just wondering

Also, you might consider just sealing it tight with silicon and weatherstripping the stop to keep the bugs in. But that's just my idea

 

[Mike Wilson]

Oh man, I can see it now... its mid February... 11:15PM... snowing like crazy outside on a windy 5 degree night... I am warm in my living room, preparing to go to bed... when suddenly... I notice... that I have no more wood in the house!

I contemplate going outside into the cold for a few splits to see me through the night, when a thought runs through my mind...

I look over at my nice, new pine wood box...

and for a moment, I could swear I heard the box whimper. :bug:

-- Mike

 

[Curtis Koble]

That a nice box .We use a plastic Tupperware box with a lid. I'm sure my wife would like yours much better.
Mike that made me LOL :0

 

[wahoowad]

Corie - it is mostly glue and screws.

I can't even imagine 5 degrees. Here it is 2 days before February and we're having 65 degree weather all weekend.

 

[RedSleds]

Nice wood box! If it was mine, I would line it with hammered copper, just for looks. Don't think much will keep bugs from climbing up the walls. (Unless you can find some chlordane impregnated asbestos!) =O)

......yeah, hammered copper, that would make me feel all warm and fuzzy every time I got a piece of firewood out of the box.

 

[elkimmeg]

Nice looking job. What if you could foam weather strip it to seal the bugs in with the lid closed?
I doubt AL flashing will be smooth enough to pervent them from crawling out.

 

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I wouldn't line it, I would put a few clear poly coats on it and leave it at that. My FIL built me a wood box a few years ago and I love it. Nothing as fancy as yours. That is sweet looking! I carry wood in from the piles out back to the garage and then only bring in a day or two at a time to store in the box. I clean it out every so often. I haven't had a problem with bugs. If there is any questionable wood, I keep it outdoors and throw it in the fire immediately.

 

[wahoowad]

Finally finished the wood box tonight. Took a lot of time to sand, stain, coats of clear, etc. I did notline it, at least not yet. I still think a metal lining or strip all the way around would stop someof the bugs, butnot all. Regardless, I sealed all the corners and cracks with silicone so none will be slipping out that way. The lid has just a tiny bit of unevenness to it so bugs could slip out the top - very annoying given the time I took to assemble it as even as I could get it. It's pretty minor - I'm just being sensitive since I made it and know all the flaws. There are a few others but I'm trying to pretend they don't exist

 

[elkimmeg]

I know what you are dealing with. Material today will cup overnight and there is little you can do about it
I never understood why carpenters used a rafter or floor joist twisted or severly crowned. I understand
some develope that way after put in place, but not to reject a crappy piece and install it anyways????
Again good job. It took time and pride to build an elaborate box. Now if only, you can get that stove drafting
good and producing the heat and longer burns.

 

[Hokerer]

Nice box. In the second pic, I see there's a couple of splits in there. One thing I've found convenient with my box is to put the wood in it standing on end. That way you don't have to worry about "rotating the stock" like in a grocery store. That is, you'll never end up with those couple of pieces on the bottom that you just never quite get to because you reloaded right on top of them.

 

[wg_bent]

That's very nice. Very timely too, as only about 3 days ago I asked my wife what kind of "wood in the house" solution she'd like. Right now I just have a big black plastic tub to put wood in. I can get about 1/2 a day's worth of wood in it, and it still ends up sitting in front of the hearth..kinda in the way. I do like the idea of the metal lining though since that would just allow you to be a bit rougher on it. I had thought of building a box that would allow me to just drop a plastic tub (walmart storage types) into it. I could load the tub in the garage, then just place the tub in the decorative box in the living room. Your box gives me a few new ideas. What did you use for a stain? Looks like a milk stain. Is it?

I kinda like the black.

 

[Corey]

Good looking storage box. I, too, think the bugs will climb right up sheet metal...I suspect they would even climb right up teflon if given the chance! What you might try would be a "termite guard" which is basically a strip of metal around the top, inside of the box that is bent over so that it points back down. I have heard the theory that bugs won't try and climb back down to get around the flashing. Don't know if it is true, just passing along the info.

Corey

 

[wahoowad]

I have enough cherry and stained wood furniture in this room so I used "Minwax Water-Based Wood Stain" which essentially looks like watered down latex paint. It is actually a very dark blue, not black. My stove is black so I wanted something a little different, although they do offer a black called onyx. I blatantly stole this design from a picture I found online. All I had to do was figure out my dimensions and how to build it.

Turns out it is a bit too large now that I have it in my living room. I don't know why as I measured and eyeballed the resting spot and figured those dimensions would fit in there good. Oh well. I can always put it somewhere else in the house if i decide it really is too big. I thought of the turned down metal but figured I'd slit my own wrist on it day 1.

I put a couple coats of clear coat on it for scratch protection. My cats will be hopping up and down on it and those spaz cats sometimes try to run faster than their claws can find traction. I will be abusing the inside though - unceremoniously dumping wood into it. Good idea about standing it vertically but won't work now unless all pieces stay 16 or under.

It still cost $100 easy by the time you factor in wood, stain and sealant. Life is getting expensive. I'm going to build a far cheaper bin for storing additional wood on the porch. Plywood or even pallet planks will do just fine for that. In fact a rustic look is preferred. Probably put some fet on it to keep it off the ground an inch or two.

 

[Rhone]

I built an amoire to hold my wood, each compartment is seperate from the other and for doors it's 4 pieces of wood with screening. The back I drilled 1" holes throughout (you can't see the back) and covered the holes with screening also. I wanted to allow air to freely move through it, and honestly it lets so much air movement, filling it with wood is as if the wood is drying in the open. Each side holds about 2 of your storage boxes, or about 3 days worth of wood each side. We have a country theme house, and to hold the screen doors I got some outside black gate hinges. I'm surprised how good it all came out and fits in with our theme, but most importanlty happy how much better my fires are letting the wood sit inside and dry for 3 days before I burn it. I'm not a carpenter, my father is and tried to make it without his help. I made the entire thing out of 3/4" maple furniture grade plywood with 3/4" x 3" furniture grade maple trim pieces (basically the screen door frames and I wanted to cover the screws with it as well). Total cost of materials was I think about $180 and weighed around 375 lbs not loaded with wood and had to get my retired father (carpenter) to make the doors. I didn't know how to make a screen door, and knew the corners in particular needed to latch into each other to be strong to keep the doors from falling apart. Well beyond my capability, so I asked my father to build them. It was amazing watching my father "do his thing" and use a special wobbling blade that took out 1/2" swaths of the corners half way through the wood and use a router around the inside so the screen could be recessed but still leave room for staples. All my life I never paid attention to his work, and glad I stayed to watch him create a masterpiece. You can tell the doors are a little bit of a higher level than the rest since they were done by him but happy nonetheless. After my first furniture making experience, I see you really did an amazing job, and the level of detail you put into it. Why, you even put curved sides and put a Z reinforcement on the door.

I wanted to stop the bugs from coming out on each side or going from one side to the other. I got some rubber door weatherstripping. Same stuff I used around my attic door to air seal it. All winter we've had only 3 bugs find their way out and get into our house. I recommend you put that rubber weatherstripping (it sticks with tape, but you should really use small nails to hold it in place) around the top edge. It will also buffer the impact and noise if you accidentally let go of the cover and it slams shut.

 

[wahoowad]

Rhonemas, I would really like to see a pic of your storage thingie. Sounds awesome.

I loaded mine up last night and was surprised at how little it holds. Those splits take up space fast. If I was to do it again....I would make mine wider. The depth and height are somewhat governed by the dimensions of a functional sitting bench of which this is supposed to resemble. It's primary role is a wood storage bin but it is supposed to look like a sitting bench. And in fact you can stand on it or sit on it and it is ergonomically OK. Everything is always built to withstand the "stand on it" test since invariably someone will. I would also give serious consideration to sizing it to accept plastic storage bins as someone suggested earlier.

 

[Sundeep Arole]

Me too. I was trying to imagine how it looks like.
A bit of a silly question, but why the two compartments?

At work we get these wooden crates in which Dell ships us those big pc farms which mount on a rack. They are 3ft x 7ft crates, made out of plywood. Next time one of those comes in I think I an laying claim to it. Perhaps I could drill holes in the back, put some hinges on the door, and have something crude which will do the job for a while.

 

[Rhone]

Boy, it's going to be tough to explain why it's two compartments. Basically it lets me store wood in one side and let it dry while I draw from the other side. I don't wait until I'm done both sides before I restock it, I restock each side as it runs out then switch. Here's my routine. Both sides full, I pull from the right side for 3 days and run out. I restock the right side and both sides are full again. But, now I switch and start drawing from the left instead. Since I stocked up the right before switching, while I'm drawing from the left, the right side is drying. 3 days later, my left side runs out and I restock it so both sides are full again and start drawing from the right now while my left side dries out. Not easy to explain, but the two compartments let me have wood drying for at least 3 days before I burn it and some of it's been drying inside for 6 days at the bottoms of the piles. Had I made it just 1 compartment, I'd need to wait until the entire thing was out and then restock it at once and start burning non-dried wood.

I'll see about taking a picture of it tonight. It's still not done (it's not stained/painted and the sides aren't trimmed yet). I'll see about posting a picture if I remember when I get home and explain the things I'd done differently aethetically. I'm thinking I should've put more effort into the looks because I'm really surprised the difference it made in how well my fires burn, the heat increase, and how quickly it gets going. I just thought it would help a little, the difference of wood sitting inside for 3 days with air flow being able to pass through it was immediate. I wonder if I add fans to the back like Dylan said, which was part of my original plan how much that would help.

 

[Sundeep Arole]

Okay that makes a lot of sense. I was wondering all kinds of things - on compartment for hardwood and one for soft? Or one for kindling? This two compartmrnt idea seems like a good way to always have dry wood on hand.

 

[WarmGuy]

Very nice box. Mine is not so fancy but I've got a feature that you might consider adding:

I put mine on wheels. There are six big casters under the box. When I'm out of wood, I roll the whole thing over to the door, and load it up again. It works great. No traipsing back and forth across the carpet with armloads wood. It cuts the loading time in half. With six casters, it isn't too hard on the carpet.

I ended up not putting a cover on mine, because that would have added to the weight. I haven't noticed a problem with bugs, though that concerns me.

 

[Rhone]

Here's the picture of my Armoire. I'm sure Wahoowad is getting a laugh at how simple it is, as Wahoowad is is a good carpenter after seeing the details he put into his piece.

I designed it to be these two compartments here, AND I made a top section also with two smaller compartments that were to store my smaller sticks, kindling, news papers, matches, and branches. I didn't realize how big I'd made the bottom piece. The bottom by itself, is about as big a piece of furniture the room can handle. When I put on the top also, this Armoire turned monstrous, closed in the room, disrupted our open floor plan and we decided the top had to go. So, off it came and sitting in my basement. My kindling etc. sits in a sort of magazine rack near one of the couches now. The size of this is 4'Wx5'6"Hx2'D.

You can see a big open square cut out in the back on the top where some wood was taken. That's for the muffin fans I originally planned to put in. If I had a stove, probably would do it. With an insert and my blowers on it creates a nice gentle air flow all through the house that air flows through this Armoire to get to the insert which seems to do the trick. You can't see the 1" holes all through the back for increased air flow, they're covered by the wood and from the middle down.

I wouldn't have made the sides of plywood if I could go back. It bows easily and I had to add braces right inside the door. You can see them on the left & right with the door open. My father said planks would've been better to stop that than plywood.

You can also sort of see my white gasket on the inside around the door frame that stops bugs from being able to escape, though it's not easy to see with unfinished light maple and white gasket material. That works well, so far this winter, only 6 bugs have found their way out and into the house. I'm guessing their life span isn't long once the wood warms up, as after 3 days when I open the door there's none to be seen or waiting to come out. Only 1 mosquito this winter has escaped into the house. That cat was dropped off on our porch one day and the wife made it part of our family. It loves the smell of wood.

Nothing extravagent, still need to finish or paint it, still needs trim. All made of 3/4" maple finish grade plywood for the outside, and regular 3/4" plywood on the inside to seperate the two compartments. The doors 3/4"x3" maple made by my father (thank god, you have to know what you're doing to make a screen door corners fit and be strong, and they need to be exactly all the same within very high tolerances because even the smallest amount off, and your doors will be out of square or the back piece sticking out more than the front, or a gap in the frame (my father says you can just put sawdust into some wood glue, fill in any gaps, and sand but it's better not to have to)). My original plan was to stain it, but now I'm not sure if I'll do that or paint it. So there we are.

 

[wahoowad]

Nice, Rhonemas, it looks great! I think it fits in very well too. You still can do a lot of different things with it - it is great as is but can be altered functionally or visually as you get used to it. Mine is pretty locked in - you still have options. Nothing stopping you from changing the door if you ever wanted, or adding a shelf or two to hold the supplies/kindling you had to move off the top. And you have plenty of wood! Sweet!

 

[Rhone]

I prolly would have hinged BOTH doors on the right, thus improving (IMNSHO) the ergonomics in moving sticks into AND out of the unit.

Is the cat looking for mice??

I told my wife the same thing and was my original design, she took one look at it, and said it looked strange and opted for a normal looking and operating, but less ergonomic design. I really need to stain/paint it or something as this post has really made me notice maple is extremely light when in an unfinished state, and how much it can stick out. We like the bright look of maple, which is why chosen but after putting it in place now I see, I need to stain it a dark color to help blend in the screen & wood, or paint it (so much for paying extra for furniture grade staining plywood to paint).

Yeah, glad my options are still open on what I want to do for decorative trim and mouldings, I could make doors for the summer to cover it. On a functional point, surprised me how much better my wood burning experience is now.

I think the cat is looking for a piece of wood with fibers (Elm). For some reason, she likes to bite the fibers and peel the wood off, that or she's looking for a piece of bark. It's her favorite thing to find and play with and toss around the floor, then I have to becareful as she then eats them.

 

[WarmGuy]

Here's a photo of the casters on the bottom.