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A storage box with an angled lid to easily flick through the record collection.
The project
I've been thinking about doing this project for ages, but always found an excuse not to.
About a year ago we went to a friend’s place and they had a cool retro vinyl turntable with inbuilt speakers. It filled the room with the dulcet tones of Rod Stewart and Nat King Cole that afternoon, and so a couple of weeks later we purchased one for ourselves and we're now heading down to the local trash-and-treasure markets on a Sunday morning to find another gem. Now that we have acquired around 15 or so records we don't really have a safe place to keep them in the bookcase the record player sits on.
I’ve finally got around to putting pen to paper and sketching out a few ideas on what it could look like. The plan evolved from a basic box, to one with a hinged lid, and now to one with an angled lid to allow a quick flick through the housed records.
Next step was measuring up the materials that I’d need to put it together. A quick consultation with my dad (who is handy with these sort of things) lead to creating a wooden skeleton from Pine DAR and then wrapping it in 7-9mm plywood for the project, which I could then add a finish (paint or stain) after it’s all been put together.
I already had a few items required for this project in the shed, so I headed off to the local Bunnings to pick up the materials required to build the skeleton. This included a new saw, clamps, nails, tape and the Pine DAR.
I split the build into three parts – front, back, and lid.
Measuring twice and cutting once didn’t take too long, and soon I had the pieces to build the front. Making sure I had a stable and firm grip on the timber allowed a quick and clean cut. Then it was time to assemble.
I put together the front and sides easily enough, along with the back which lined up nicely to the front elements. These were built from the bottom up to make sure the pieces were lining up correctly. For structural support I also added some spacers on the bottom of the box, as this will also be what the records rest on. Using offcuts allowed the correct spacing to be applied when gluing and nailing the timber together, making a straighter and more effective join.
I finished off the lid frame and purchased 4mm marine grade plywood to wrap it in. I'm sure I could have used something different, but I liked the finish and texture.
Having the right saws definitely helped, with the smaller hand saw having finer teeth that allowed a cleaner cut of the plywood. A tip that I picked up was to score the plywood with a Stanley knife, enough to have a clear line to follow, and this helped cut the plywood a lot more smoothly. I did have a little bit of wastage here as I was trying to cut too quickly on some pieces, but patience is the key.
I started off with glueing and nailing the base, using small brad nails to help affix the ply to the timber, and an improvised nail punch to finish it off with a cleaner finish. Next came the front and back of the actual box, making sure that there was enough glue over the frame and a bit of pressure to make sure it adhered properly.
The lid was next and I applied the same strategy with this as with the box. Applied the top, sides then back and front, making sure each piece lined up correctly with the grain of the piece below to provide a cleaner finish.
Timber putty filler was used to clean up any of the edges, and I ended up choosing an interior stain (Merbau) for the marine plywood. I tested the stain on some offcuts before applying, which allowed me to see how much I should be applying. I purchased a leather pull online and added it onto the front, along with some gold hinges on the back.
Tips for building and staining a woodwork project
Dallas shared these tips for members looking to replicate this project, and Workshop member Johnnynl shared advice for staining a woodwork project.
- Always measure outwards. It could have been very easy to get carried away and measure twice cut once, put it together and then realise that the inside is too small to fit anything because you haven’t accounted for the width of the material. I worked on having a bit of a buffer with the records (300mm to 330mm) and then adding the 12mm width of the Pine DAR for the skeleton to work out the overall width, which ended up at a width of 375mm edge to edge.
- Use a nail as a tracer with a drill to make sure you don’t split the timber. This really helped with speed and accuracy when putting the frame together, especially when added with the wood glue to make a solid skeleton.
- When staining, use wood filler in a matching colour for your nail holes. There's nothing worse than seeing a nice stained surface marred by unsightly spots.
- Test the stain on offcuts of the same timber so you can decide how many coats it takes to get the desired shade. Stain half the timber in one or two coats, and the rest in more. Once dry, brush a coat of clear polyurethane over the top and see if that's the result you are looking for.
More storage projects
Workshop member DeeDee44 built this LP record rack as a gift for Father's Day.
Workshop member JoeAzza built these Tasmanian Oak shelves for a CD display wall in a grandchild's bedroom.
Find more clever storage ideas in our Top 10 most popular storage projects.
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