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I am restoring some old decking to make in to a shoebox for our front porch. It is 1500mm W x 445mm H x 355mm D. It has a shelf inside as shown in the sketchup.
I am thinking of a drop front lid that will also be made from old merbau decking, but unsure how to make it open. I looked online about ideas and one option was using a lid stay hinges, with a catch on the top, but unsure if the lid stay hinges will fit due to the shelf and the box frame.
Advice appreciated.
Hi @mrpatel,
What are the purposes of the lid stay hinges? I presume you'd like the front face to fold down; only standard hinges would be required for that. Did you not want it to fold down to the ground fully? If you can let me know what you'd like the front fold-down lid to do, I can recommend a hinge system to suit.
Mitchell
I don't believe lid stays have any resistance to them, @mrpatel. The only real benefit on a lid that lifts up is that they lock in the open position. Perhaps you could pop a door closer in there to help stop it from descending so quickly and assist in raising it. I believe that not only do they help close the door, but they will provide resistance and slow down the opening.
Mitchell
That timber is fine, @mrpatel. If the box is going outside, I'd recommend painting or coating the timber with polyurethane to protect it from the weather.
Mitchell
Hi Mitchell,
Am thinking about how to join the box frame that the merbau slats will be screwed on to.
What join would you recommend for the corner join here? Concerned about doing a butt join and securing with screws because I will be screwing the end merbau slat down too and that will potentially cross and collide? Havent tested out yet but appreciate advice.
Hello @mrpatel
Your drawing looks fantastic and very detailed. If you've drawn your timber pieces to scale, I suggest drawing in the proposed position of your screws. In this instance once you've built the box frame, you'll have a better idea of the position of the screws. I recommend offsetting the position of the screws so that they don't run into each other.
My number tip is to make sure to drill pilot holes for your screws to prevent splitting the timber. Since you'll be placing the screws very close to the edge of the panels, its important they are not put under stress.
If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.
Eric
I have finally got all my old merbau timber sanded down and glue removed. However where the glue has been removed, the timber is patchy. What do you recommend to remove the patchiness? I assume some kind of stain. Thanks.
Hi @mrpatel
I suggest to keep on sanding the surface and see if the patchiness disappears. If the patchiness does not go away odds are the glue has had a bleaching effect on the surface of the Merbau panel. Is the other side of the panel ok or is it patchy as well? Perhaps you can use the side that has not been damaged by the glue?
If you are planning on staining the shoe box. I'm hoping that it will be enough to cover the patchiness of the panel.
Please let me know the results of further sanding.
Eric
