30 Slot Mailbox Organizer

  

First graders can sometimes be hard on things.  My wife wanted a mailbox organizer for her student’s papers in her classroom but didn’t want one of the carboard or particleboard ones that only last a year or two.  So, of course, she talked me into building one.  I built this mostly with plywood and a lot of reinforcement so it would not sag and hopefully hold up to a small swarm of 6 year olds.

The design utilizes lumber I had around the shop.  My table saw sled was already set up for a ¼” x ¼” dado and I wanted to utilize that set up which is limited by the depth of the sled.  That is why I went with the 3 piece back.  (see fig. 1)  It may be beneficial to others to modify the design to a one piece back.  I also had to work with a height limit of 2 feet in order to fit under some other existing cabinets.  I set up the design with a height of 23 ¾”, a cabinet width of 36” and depth of 11 ¼”.  I cut the top to have a finished overhang of ¾” on the front and sides.  (see fig. 2)

The casework is all plywood with ¼” thick edge strips cut from ¾” stock to finish the edges of the ¾” plywood. (fig. 3)   On the ¼” shelves I used a 7/16” strip of birch with a ¼” relief rabbit cut into it with a router as a stiffener.  (fig. 4)   This will not only add strength to prevent sagging, but, will finish the front edge of the individual shelves.  The other 3 sides of the ¼” plywood are captured in dados so there should never be any sagging.

The cutting dimensions for the ¾” plywood are as follows:

·         1 – 10 ¼” x 34 ½” x ¾” Bottom

·         2 – 11” x 23” x ¾” Sides

·         2 – 11” x 22 ¼” x ¾” Intermediate Vertical Supports

·         3 – 11” x 22 ¼” x ¾” Backs

·         1 – 11 ¾” x 37” x ¾” Top

·         27 – 10 ½” x 11 ½” x ¼” Shelves

With all the plywood cut, and my table saw dado blade and sled set to cut dados of ¼” x ¼”, temporarily attached a ¼” x ¼” piece of square lumber planed down from some scrap 2” parallel to the dado blade. (fig. 5)   This will allow consistent and precise spacing of all the dados for the shelves.

Starting with the sides, I used the ¼” x ¼” spacer I just installed as a bump stop for the first dado at the top of the sides.  (fig. 6)   Since the top will sit directly on top of the rest of the box, this will provide consistent spacing for the shelves.  I then placed the dado over the ¼” spacer and cut the next dado.  (fig. 7)   I repeated this process until I had cut 9 dados in each side, both sides of the intermediate vertical supports and the 3 back pieces.  (fig. 8 & 9)

 

With all the dados cut, I needed to think about which parts needed to be finished and how to finish them.  All I planned to do was apply a few coats of polyurethane to make for a smooth, durable and cleanable surface.  I did not think it was necessary to finish the underside of each shelf since nothing would ever rest on it, but I also realized it would be extremely difficult to finish the shelves once the unit was assembled.  To overcome this, I pre-finished all the shelf surfaces that would be difficult to reach after assembly.  (fig. 10)

With limited surfaces in the ship to lay out the 8 pieces of ¾” plywood and 27 pieces of ¼” plywood that needed to be finished, I utilized some scrap plywood and cut dados into it utilizing the same method for the sides and back of the unit.  (fig. 11)   I then attached them to an empty wall space in the shop and used it as a drying rack. (fig.12)

I also made a single dado in some scrap ¾” plywood and inserted some ¼” plywood to work as a miniature saw horse to finish both sides of the intermediate vertical supports.  (fig. 13)

It is now time for assembly.  I started by taking one of the backs along with the two intermediate vertical supports and fitting them together with one of the top shelves.  (fig. 14)   With glue in the dados for strength, I shot 5/8” 18-gauge nails through the bottom of the ¼” plywood shelf into the ¾” intermediate vertical supports and the back at approximately a 30° angle.   I also shot 1 ½” 18-gauge nails through the intermediate supports into the back piece.

I then installed either side with the top shelf in the same way angling the nail gun slightly to shoot through the intermediate vertical supports into the backs on either side of the assembled center section.  (figs. 15 & 16)

With all 3 sections pinned together, it is just a matter of working your way up shelf by shelf.  Each shelf is inserted into the slots and secured with glue and 5/8” 18-gauge nails.  (figs. 17, 18 & 19) 

I installed the bottom with glue and 1 ½” 18-gauge nails.  (fig. 20)   I then went over the intersections of the joints with a sander to level out any imperfections.  (fig. 21)   The top is then secured with glue and 1 ½” 18-gauge nails.  (fig. 22 & 23.)

To apply the trim, I started by gluing and nailing the ¼” edge strips to the 2 intermediate vertical supports.  (fig. 24 & 25)   For the cleanest look, I left the strips long and cut them off with a flush cut saw after they were secured.  (fig. 26) 

The stiffeners were then cut to fit between the edge trim on the center section.  They were secured into place with glue and ½” 23-gauge pin nails shot in at opposing angles.  (fig. 27 & 28)   The stiffeners were then installed on the two flanking sections.  This is done before the edge trim because, unlike the center section, the trim can be easily sanded flush to the side for a very tight and clean fit.

With all 27 of the stiffeners installed, the edge trim is installed on the 2 sides, across the bottom and the top is wrapped with mitered cuts at the corners.  I used wood filler to touch up the nail holes and fill in any hairline cracks at the joints.  After it dried the entire unit was sanded smooth.  (fig. 29)   A few coats of polyurethane complete the project. (fig. 30)

Rod Gunter is the Executive Director at Gunter Building Solutions and has over 20 years of experience in the homebuilding and cabinetry industries.  Rod has been responsible for building over 200 homes above the $500,000 price point.  Rod has trained large groups including all the major home centers on selling skills, construction techniques and sustainable natural wood products.  Rod resides with his family in Holly Springs, North Carolina.  Gunter Building Solutions owns WoodAirGrille.com which produces wood return air filter grilles and wood return air vents.

Portable RC Track

Portable RC Track

Two Christmases ago the three kids in the family (my son, my daughter and me) all got good quality off road radio control cars.  By good quality, I mean RC cars that were ordered complete from a retailer that specializes in RC cars, can be repaired with readily available parts if something breaks, and are capable of better speed and performance than the RC cars your typically find at the local toy store or department store.  It seems necessary to explain my definition because there are a number of RC car enthusiasts who are quite passionate about building and racing some extremely impressive vehicles.  I have nothing but respect and admiration for those people, however, I am just a dad having some fun with my kids and though I would share an idea.

We had played around with raking leaves out of the way in the wood behind the house to form a track and with setting up obstacles in the yard to drive around and had fun with all of that.  I decided that it would be worthwhile to come up with a track system with the following specifications:

1.       It needed to be able to be set up in our yard and removed at the end of the day or at least in time for me to cut the grass.

2.       I wanted it to be portable to take to a friend’s house or grandma’s house and be set up there.

3.       It needed to be fun to set up, take down and play with.

4.       I needed it to fit on the shelf in our store room that the RC cars were on which restricted me to 33” width, 8” height and 21” depth.  About the equivalent to an average suitcase.

5.       It needed to be light so it could easily be moved.

6.       The track had to stay in place so it would not become a mess every time someone missed a turn.

The kids have had a blast with this system and it was pretty cheap to build.  The main ingredients are pipe insulation sleeves, a roll of high visibility duct tape and a box of nails.  I had most of the lumber lying around, but it was all common cheap lumber.

There are really 2 projects here.  One is the track system.  The other is the wood storage box that doubles as a ramp.  The box could easily be replaced with a plastic storage container and the lid could probably be used as the ramp.  The dimensions of the box and track pieces are built to fit on a specific shelf in my house and could vary to suit your own needs.   Here is how I did it.

I built the box first.  I wanted it to store the track, but also to double as a ramp when the track was in use.  I started by cutting the sides.  I used a 1x8 and cut 2 pieces to a length of 19 ¼”.  I then measured and marked one end at ¾”.  The other end I measured and marked halfway at 3 5/8”.    Using a straight edge, I connected the 2 marks to give me my cut line. (Fig 1) 

Using small finish nails, I attached both sides together so the cut would be precisely the same.  A portable circular saw or even a hand saw would be adequate for this project.  For convenience, I used my table saw and cut both sides at once along the line I had made.  (Fig 2)

I used a piece of 1x2 stock and a ½” square dowel to create the approach lip to the ramp.  The leading edge was beveled with a hand plane.  I just eyed this until it looked about right.  Depending on the scale of your RC car, you may want more or less bevel for the wheels to bump over to get onto the ramp.  On the opposite side of the 1x2 stock, I attached the ½” square dowel to provide a mounting surface for the thin plywood that will make up the top and bottom.  (Fig. 3)

Using a leftover piece of ½” plywood, I cut the 2 back sides to a dimension of 3 5/8” x 33”.  The thicker plywood is used here to support the hinges.  The rest of the parts are cut from ¼” plywood.  The top is 19 ¼” x 33”.  The bottom is 20 ½” x 33” and the front is 6 ¾” x 33.  (Fig. 4)

Using staples and wood glue I assembled the bottom first.  Nails or screws will work just as well, but I certainly recommend using wood glue at all the joints.  (Fig 5)

Where the 2 pieces of ¼” plywood meet, there needs to be some additional support to nail or screw into.  I used a ripped piece of stock lumber leftover from another project, (Fig. 6), but you could use another piece of ½” square dowel or any number of metal or plastic joint connectors (Fig. 7)

After assembling the top (Fig. 8), the 2 halves were joined by a pair of 1 ½” hinges.  (Fig. 9)  There is no magic to the hinge size, I just had these in the shop.

To keep the lid closed, I mortised a magnet into the bottom of the approach (Fig. 10).  Depending on how you intend to use the box or how it may travel, you may consider using a more secure closure such as a hasp, but this works for my purposes.  I also cut in a pair of handle holes. (Fig. 11)

The box is now complete (Fig. 12).  It opens to hold the track (Fig. 13) and flips over when open to double as a ramp (Fig. 14)

Now onto part 2 of the project, the track.  I used the ½” black foam pipe insulation found at most home improvement centers.  It is cheap and has an outside diameter of about an inch and a half.  I found it in 3’ and 6’ lengths with an average price around $1.15 per 6’.  I purchased 108’ (18 pieces) which could yield up to 216’ of track.  Since I restricted my length to 31” to fit on my shelf, I produced 186’ of track (72 pieces).  There is a lot of repetitive tasks involved in making the track, but they are easy and go by quickly.

I first placed a piece of masking tape 31” from the edge of my bench so I could cut my lengths quickly.  I then proceeded to cut all of the 6’ pieces down to 31” by inserting a sharp utility knife and rotating the foam insulation.  (Fig. 15)

I then placed a piece of masking tape on the bench 3” and 10 ½” from either end of the 31” foam insulation lengths.  There is nothing magical about those measurements other than they are nearly evenly spaced and the tape on the bench helps provide consistency.  I then wrapped the foam insulation with a piece of orange reflective duct tape.  I used Gorilla tape because I have had good experience with it on other projects, but any bright colored duct tape should work just fine.  (Fig. 16)

Each piece of foam insulation is slit along the length about 80%.  Using that existing slit, I cut the rest of the way through one side with a utility knife, also cutting the reflective tape that was just applied.   (Fig. 17)

In order to split the foam insulation completely in half with a clean straight cut, I first clamped a straight edge to the side of my bench. (Fig. 18)  Then with a sharp utility knife, I cut along the length of the foam insulation utilizing the straight edge as a guide. (Fig. 19)

Now that I have a whole lot of light track pieces, the problem is that they will need to be secured so they don’t blow away in the breeze or scatter every time one of the cars misses a turn.  My solution was to pin them down like you stake down a tent.  With 72 pieces of track, I figured would need at least 150 stakes.  With that many, the cost effective solution is to use nails, but that creates 3 major problems that need to be solved.  Nails are sharp.  Nails can be hard to see.  Typical nail heads will pull through the foam over time or if enough pressure is applied.

To resolve the nail head and visibility problem, I bought a box of button cap nails.  These have an orange plastic disk at below the nail head to distribute the force of the nail over a larger area on materials where the head can easily pull through.  (Fig. 20)  This makes them ideal for my purposes except for the fact that since their primary application is roofing and siding, they are too short.  So I purchased a second box of 3 ½” common nails and took the plastic caps off the small nails and put them on the larger ones.  (Fig. 21)

The large nails are now easy to spot if dropped in the grass and won’t pull through the foam.  To take care of the point, I simply cut it off with a bench grinder so they are blunt like tent stakes.   (Fig. 22 & 23) A handheld angle grinder, Dremel tool, file or hack saw would also easily do this job.  It is a repetitive and tedious task, but in reality it only took about an hour.

Two last touches finished the project.  I left a few of the foam insulation sections without the reflective tape to use as a mogul section for the cars to bounce over.  I also cut some of those marking flags down to about 10” so they could be inserted through the foam and into the ground an any location the kids thought it made sense.  (Fig. 24)

I put everything in the box and the project is complete.  (Fig. 25 & 26)  The kids have fun setting up the track in different configurations and pounding in the spikes.  The ramp is usually the favorite attraction and we are looking forward to trying out some different locations.

Rod Gunter is the Executive Director at Gunter Building Solutions and has over 20 years of experience in the homebuilding and cabinetry industries.  Rod has been responsible for building over 200 homes above the $500,000 price point.  Rod has trained large groups including all the major home centers on selling skills, construction techniques and sustainable natural wood products.  Rod resides with his family in Holly Springs, North Carolina.  Gunter Building Solutions owns WoodAirGrille.com, a leading producer of wood return air filter grilles and wood return air vents.

Improved Drill Centering Jig

After extended use of the original drill centering jig, we discovered a number of opportunities for improvement and identified some of the weaknesses that developed over long term use.  To be fair, the original jig ended up getting a lot more use than was originally expected and held up well all things considered.  One of the first things that became apparent was that a stationary jig mounted to the drill press table would be more effective.  After drilling hole after hole with a portable jig, it was easy to allow it to tilt slightly which forced the hole off center.  Another issue was that the square tubing in the original jig provided a large surface area with which to clamp the board, but it also trapped wood chips from the drill occasionally throwing the hole off center.  Eventually, the hole in the guide bar enlarged due to the friction from the drill bit, which was expected, but could be eliminated in a stationary design.

The new jig has now had nearly as much run time as the original and aside from the occasional recalibrating to center, has no major drawbacks or replacement items.  The addition of a dust collection hood was a major improvement from a convenience standpoint, but is not necessary.  For what it is intended to do, which is consistently bore a specific diameter hole in the center of a board over and over, the jig has performed exceptionally well.  As an added bonus, the jig is not limited to one size drill bit.

To ensure the jig does not flex, I first cut two 3/4” steel box tubes and two 1” steel u-channels to a length of 8”.  The u-channel will serve as the clamping surface against the wood creating minimal opportunity to trap wood chips while remaining rigid.  I also cut two 3 1/2″” lengths of 3/4” square tubing to serve as the parallel rotating members.  (fig. 1 & 2)

 

The next step was to bore three holes in the two 3 1/2″” pieces of steel square tubing.  One hole is centered and drilled at a ¼” diameter. (fig. 3) The other two are located 1” from either end and drilled at a 5/16” diameter.  In order to ensure the holes would match, I stacked them and drilled both pieces of box steel at the same time.  To ensure alignment, I drilled the center hole first and then ran a ¼” bolt through both pieces before re-clamping to bore the side holes.  (fig. 4 & 5)

 

I then drilled 5’16” holes 1” from either end of the 8” steel tubing.  Again, drilling through both pieces, once the first hole was drilled, I dropped in a 5/16” carriage bolt to ensure alignment. (fig 6 & 7)

 

One side of each of center holes in the 3 1/2” pieces of the square tubing needed to be enlarged enough to accept a ¼” socket.  The bolt cannot extend above the surface of the square tubing because the wood will be riding on top of it.  Therefore I opened the hole up on one side with a 3/8” drill bit and then widened the hole a little more with a small grinder. (fig. 8, 9, 10 & 11)

 

 

On the opposite face of the 3 1/2” piece of steel box tubing, the two 5/16” need to be squared to in order to lock a carriage bolt.  I in the absence of a hole broach, I used a small file to square off the holes. (fig 12 & 13)

 

The u-channel needs to be drilled with some small holes to mount to the perpendicular face of the 8” square tubing.  The holes need to be offset so the bottom surface where the clamping structure will rotate is flat.  (fig. 14)  Once the holes were drilled in the u-channel, I lined up the u-channel with the box channel and drilled through the box channel using the holes as a template.  (fig. 15)

 

It is time to assemble the clamping unit.  Using 1/8” bolts, I attached the u-channel to the 8” box channel. (fig. 16)  I then used 5/8 x 2” carriage bolts to attach the two pair of box channels ensuring that the expanded holes are facing up.  (fig. 17)

 

It is now time to build the mounting base.  I used a piece of 5/4 x 8 poplar which was plained to ensure flatness and cut to a length of 18”.  I drew a center line and placed the clamping assembly on the wood and drilled the 1/4” mounting holes using the assembly as a template. (fig. 18)  I used a countersink bit on the back of the wood to create a countersink for the bolts so the base would mount to the drill press securely.  (fig. 19)

 

In order to promote the longevity of the jig considering the repetitive use, I cut a light gauge piece of sheet metal to place between the clamping jig and the wood base.  With the correct number of wide flange washers on the mounting screws, the heads of the carriage bolts can ride on the sheet metal and stabilize the jig.  I also drilled 2 large holes in the base and the sheet metal to accommodate two large bolts mounting the base to the drill press. (fig. 20 & 21)

 

After utilizing ¼” x 1.25” bugle head bolts to attach the clamping assembly to the base, I installed some plastic thumb blocks to make the clamping easier.  I also installed some rests on either side of the base to reduce the tendency of material to tilt out of the jig.  (fig. 22)

It is now time to set the depth of the hole and calibrate the jig to center.  This requires patience and I suggest re-calibrating the jig every few hundred holes, but it is well worth it.  The jig is quick an accurate if you have to repeatedly drill holes dead center in stick lumber.

Rod Gunter is General Manager at Gunter Building Solutions and has over 20 years of experience in the homebuilding and cabinetry industries.  Rod has been responsible for building over 200 homes above the $500,000 price point.  Rod has trained large groups including all the major home centers on selling skills, construction techniques and sustainable natural wood products.  Rod resides with his family in Holly Springs, North Carolina.  Gunter Building Solutions owns WoodAirGrille.com, a leading manufacturer of wood return air filter grilles and wood return air vents.