Materials List-
Outside
-Wood - Poplar
- White Cedar (non aromatic)
-3/4" plywood sheet
-Hinges
-Deer Antler (naturally shed)
-Titebond II wood glue
- Tamper proof screws
Interior-
-Strips of Birch Plywood
-Camouflage jersey type material
-Leather
-Foam
Let's start by discussing the materials. The white cedar came from a bed frame, they were once the slats that held the box spring up, as did the Birch ply strips. The Poplar came from the frame of a box spring.
The word box-spring leads you to believe that it is a box with springs in it. In fact some are, but rarely. Usually it is literally a wooden frame wrapped in upholstery fabric. These are great sources of straight pieces of quality wood. The only downside is disposing of the upholstery fabric, and pulling crown staples. Sometimes the guy that put it together at the factory felt the need to use ten staples at one joint, that can be a pain, but I have learned to just cut the wood on either side of the joint. You lose in wood waste, is directly related to your level of frustration.
The slats usually have a hole at either end of the length of board, and maybe stapled together using fabric tape. Removing the tape and staples is easy on this just pull the tape in the opposite direction that the staples were shot in. This not only removes the tape, but removes the staples as well.
The hinges were galvanized gate hinges that I had laying around. I poured a little muratic acid into a glad-ware container, and dropped them in for an hour or so, to remove the galvanization. It works like a charm, you just need to rinse them well with water afterwards. I then let them dry and sprayed them with Rustoleum Hammered Antique Bronze spray paint.
The deer antler was a naturally shed antler that my father found in the woods years ago. The foam and leather were recovered from a leather couch. At fist glance a leather couch that has been tossed onto the curb looks worthless, often the seat cushions have holes in them, but thats not the part you are looking for. Look at the back of the couch, the side that sits against the wall and you will usually see a strip of leather that is in perfect condition that measures at least 2' x 3'. This is when carrying a razor knife in your vehicle is handy. The Jersey material is some that we have had for a while, it just seemed like the perfect use for it.
Total cost to build this unit was about $15.
How I did it-
I have needed a gun cabinet for a few years now. I hate the look of the gun safes these days, so I wanted the old school cabinet style. Yes having the guns in a secure location is important, but I felt I could make a cabinet nearly as secure.
When you take on a project like this you need to have a general idea of what you want it to look like, as well as a general idea of the size. You will find that you can draw dimensionally accurate plans all day long, but they will be nearly useless to you other than using them for reference for what style you want. It is important to remember that reused wood is already cut to specific lengths and widths. In order to use the most wood in the best way, you will need to really think it out and dry fit things together before assembly. I determined that the best way to build this was in two sections.
First I used the birch plywood strips to build the frame of a large box, this would become the lower cabinet. Next I built a smaller frame to make the upper box. I cut a piece of 3/4" plywood to fit the top of the large box. I then wrapped it with the camo material using staples. Next I attached the plywood to the top of the large box and attached the smaller box to the top of all of that.
I cut two more pieces of plywood to cover the top of the small box, and bottom of the large box. One piece was wrapped in the camo material, the other piece was covered in foam and leather. These pieces were attached. Another piece of plywood was cut to fit the back of the entire unit. It was then covered in the camo cloth, and attached with tamper resistant screws.
Using alternating strips of cedar and poplar, and clamps I attached the siding with countersunk tamper resistant screws that were then plugged with glued in dowels. You can't even get to the screws to loosen them, as the head is incased. Next I made the doors in the same way, and attached them with my painted gate hinges.
I cut the button end off of the antler and used it as a pull for the upper door which is used to store ammunition, and cleaning supplies. The other end was drilled, and cut using a dremel tool to get it to fit perfect. Use a respirator when cutting antler, it makes a ton of dust. The antler was then attached with brass colored screws. That is essentially it.
(Bloggers note: This was one of the first articles written for the old blog, it is the only one that was written after the fact. That being said I never thought to take pictures as it was made. )
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