Many of you live in private homes, and almost everyone needs a good mailbox.
In this article, the author of the YouTube channel "Workshop Diy" will tell you how he made it from an old canister.
Such a homemade product will look very unusual on the fence, and will surprise your guests.
Materials
- Old steel canister of 10 l
— Mechanical combination lock
- Steel profile pipe
- sheet plywood
- Steel bar, nuts
- Plexiglass or plexiglass
- Furniture loop, chain
- Silicone sealant
- sealant
- Spray paint
- Self-tapping screws for wood and metal.
Instruments, used by the author.
— Bulgariancutting disc
- Petal stripping disc
— Screwdrivermetal drills
— Step Drills
— Electric jigsaw
- Vise, core
- Square, marker.
Manufacturing process.
First of all, I want to warn you that further actions when cutting the canister should be done only after removing gas vapor from it! Otherwise, you risk injury!
The easiest way to rinse, and fill the canister with water, and cut with it.
So, the author cut one wall, leaving the handle and neck in place. After that, the surface of the canister was cleaned with a wire brush.
Then he cuts out a viewing window, which will show the presence of correspondence in the box. Sharp edges are deburred.
A hole for a small lock is drilled in the upper part of the body. Typically, these locks have a diameter of about 20 mm.
For reliable installation of the lock, the author needed to make a small lining from a steel profile pipe. It is also necessary to drill a mounting hole in it. The easiest way to do this is with a stepped drill.
To fix the workpiece inside the case, the master decided to use a magnet from the old speaker. This will make the welding process easier.
Now you need to make a reciprocal part for the latch. At the end of the profile pipe, he welds the washer.
After cleaning the welds, four holes for fixing bolts are drilled in the washer. A slot for the lock bolt is also cut.
The master will use sheet plywood as the back wall of the box body. He marked and cut the workpiece with an electric jigsaw.
Then, on the edges of the plywood, the chamfer is removed using a grinder and a stripping flap disc.
A furniture hinge is attached to the bottom of the steel case.
The ends of the screws must be cut off with a grinder.
Now the author cuts out a window for attaching mail. His position must be higher than the author did, otherwise newspapers may not fit.
He also made such a lid from scraps of canister.
He welds the lid itself to a steel bar, which is fixed by the edges in the drilled nuts.
Welding and stripping work is completed, you can paint the body with several layers of spray paint. If your box will be located on the sunny side, it is better to choose a light, or silver color. Otherwise, in the summer it will be possible to get burned.
Now you can glue the window from Plexiglass using silicone sealant.
In order to prevent atmospheric precipitation inside the box. The master glues a rubber seal around the perimeter of the housing.
A small furniture lock is installed in its place.
Then the decorative plug closes.
Of course, not everyone is interested in constantly carrying the key to the mailbox, so you can install this mechanical combination lock. Such simple locks are also suitable for a small cabinet, drawer, or electrical panel at the entrance. When using it on the street, it is advisable to periodically lubricate it with silicone grease.
The counterpart for the lock is screwed to the rear plywood wall.
The back cover is screwed to the furniture hinge.
Here the mailbox is ready, the author really did not show a small nuance, he attached a chain between the case and the back wall. Thus, the lid will only open 90 degrees.
The box is mounted on the fence, its back cover can be screwed to it from the back with short screws. At the bottom of the box, you can put a plastic mesh twisted into the cylinder, so there will be even less chance of getting correspondence wet.
And so it will open.
I thank the author for the simple but unusual idea of the design of the mailbox!
All good mood, good luck, and interesting ideas!
Author video can be found here.