| Tree-Huggers Tool/Truck Organizer Box | |||
| (and putting together our new 4-way clamps!) | |||
 |
|||
| In the picture above, the end is from bottom:
oak, walnut, maple & sweetgum is the board on top. The side pictured is made from poplar, sweetgum (middle). There's also cherry not shown. . |
|||
I needed to organize my stuff, raquetball equipment, bungie cords, frisbee, duct tape (never go anywhere without duct tape),
Freedom's leash, etc... and I was exhausted of trying to explain what a Sweetgum
or Poplar board looks like. Voila! Why not build a pretty box out of
our scrap flooring boards to organize my truck?! So this simple project
accomplished 3 things:
|
|||
| This project is very simple but still it might help
if I show how I did it. Mind you, flooring boards are unnecessary.
Making the sides or ends out of 1 or 2 boards works just fine too.
As you'll see, I glue scrap floor pieces together and then further reinforce the
structure with pieces on the inside. My boards were 3/4" when I
started but after I glued them together, planed them a little bit and
then sanded them, I think I was left with a little over a half inch.
Realize, I have no plan and I'm making it up as I go along so my second
one will be much better!. click pix to enlarge. |
 |
 |
| Glued up poplar, sweetgum & Maple flooring boards. This clamping method leaves quite a bit to be desired but if it's the best you can do, go with it. They definitely need to be clamped & tightly! | After doing the gluing in the previous frame, I had one of those V-8 moments and realized mom had bought some 4-way clamps in the past. She found them (no small feat) and I was left puzzling with what to do with them. |
| Click Pics to Enlarge | Click Pics to Enlarge |
 |
 |
| Luckily I had some pictures on this site (stuffwedo)from when I made the cutting boards in Wisconsin. With my cool internet phone, I went to the site (this one in fact), looked at the above picture and figured it out. | BAsically, you decide how wide you may need them, cut a 2x1.5 piece of wood and screw the plastic dohickies onto them. A short dohicky for one side and the longer one on the other. Then repeat for opposite side. |
 |
 |
| Here's a finished one with some wood I'm getting ready to clamp.. They are called 4-way clamps because - drum roll please - they clamp it on all four sides: top, bottom and edges. Genius clamps. | Here you can see the little piece I put on the inside to hold the sides together. I should mention that each side was made individually and then I sanded them smooth using 60 grit and then 100 grit sandpaper. |
| Click Pics to Enlarge | Click Pics to Enlarge |
 |
 |
| 3 sides held together by the interior 3/4" pieces. | Corner interior pieces holding everything together. |
 |
 |
| Using those corner interior
pieces with screws that won't show on the exterior, I connected all four sides. |
It was tough finding the center for the handle. But, extending the sides with the 2 levels serving as straightedges, it was easy. |
 |
 |
| Bottom of box with nailers all the way around. | Inside with bottom attached. |
 |
| I finished it with the same
waterbased floor sealer and finish we use on our TreeHugger floors. If you make one, send me a pic to daniel@stuffwedo.com |
| www.stuffwedo.com |