Ep4 – Mud Room Lockers
Dale builds a couple of Mud Room lockers to keep outdoor & wet weather gear, outside the house. Great to sit on the patio, in the garage or in a dedicated entry mud room. Great for storing those muddy shoes and damp jackets, allowing them to dry and helping keep the inside of your home clean.
Because he was using larger pieces of ply for this project, he utilised the in-house cutting service (available at most large hardware retailers), to cut the large sheets down to a manageable and transportable size. Planning ahead (and having a sketch with a cut list) can speed the process up. Dale had the heavy 2440 x 1220mm x 18mm thick sheet cut into 3x 400x2440mm strips, which were then cut down into the various components, in the workshop. The lighter 6mm backing board was cut into 2x 610 x 2440mm strips, and again the final sizing was done in the workshop.
Dale breaks out many of the new tools that has picked up recently:
- The SawStop Jobsite saw for final sizing the boards
- A Kreg Pocket-Hole Jig 320 for the joints
- A Kreg Right Angle Clamp to help hold the panels together while screwing them together
- Some Wolfcraft quick action clamps
- A Carbatec 26mm Forstner Bit
- Wolfcraft Accumobile drilling guide & 6mm Brad Point wood drilling bit
Dale also upgraded the makeshift workbench he had been using, to a Carbatec Height Adjustable Workbench, giving him a stable and versatile work surface for the workshop. As always, as uses the Carbatec 1HP Dust Collector, to keep the sawdust in one place.
Other consumables that were used were:
This type of cabinet construction is very simple and versatile. This locker could be just as easily made into under counter storage units, bookcases or even a full kitchen, with some minor alterations (and of course adding doors).
With the plywood ripped along its length, into 3x 400mm strips, the only cuts that need to be done are across these lengths. This may require some outboard support and an extra pair of hands as these long thin strips can move unexpectedly. Accuracy is key on these wide crosscuts. Take care when marking you boards and constantly check that you are square to the length. Inaccurate cuts will result in annoying ‘wobble’ when you screw everything together.
Cutting & Assembly:
- Mark out each component, as per the layout. CLICK HERE to see the design we used.
- Make sure you re-mark after each cut, to ensure you have accurate lengths
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- The TOP & BASE and FRONT PANEL components are the same sizes
- The SEAT should be slightly smaller on both sides, to allow it to overhang the front and pivot easily without jamming on the sides.
- The rear panel (not shown in diagram) should be cut to 5mm shorter than the length of your sides.
- Dale cut the side panels to 1500mm long, but these sheets will allow for close to 1800mm in finished height.
- Use the Kreg Pocket-Hole jig to drill holes on the top face of the top panel (on the left and right edges), bottom of the base panel (on the left, right and front edges) and the inside face of the front panel (on the left & right edges)
- 5 or 6 holes along each applicable edge should be plenty.
- Mark your desired setback for the top shelf (a spacer block can help too) and the setback for the front panel.
- Start screwing the carcass together, using the Kreg Right Angle Clamp to hold the panels together, while fastening.
- Carefully measure and mark the two holes (one on either side) for the hanging rail. These should allow a coat hanger to sit inside the frame.
- Measure and mark the hole positions for the pivot point for the seat. The TOP of the hole should end up at the same height as the top of the front panel. The seat (when mounted) will then be supported by the pivot, and the edge of the front panel.
- Drill the four holes with the 26mm Forstner but. Care should be taken to avoid the timber tearing out as it breaks through on the back of the material.
- Cut the 25.4mm dowelling to the desired length.
- The dowel can be left protruding out the sides, giving you another peg to hang a jacket on
- The hanger dowel is retained in place, by drilling two 6mm holes on the inside (close to the inside face of the cabinet), allowing a 6mm dowel to be pushed through. Use glue if desired.
- The seat needs to be attached to the seat pivot dowel while it is in place. Laying the cabinet on its back can help. Make sure the back edge of the seat is not hard against the back of the cabinet, to prevent the seat jamming and damaging your work. We used our same 32mm Kreg screws (predrilling through the dowel) and some glue, to hold this together.
- With the basic frame together, we then mounted the rear marine ply panel. We used glue and some small nails.
- After the glue has dried, the whole unit was coated with paint.