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If you want to build your own, I have a set of DIY rising shelf plans and a parts list, including everything I used:

First, I started off by building the main body of the rising shelf. It consists of a piece of plywood with a 2×4 attached to the backside of it. On this 2×4, I attached some hooks. Then, in the four corners, I attached some garage door rollers. These rollers are really versatile and were key in making this project work.

For a track, I actually wanted to buy something off the shelf and ended up looking at garage door tracks. They use to be cheap, but like everything else, have skyrocketed in price. Instead, I decided to build my own tracks from wood. I grabbed the hardest wood I had in my shop that was long enough, which was oak, and arranged it into an L. For the tracks, you definitely want something hard for long-term durability. I attached it to the wall by holding it in place and throwing in a single brad nail. This will hold it just long enough for me to put a level on it and plumb it up. I only had a 4’ level in my shop so I moved to the bottom, then top, and placed a few brads as I straighten it out. Once it looked good, I came back with screws. I pre-drilled the holes to ensure the oak didn’t split. Next, I repeated the process by attaching the right track the same way as the left.

Now that the tracks are attached, I moved to the top and attached some pulleys. These will be what the cable will go up to, before veering right to the hoist. I used some lags to go into my wall here. Then, even though it isn’t needed, I added a ledger board…just to be safe. A lot of the force on these pulleys will be vertical since it’s going to be reaching down and pulling the rising shelf upward. To directly oppose this force, I ran screws up into the ledger board. This is in addition to the lags that went into the wall.

Moving on, the next step is to go back to the shelf and attach a few components. The first is a thimble hooked onto the anchor point on the 2×4. This is used so the wire rope has a track it can be placed in and then it can be looped back onto itself. To secure it, I used what’s called “wired rope clamps”, which are tighten down onto both the lead in and lead out strains. I used DAP’s Tank Bond Thread Locker on all of the project’s hardware that had a nut on it. I applied it to the threads before I added the nuts. It a fast-dry coating that creates a tight seal that absorbs shock and vibrations, preventing fasteners from unintentionally backing out. I really love it because the treated fasteners remain completely adjustable, removable and reusable if I have to replace them in the future. I use it on anything that has vibration. 

At this point I was able to set the shelf in place. It’s large and awkward so help was needed for this step. Jacob and I brought it in from the bottom, slightly tilting it so the top roller would slip into the track, then straightening it out vertical.

I fed the cable up to the pulleys from both anchors, but now needed to join them into one. What I did here functions the same exact way that a window blind does. In the shelf set-up, the component I used is called a turnbuckle. This allowed me to attach both cables to one side, then shoot one cable from the other. Also, this gave me the ability to make small, micro-adjustments later on once everything was installed and it was time to do final tuning.

The last component to add is the hoist itself. The mounting bracket is a simple DIY one made from some square tubing I had laying around. The holes are drilled in locations to match the stud location of the wall it will be mounted onto. The hoist is kind of heavy, but nothing unmanageable. I screwed a temporary 2×4 to the wall to give myself a resting shelf to set the hoist onto as I put lags into the studs.

The last step, I added the shelving needed to hold all of the products I wanted to store here. One of the coolest things about this project (I mean, besides the fact that it’s a rising shelf), is that you can customize it to hold just about anything. Just keep on eye on the total weight of the objects that you’re storing – it will need to be below the capacity of the hoist and the components you used. The key things to pay attention include what the hoist is rated at and do all of the components have the same rating. One weak link in a chain will cause it to fail. I built the rising shelf as an ultimate shop storage system to organize spray paint cans, tubes of caulk, paint cans, and paint supplies such as brushes.

Before I forget, another thing I did was extend the pendent to be over near my shelf instead of up by my hoist. Now, if my shelf is raised when I need to access to my hardware, I can walk right up to the wall and lower it down. Then I can either keep it here or I can raise it back up to store at the top of my wall and keep the hardware rack exposed. Cooooool!

Are you ready for the before and after?! Check it out!

By the way, I have a blog and video on how I made this in-wall hardware rack if you want to do the same. 

Don’t forget to check out the DIY Rising Shelf Plans!

Interested in organizing your shop? If so, I have several DIY workshop plans to help you out! See y’all next time!

Thinking about building your own DIY storage bench? Check out this easy DIY storage bench project! It can be completed in 1 day!

In this video, I’m going to be building an outdoor storage bench! It’s at a nice and comfortable sitting height, but the lid is on a hinge so I can open it and stow away the cushions when they are not in use.

This is a quick one-day project! So if you are needing a storage trunk for anything, I have a set of plans (that includes material and cut lists) and a CNC cut file:

Check out the video above to see how I built it!

Introduction to DIY Storage Benches

A DIY storage bench is a great way to add storage and seating to any outdoor space. It is perfect for storing cushions, toys, and other items that you want to keep out of sight but still within easy reach. These benches come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles, so you can find one that fits your needs and looks great in your outdoor space. Plus, they are easy to build and maintain, so you can enjoy your new bench for years to come.

Benefits of DIY Storage Benches

DIY storage benches offer many benefits over traditional outdoor furniture. First, they are more affordable than buying a ready-made storage bench from a store. You can save money by building the bench yourself and using materials you already have on hand. Second, you can customize the design of your bench to fit your outdoor space, allowing you to create a unique piece of furniture that will be the centerpiece of your outdoor area. Finally, a DIY storage bench can provide extra seating for entertaining or simply relaxing outdoors.

Materials Needed for a DIY Storage Bench

Building a DIY storage bench requires a few basic materials. You will need wood for the frame, plywood for the panels, and screws or nails to hold the frame together. You will also need a saw, drill, and other tools to cut the wood and assemble the frame. Finally, you will need paint or stain to finish the wood and protect it from the elements.

Step-by-Step Guide to Building a DIY Storage Bench

Once you have gathered all the materials you need, you can begin building your DIY storage bench. The first step is to measure and mark the wood for the frame. Next, cut the wood to size and assemble the frame. Once the frame is assembled, add the plywood panels and attach them to the frame using screws or nails. Finally, seal the wood with paint or stain and let it dry before using.

Tips for Building a DIY Storage Bench

Building a DIY storage bench is not difficult, but there are a few tips that can make the process easier. First, make sure to measure twice and cut once to ensure that all the pieces fit together correctly. Second, use a power drill to make drilling holes in the wood easier and faster. Finally, use a sanding block to smooth any rough edges on the wood before applying the finish.

Decorating Ideas for Your DIY Storage Bench

Once your DIY storage bench is built, you can add some decorative touches to make it unique and inviting. One easy way to spruce up your bench is to add cushions or pillows for extra seating or to make the bench more comfortable. You can also use outdoor fabric to make a removable slipcover for the bench or to create a patterned design. Finally, add some outdoor accessories such as lanterns or planters to complete the look.

Troubleshooting Common Problems with DIY Storage Benches

Building a DIY storage bench is not without its challenges. One common problem is that the frame may not be square if the wood is cut incorrectly. To fix this problem, use a square to check the frame before adding the panels. Another problem is that the wood may warp if it is not sealed properly. To prevent this, make sure to seal the wood with paint or stain before using it.

Where to Buy Storage Benches Pre-Made

If you don’t want to build your own storage bench, there are many ready-made benches available for purchase. These benches come ready-to-use, or with all the materials you need to assemble the bench, including the wood, screws, and other hardware. You can buy these online or in home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot.

Conclusion

Building a DIY storage bench is a great way to add storage and seating to your outdoor space. With a few basic materials and tools, you can create a unique piece of furniture that will last for years. Plus, you can customize the design to fit your space and add decorative touches to make it one-of-a-kind. If you are needing a storage trunk for anything, I have a set of plans (that includes material and cut lists) and a CNC cut file. These two plans are here Indoor Outdoor Storage Bench Build Plans, or here if you need the CNC file – Indoor Outdoor Storage Bench Build Plans with CNC Cut File. Start building your new Outdoor Storage Bench today!

Things I Used in This Indoor Outdoor DIY Storage Bench Project:

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Let’s Build A Bar In A Box

In this video, I’m going to show you how to build a bar in a box. Not only is it great for entertaining, it’s great for small spaces. It can be easily compact when not needed but open up when you’re entertaining. Let me show you have to build it.

Materials I Used to Build the Bar in a Box

Step 1: Building the Main Body of the Bar in a Box

I’m going to start off by building the main body. I’m using DAP weldwood wood glue on every joint then a brad nailer to pin things together. For material, I’m using an exterior grade MDF called Armorite. Armortie is a dream to cut on the CNC so it’s my first choice for projects I’ll be painting.

Step 2: Placing Trim Around the Edges of Each Body Section

Next I could lay the box I’m making over, overhanging the bottom so the unit lays flat on the workbench. Then I crawled inside and laid down a bead of glue all along the edge. This is so I could pin on some trim. This might seem confusing for a moment but you’ll see how it all comes together shortly.

For right now I only placed four pieces of trim on, and left a gap in the center. This is so I could flip the entire thing over, again moving the unit to the edge so it lays flat, then applied more glue to the inside of the overhanging trim boards. These trim boards will catch a panel that will eventually become the front of the unit. Mine was a little tight but it was nothing a little stomping couldn’t fix. To hold it in place while the glue set up, I used a few pin nails all along the perimeter.

I wish I would have stood it up at this point to show you what I was doing, but I didn’t. So let me skip ahead and give you a visual on where I’m going with all of this. Once placed on it’s bottom, it will not only be able to be rolled around, but the panel and trim will create a front, then what I do next with a divider will create a sectioned off inside.

Step 3: Adding Dividers Inside the Bar in a Box

Now that you see where I’m going, lets go back to adding in the divider. This will create two inside cubbies so I placed it right in the center. To avoid measuring, I actually grabbed the shelves that I already cut to length and used two to act as spacers, setting one at the base and one at the top to make sure the divider was going in parallel. To pin it in place, I used my speed square to project down in the line of the edge. Unlike typical MDF, Armorite doesn’t mushroom out or flake off when using a nailer.

Step 4: Making the Bar in a Box Mobile

With that in, I moved to the side of the unit to start building a box. This will be the bottom platform that will house the casters. I again used wood glue and brad nails to join things together. BTW: I have a set of plans that have a cut list and material list if you want to build your own.

This box, I clamped to the bottom side of the unit so that I could climb back on top of my workbench to secure it from the top side.

As far as mobility goes, I don’t expect to move this thing a lot so I only put on two fixed casters. However, another option is to put on four swiveling casters that will give you more mobility. I placed my two fixed casters on one side then what I’ll call a foot on the other. This foot is just long enough so that when the unit is sitting flat, the casters don’t touch the ground. This will ensure the bar can’t roll around until I tilt it slightly up on one end and intentional wheel it where I want to go. While giggling of course.

Step 5: Finishing the Front Trim and Adding Shelves

Ok with the bar in a box body upright, now I can finish out the front trim. This is as simple as cutting the pieces to length then gluing and nailing them in place. I carried the bottom right trim piece to my house and forgot it, so just image that in place as well.

Now lets go to the inside of the unit and add in some shelves. Keep in mind you could add as many or as few as you wanted but I personally only wanted one shelf per side. My plan for keeping things from falling over is to run small metal tubing across the front. I made all my location marks using a square then counterbored with a drill bit just slightly larger than the tubing. On the center divider, I made a through hole. This way, once done, I could feed the tubing in from the left, go through the center, and go into the right wall.

I’ll glue these in later but for now, I left them dry and moved on to making the doors. Which is a really similar process to making the bar in a box body.

Step 6: Making the Doors

I started by building a box using wood glue and brad nails. Then I lined the edge with a bead of more wood glue to add on trim. Again, this trim will eventually be the show face you see. So right now I’m building it upside down. But by doing it this way, I’m able to flip it over and easily insert the front panel so that it’s captured to this trim and flush to the front. You just have to make sure it’s seated down all the way when you’re securing it.

Step 7: Adding Shelves to the Doors

Next I did the same process that I did to the body by adding in shelves where I wanted them, if you use my plans you can certainly use my dimensions which fit standard bottles, or you can adjust them to store the items you’re looking to shelve. After adding in the cabling, I added on an adjustable foot.

So when the wings fold out, this foot will be able to drop down to the ground and lock into place. To do this, I started by drilling two through holes for carriage bolts. Once put through the foot’s slots, I added a wing nut to the inside to give me a locking feature. The great thing about this is even if the bar is on slightly uneven ground, it won’t matter because each wing will be able to drop it’s foot down independently of the other.

While I had the door on my workbench, I DAPed and caulked everything. I’m using Platumn Patch by Dap to fill in any of the nail holes or seams that will show on the face. Then for the caulk I used Alex’s Fast Dry.

After doing it once, I repeated it all again to build a second. Making sure they were mirrored to each other and not identical!

Step 8: Hanging the Wings onto the Body of the Bar in a Box

Things are looking right, so lets hang them on the body! I used a small spacer to rest on the platform of the body to set the door on and create the clearance needed. I tried to drop the foot down to hold it’s position. Didn’t work, so I instead hooked my foot on the underside and just made sure to have my drill ready. I like to pre drill for the smaller screws that come with the hinges but it’s really as simple as pre drilling then attaching with screws.

After repeating on the other side, I’ll now show you what I got. I’ll stand on the other side of the bar to not obstruct your view, but the idea is I could have a consolidated footprint when not in use, but then easily flip out a door, drop the foot. Then flip out the other wing, and drop the foot….when I do want to use it. Cool.

Step 9: Building a Top to the Bar in a Box Body

Now let me work on a top. I went with two layers of the same material that this entire unit is made from which is an exterior rated MDF called Armorite. You can get 1” thick Armorite but 1/2” is way easier and cheaper to get a hold of so I cut then glued two pieces together to create the 1” thickness.

Armorite Tips and Tricks

Since I discovered Armorite last year, you’ve been seeing use it more and more for projects where regular MDF simply wouldn’t be an option. To have an exterior rated MDF truly is a game changer. Even when getting wet, it does not swell and fall a part, it’s incredible to machine coming right off being cut nice and smooth, and it has Zinc borate in it to resist termites and other insets. I’ll leave you a link to locate Armorite near you.

Step 10: Expanding the Top of the Bar in a Box

To accommodate the body expanding by the doors folding out, I also need the top to somehow expand out. That’s where these cool little hinges come in, they are called flap hinges. They are kinda tricky to drill for because they are only a portion of a circle so you can’t use an entire forester bit like you can on regular cabinet hinges. However, a simple fence at the drill press solves this issue.

I set the fence so that most of the bit was going into the material but the rest was going into the fence. Then I would use the hinge itself to gauge the depth. Once I repeated this on two sections, I could screw the hinges in place and test it out.

Ok so the idea Is to place the two sections at the center, right on top so that when they are folded in, it’s nice and compact. But then I can flip them out to expand. After positioning the top sections squarely, I pre drilled then secured with screws. I didn’t like how the doors could be set at any angles, so I added in a stop block to dictate the exact position. Nice and simple.

Step 11: Painting the Top of the Bar in a Box

I actually have an entire video outlining the proper way to paint MDF so I’ll link to that video for you. For the top I chose a black laminate which can be a little tedious to apply but is actually quite simple. First thing to know is you want to band the edges first. I cut a big sheet into small strips that are slightly oversized.

To apply it, you use something called contact cement. It’s traditionally sold in a can that you can brush on but Dap has actually come out with a spray form that I love. I use cardboard as a backer to catch the overspray.

When using contact cement you need to apply it to both surfaces that will be adhered together. You can see I use an assortment of trash to collect the overspray. Then unlike wood glue, you actually let the surfaces dry until the cement is tacky, this is anywhere from 3-10 mins depending on climate, then you push them together. A roller is a great tool to have around to apply pressure but you can use anything that won’t scuff the surface.

Step 12: Placing Edging on the Face of the Bar in a Box

After getting all the edges banded, then you repeat on the faces. I actually wanted the two center pieces to be seamless so after biscuit joining them together and screwing them down to the body of the unit, I repeated by spraying both the MDF and the laminate, making sure to get the edges really well coated.

The reason you want to leave the piece oversized is because it’s way easier to use a flush trim bit and router to make it perfectly flush after the fact, than trying to align two pieces perfectly fit for each other. Again apply pressure with anything that won’t scuff the surface. Haha.

One last thing to note, once the surfaces are in contact with each other, they don’t come a part easily. Again, it isn’t like wood glue where you can slip it around after the fact. So make sure you like it before you stick it.

Step 13: Pre-drilling For and Adding Door Hinges

Last thing I needed to do was drill for the hinges. To prevent the forester bit from walking around on you when you start drilling, you first want to predrill with a small drill bit. Then to prevent the edge and the face of the laminate from tearing out, I clamped a board in place. I used my glue cauls on the edge and a jig with a through hole for the bit on the top. Once the tip of the forester bit found my pre drill, I clamped the jig in place and drilled down until the depth was correct for the hinge to be flush. Once you break through the laminate, you can remove the jig.

Step 14: Attaching the Wings to Finish the Bar in a Box!

Next, the second pair of wings can be attached and I’ll call this project done!

I ended up adding a handle to the side to help tilt it up and move it. This is what it looks like when it’s compact and stowed away, but then to use it I just have to fold out the door and drop the foot. Fold out this door, and drop it’s foot. Fold out one top, and two top, and the bar is officially open. For you to see it from the bartenders side, I put two barrel bolts on the doors to keep them shut. On the inside there is plenty of storage space for bottles or shakers or glasses.

Actually, glasses are probably a bad idea if your unit will actually be moved a lot but I see keeping mine full during the nice seasons then I’ll empty it and stow it away during the really cold season.

Thing I Used in The Bar in a Box Build:

Have you ever wanted to give your food that smoky flavor but don’t want to deal with the hassle of a huge smoker? I recently discovered cold smoking food and I’m obsessed! Cold smokers can be made out of anything since they don’t have high heat or a flame. Let’s make one!

Materials I Used to Build This Cold Smoker:

Step 1: Preparing Materials for the Build

First know that I have a set of plans for this one plus a larger unit if you’re interested in building your own. The smaller one you’ll see me build has four racks but the larger unit has more.

I have so much scrap wood piled up in my shop that I pulled from it instead of buying anything new. To start, I went to the table saw and ripped down some material to make up the legs. Regardless if you use scrap or buy new, just don’t use anything that’s treated since this will be around food.

I made two sets of legs by using a cross piece to join two legs to each other. On all these joints, I pre drilled first to prevent splitting. Next I laid out marks for where I wanted my shelves on the inside of the legs. These will be what my racks rest on. I went to my scrap bin to find something suitable then chopped them to size before attaching. To attached, I used a little bit of Daps Weldwood wood glue then my 18 gauge brad nailer. I repeated on the other set of legs. I set both assemblies next to each other so I could just make sure the racks lined up with one another.

Next is to flip the assemblies 180 but it’s important to keep them situated so that the racks stay aligned to one another. Now I’ll sheath this side, which will be the outside.

Step 2: Sheathing and Creating the Leg Assemblies

Now the sheathing can be made from a lot of things but since you don’t want gaps, I used a thin tongue and groove pine paneling that I’ve actually had left over from a project I did back in 2013. The tongue and groove feature will allow each piece to connect seamlessly to the next board. Since I have a lot of the same length needed in this next step, I set up a stop block at the miter saw, then made sure to hold the length of board in between this stop and the blade, as this is the point that could kick back, then chopped the needed number of parts.

I took these over to my workbench with my leg assemblies and started attaching them. Again, I’m using a bit of wood glue on each one then throwing in some brads to hold it while it dries. I made sure to keep the orientation of the legs because they aren’t identical, they need to mirror each other but as you can see, it goes nice and quick. After getting the second side skinned I joined them to each other with some cross members at the top. Again, pre drilling and driving in screws.

Step 3: Attaching a Bottom and Making the Back of the Cold Smoker

To attach a bottom, I stood the unit up and grabbed some more cedar scrap since it’s 3/4” thick. I didn’t bother nailing them in as I’m thinking these might need to get replaced in the future.

Next I laid it back down and started making a back. This is also made from that tongue and groove paneling and I just laid the boards out starting from one side and work my way over, then cut the last piece to fit. Once I liked the fit, I flipped it over so that I could attach some horizontal pieces that will keep all these back boards held together. Again using wood glue and brad nails here. Now I could flip it over and secure it in place. To do this, I placed one screw at the top and one at the bottom.

Step 4: Making a Door for the Cold Smoker

Oooook, now lets flip it 180 and repeat almost all the same steps to make a door for the front. The one draw back to this paneling is how thin it is. Actually I like how thin it is because that means it’s light weight, but since a hinge needs meat to attach the door to the body, I built up it’s thickness by grabbing more cedar boards, mitering the ends, and creating a border that I then glued and nailed onto the front side of the paneling. I flipped the door on it’s face to put the brads in from the backside so you won’t see the holes from the front.

Perfect, and now I have a door. To attach it, I grabbed two hinges and placed them near the top and bottom, making sure to pre drill to prevent splitting.

Step 5: Building a Roof for the Cold Smoker

Alrighty, that works just as it should. I’ll worry about a handle and keeping it shut in a few steps. For now, I’m going to build out the roof. The roof is made a little uniquely as it’s important to have adjustable vent holes at the top of the unit. In order to do this easily, I attached one board of cedar with screws, but then grabbed one piece of that thin paneling for the next board. This I brad nailed in place. Then followed it up with another cedar board to finish. Screwing this one down as well.

Ok next, I cut another piece of paneling to the same size as the center board, held it in place, then used a forstner bit to drill two vent holes through both boards at the same time. This will mean the holes line up perfectly with one another when the boards are in line. However, if I want to close off or even partial open or close off the vents, then I just have to slide the top board one way or the other. Cool.

Step 6: Putting Vent Holes into the Side of the Cold Smoker

Ok great, now lets work on the side vent holes. Now remember I’ve just learned about this cold smoking thing so I’m not sure if there are better placement for the holes or not, but I put some up top and some down low. I wanted to utilized some of the paneling cut offs so I made two short pieces for the top. I glued and nailed these in place with my 23 gauge pin nailer. Then I held in place a full width panel then another a bottom rail, if you will.

The idea is the full width panel will slide so I connected the tongue and groove feature to the top rails already in place but then pulled it down just slightly to create some room. I glue and nailed on the bottom rail. I took some measurements and made some marks so that I could drill my two vent holes, again going through both layers at the same time. Now if all is done right, I’ll be able to open or close the vents by simply sliding this outer most board.

Of course that one I pick to show on camera is the hard one. Ha. This center board has a slight bow to it which make it stick slightly, but it’s still easy enough. Here look at the others….see easy. : )

Step 7: Adding Finishing Touches

Ok, now just some finishing touches to the cold smoker! On the outside of the door, I put a handle. Then on the inside, I applied a strip of some foam gasket stuff. My thinking here is to seal the door way off better. I honestly don’t know if it matters because it isn’t like you’re going for 100% airtight here, but I figured it couldn’t hurt. It’s a simple peel and stick process.

Then once that was in place, I worked on a latch. I utilized a clamp lightly applying pressure on the door to get the placement of this latch correctly. This way, when it’s latched shut, the door will be just slightly compressing that foam gasket. Yay!!!

Lets knock out a finish. I need something food safe for the inside and my go to is this Wood Honey by Total Boat. This finish is not only easy to apply, as you can see I’m just wiping it on, but it’s good for anything that will be around food such as bowls or countertops. Then for the outside of the cold smoker I’m going with Total Boat’s Halcyon. This is another one that is really easy to apply, I chose to use a foam brush, but it also dries to a UV stable gloss or stain finish. I recommend five coats of this but don’t worry, it dries so fast, you can easily apply them in a single day

Testing out the Cold Smoker!

Ok ok ok, lets try it out!

Ok so the concept is you place a tube with smoke pellets down here. I went ahead and laid down a piece of steel just in case an ember falls out of the tube. You light up one end….not to where it has a flame, but is just smoldering. This apparently will go for hours and you can buy pellets in all different flavors like hickory, pecan, apple, and mesquite. I made the sizing of my unit fit cooking racks so that I can place whatever I want to smoke, on top and slide them in.

I also bought a thermometer so I can stay in touch with how cool or hot the smoker is. For cheese, it needs to be kept around 80-85 degrees. I’ll tell you right now, this is a blast. The olives and okra only take about 20 mins and the cheese takes 2 hours. It smells great, tastes good, and is a very quick and easy build. I hope you enjoyed following along and remember if you want to build your own cold smoker, I do have a set of plans for a few different sizes.

Things I used to Build the Cold Smoker

Material I Used to Build The Compost Bins:

Step 1: Building the posts for the Compost Bins

I have a set of plans for this larger size I made myself but I also have a set of plans that is smaller. Since I live on land and have a huge garden, I wanted the extra capacity. I’m placing this right outside my garden, next to a potting shed I built a few years ago. I’m going to skip digging holes because that’s standard practice but know there are 8 needed for this build and a 4×4 can be placed in each one. The back posts are simply cut to size, then plopped in their spot.

The front ones, have a center channel that runs most of the way down. These are what make the front slats adjustable. To cut these in, I go to the table saw. A trick to cutting in the channel easily is to set up two fences. I make my first pass by using the table saw fence which is set up to establish the far right boundary of the channel.

On my second pass, I use a scrap straight board that is aligned to the left of the needed channel. Another scrap is placed on the outfeed table to establish the depth of the channel. When it comes time to run the third pass, I don’t use either fence, but instead float my 4×4 in between the two to clear out as much of the center as I can.

Don’t worry if you don’t get it all though, a chisel can do the rest of the clean up work. Typically when working with a chisel, you want to use the big flat portion to move along the wood. However, in situations like these where the handle prevents you from getting down flat, know you can flip it over and use this small bevel instead. It’s a smaller surface area so it’s harder to keep flat, but just place a finger or two down on it to help.

Step 2: Preparing the Posts to be Placed in the Ground

Ok, with the channels made, lets put these posts in their place in the front line up. With posts going in the ground, make sure you’re using pressure treated wood. In fact, I recommend using Prowood which even has labeling to help you pick out the correct treated material for your specific project. For my posts, I made sure to find the label that said “ground contact”.

One of my favorite things about Prowood is they use the latest advancement in pressure treated lumber to color treat their wood! So instead of the standard green tone, you can now choose from a variety of colors and skip the staining step. The wood is color infused so pigment is driven deep into the wood fibers that’s warrantied to stand up to the elements for years

Step 3: Placing the Posts in the Ground

Let’s move on to setting these posts in the ground. I didn’t feel like messing with concrete so for this project I used decomposed granite as an alternative. This stuff can be found bagged in the garden section. On every post, I fill the hole up about 1/3 of the way, then I tamp it down, aka compact it.

To get it started I prefer to use a short scrap and I chose a 1x so I can fit into the tight spots around the posts. I’m going for enough compaction to keep the post from leaning a ton so that I have both hands to place a level on one side of the post and push it into plumb. Once I have it there, I compress more, then repeat on the other face of the same post. After getting it just right, I fill up the hole further then really try my best to compact it tight.

I have a rock bar, because everybody in the hill country does, and it actually comes with a 2” round tamp on one end, so that’s what I use.

I recommend you start with an end, then hop down the line to set the other end post, then knock out the in betweens. More than making sure each post is plumb on two faces, you also want to make sure the faces are square to one another, I’m using that long 1×4 to test this.

Step 4: Leveling the Posts

Next I made all the compost bin posts level to each other. To do this, I found the height of the shortest post, then cut the top off the others posts to match it. I did this with two passes using a circular saw. This is faaaaar easier than trying to get all 8 holes exactly to the same depth.

While I was cutting, I cut in a shoulder on all four of the back posts. Be watchful because if you move around a post as much as I did here, you’lI absolutely have to replumb it. A good tip is to don’t be too worry about perfectly plumb until now, just get it close, because the next step is to add a 2×4 that reaches across all four of these back posts to secure them together.

At this point I made sure the posts were perfectly plumb then I could tamp away and compact it as much as I could.

Step 5: Adding Screening to the Compost Bin

Go ahead and take your time on setting these posts because if they are plumb and square, then it will make everything else from here fly. The next step is to dress off the back of the compost bin. There are a few options you could go with for screening but I recommend hardware cloth. I’m using a crown stapler to pin it into place, trying to work out the bubbles as I go. I pin it in just a few places to hold it down, then once I don’t have to hold it any longer, I go back and thoroughly attach it. I imagine there will be a decent amount of pressure once these compost bins are full.

To cut hardware cloth you can absolutely use a pair of side cutters but a much faster way is to use a right angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Don’t worry if you get into the wood a bit.

Step 6: Cutting Railings for the Compost Bin

At this point I go back to my shop and cut some rails that will span from the back posts to the front ones. I use my bandsaw to cut in two different shapes on one end of these pieces. The T’s will be placed in the center, while the Ls will be placed on the outside. On all of these, I start by attaching the back of the rail to the back post. When I move to attach the front, I move the rail in or out with my knee. Things should be plumb at this point, but each one was slightly off. No problem though, After pinning it in front, I could once again tamp down the granite.

Step 7: Hardware Cloth for the Compost Stalls

With these rails in place you can see the shape of each stall appearing. To complete it, I wall it in using hardware cloth on all the inside faces. These are roughly cut to size first to make handling them a little bit easier, but once I start pinning them, I let them run long on the front because it’s easy to trim perfectly to length after. In fact, if you have a buddy around, have them grab a pair of square nose pliers and pull the hardware cloth tight while you secure it. This is most useful on the front home stretch.

Note: that this air gap in between each stall is intentional. Airflow is a big contributor to a healthy compost pile that won’t stink. If you do compost right, which includes air flow annnd a balance of brown and green layers, then odor shouldn’t be an issue.

Step 8: Walling off the Front of the Compost Bin

Alright, lets wall off the front. To keep the bottom slat from resting on the ground, I ran in a screw to interfere with the track on the 4x4s. This means, I can now feed in slats as tall or as low as I want for each stall. I’ll probably leave them all high while filling and letting the compost cook, but it will be very useful to take off slats as I’m removing the compost for use.

Note: treated wood vs. non-treated wood

if you’re worried about using treated wood around compost know that the main ingredient in Prowood pressure treated lumber is actually copper, which is used in frying pans and even water lines. The technical name is Micronized Copper azole which still makes the wood termite and fungal resistant but means you can use it on food prep surfaces. It also means other benefits like it’s more natural looking, less corrosive to fasteners, and color treated boards will outlast cedar and redwood boards, hands down.

Step 9: Protecting the Compost Bin by Adding Lids

Ok one last component and this compost bin project will be a wrap, in order to keep animals out, next I built some lids. These are pretty simple construction with some 2x2s and more hardware cloth. I built these inside my shop because it’s way easier to do on a large surface than on the ground.

I started by attaching the cloth to one of the 2x2s, then flipped it over and attached the long side to this short side. Then just repeated on the remaining two sides. Again, going for air flow but a no critter zone.

To attach them to the compost bin, I started by screwing on a few hinges to the back of the body. Then I set the lid in place, lined it up to this hinge then secured it with screws. Regardless on how long you have the front wall, this lid will close down but lets go ahead and install all the slats and take a look.

You can absolutely leave it as is but I installed a simple string attachment with a small weight in order to make lowering the doors a little easier. And you’re done! You’ve built your own compost bin!

I am just now getting into composting so I know I don’t know much, but I think this three section compost bin rock! There are three bays because there are three stages of composting. I’ll always have one that I’m filling, one that is in the cooking stage, then one that will be ready to use compost. It will be close to two years before I have this third ready to use but once I invest the time, I should always have a stall rotating into use.

The front wall is super easy to lower, or raise depending on the task that’s needed, the lids will keep animals out but lets in moisture and airflow, and unlike compost methods that require tumbling, I’ll be able to layer up green and brown things to let sit until ready. It’s a super low maintenance compost bin.

****Remember I have a set of compost bin plans if you would like to build your own. I have this set which is large, but also the same design on a smaller scale. You can also go to prowoodlumber.com and find out where to buy Prowood for your next build. **** I’ll see you on my next project!

Additional Things I Used in this Build

Materials I Used to Build The Dog House

Step 1: Laying out parts and pre-drilling

There are four main components to build: The deck, the front, the back, and the roof. I started off by grabbing all the parts that will make up the deck and laid them out on my workbench so that I could predrill and attach things together with screws. I do have a set of plans for this project if you would like a material list and a cultist to build your own.

Next I laid out all the flooring material to attach it to the topside of this framing. I was shocked that the price was a 1/3rd of the cost and I just made sure to put the ugly side down! You’ll want to make sure the frame is square before attaching the decking. I used an 18 gauge nailer to quickly attach things.

Step 2: Attaching the pieces to make up the front of the dog house

Ok, first big component down. Now lets set that aside and pull in the pieces that will make up the front. I cut all the parts according to my cut list then did a dry fit first just to make sure there weren’t any obvious problems. Once everything was laid out and things seemed to work, I started attaching things. As you can see I’ve pre-painted mine and that’s because of the color scheme I wanted in the end, it’s much easier to paint the framing beforehand.

After getting done, I set it aside and repeated those same steps to frame up what will be the back wall, then set it with the others.

Step 3: Making the dog house roof

The last major component to build is the roof. If you use my plans to build this dog house, I would recommend keeping the pieces separated like this so it makes building time go much quicker. At each stage, I was able to bring in the needed parts for that assembly then quickly arrange them, and screw them together. If you notice me skipping the wood glue it’s because it doesn’t stick very well to painted parts. If you have raw parts, then you could use some on each joint, just make sure it’s exterior.

After knocking out the framing for the roof, I applied this tonge and groove material on top. You could absolutely use some sheet material like OSB or Plywood, but I wanted the inside of the roof to match the siding I will add later. Tonge and groove is awesome because it goes together so nicely and connects with the previous board.

I’m once again using my 18 gauge nailer here to pin it to the framing. I started on one end, then worked my way down to the other. When I got to the end, I held the board in place, making sure the tonge and groove were facing the correct direction, made a mark on the underside, then cut this board to the needed depth to fill in the remaining space.

Step 4: Attaching all of the assemblies together

Alrighty, now lets play shuffle and start throwing all the main components together. I’ll set the roof over here, move the front and back, so that I can grab the deck and set it on the workbench again. Now I’ll grab the back to start and if done correctly, it should just slip right onto the deck. I predrilled and threw in a few screws to attach it. Then repeated with the front. Since this dog house is a little bougie, there is a porch so the front is set back a ways to create said porch.

Now lets throw the roof on. I found it easiest to climb up on my workbench to do this, but building it on the ground could also work. The framing of the front and back walls have ‘ears’ on them to help locate the roof, but it might need some help to seat the roof all the way down since it’s a tight fit. Something that helped is backing out the top screw in the framing to allow that ‘ear’ to flex out slightly. Once the roof was seated all the way, I could tighten back up on the framing but also attach the framing to the roof to secure it down.

Step 5: Installing the siding of the dog house to close the walls

Next up is siding! This is made up of that same tonge and groove material I made for the roof and it’s just as simple to throw on vertical as it is horizontal. Once cut to length, you just need to make sure the board going on is seated all the way down on the previous board. Again, I’m using my nailer to attach things. Nice and simple. When I get closer to the top, I use my bandsaw to cut in the angles needed. RT audio I’m calling that good. I did the same exact process on the other side.

Step 6: Completing the front and back walls of the dog house

Let’s complete the front and back walls. I’m sure you were wondering why there are so many empty cavities designed in. It’s because I wanted the dog house to have class paneling. I don’t know about your pups, but mine like to be able to see what’s happening in their domain. Instead of one large panel, which you can very well do if you want to simplify things, I decided to break up the space into multiple small ones.

This is where our first 3M science product comes in. Not the glass…..but the film applied to the glass. A fun fact: visible light is light you can see and infrared light is what you can feel. 3Ms Sun Control Window Film Prestige Series reflect the suns infrared light significantly reducing the hat coming through windows. In addition to that, they also reject up to 99.9% of damaging UV rays. These films are designed to be applied directly to your existing windows to provide an easy and cost effective upgrade vs replacement. It allows my pups the openness windows provide without letting the heat and UVs in.

If you can’t tell, I am loving this thing.

Step 7: Building the Roof of the Dog House

Ok moving on to the roof! Before adding shingles, I went around the edges and added metal drip edge. What I do to install this is I hold it up on the edge, starting with the short side first, then cut it where the corners land. You’ll want to use roofing nails to attach it down. Since one piece won’t wrap all the way around, I let the leftover amount hangout, then used a new piece to finish covering the remaining side. Using a roofing nail to tack through both.

With that down it was a simple matter of nailing down the shingles. I figured out the overhang on the left then let the right run wild. I’ll cut it later. The shingles have a yellow zone to use the nails on.

While I work my way from the eve to the peak, let me tell you the awesome science of these shingles. 3M is making smog pollutant reducing granules (the tiny particles that make up the shingles) that might sound like a mouth full but it’s fascinating. These granules will absorb and hold onto nitrogen oxide in the air that touches it.

Then it will turn it into water soluble ions that not only safely wash away with the rain but then carry the nitrogen to the ground below which helps plants and grass. To put it simply, these granules, the shingles turn a roof into a smog fighting surface where it will take nitrogen from a place we don’t want it, and carry it safely to a place we do.

And that my friends, is how you can build your dogs a bougie house, very simple and easy but so stylish. Also remember I have a set of plans available if you want to build your own.

Step 8: Showing off some 3M products

I’m going to go ahead and add more accessories in order to show you two more really cool products 3M has initiated and released to do their part in changing the world.

First up is a dog bed. 3M innovated a 100% recycled featherless insulation called Thinsulate. I’m using it as the stuffing material in a dog bed (I just bought one then replaced the stuffing inside with insulation) However, it’s everyday application is actually within performance apparel and outerwear. It’s made from 100% recycled content such as plastic bottles that end up in the landield, meaning it’s helping to address global waste. It’s lightweight as natural down and still performs when wet.

Then the last thing to show off is called the Midsummer solar roof panel where 3M’s Ultra Barrier Solar film is incorporated. Due to low material consumption, a unique manufacturing process and production, Midsummer’s solar roofs have a 90% lower carbon footprint compared to traditional solar panels.

I’m so proud to be partnering with a company like 3M who isn’t only concerned with their bottom dollar but are setting goals for themselves to be carbon neutral and then investing time, money, and research to innovate products to accomplish it. Every new 3M product has a sustainability value commitment that shows how it contributes to the greater good. The four products in this dog house are just an example

I really hope you enjoyed this project. Check out my website for a set of plans not only for this

Things I Used in this Build:

If you’re looking for a place to store your firewood that also is super cool to look at, check out this firewood holder DIY. Before, I would just have my different sizes piled up in containers around the hearth, which was really unattractive. So on a whim I threw these together. The three compartments allow me to separate small, from medium, to large pieces of wood. Grab a set of plans and let me show you how I build them.

Let’s Build A Firewood Holder

I’ve created a set of plans to make building this firewood holder quick and easy!

Materials I Used in this Build:

Step 1: Selecting Material and Cutting to Size

I did design and build these on a whim so when selecting material, I just looked around my shop to see what I had already that would fit the sizes. I found this stack of 3/4” cut off from some shelves I tore a part that I’ll make the body from. Then for the back, I have some 1/2” plywood from who knows what.

I started off by ripping the sheets down to width needed. If you want exact dimensions, I have a set of plans available over on my website. I tilted the blade over to then cut in the angles needed to created the pointed miters. Since there are a lot of repeated parts, I set up a stop block so that I could make them all the same. When you do this, you want to make sure to set the stop block back far enough so the board won’t be touching it when it contacts the blade. As this is what can cause kick back.

To save from switching the blade back and forth, after cutting one side with the needed angle, I would flip the board and cut the other side since it still had a 90 on one end. This will leave the remaining board with angles on both end, that I can chop up for the mitered parts. I personally like to always do a test first and a dry fit to make sure things are going to work as I have them planned. That looks good though.

Step 2: Banding the Edges of the Firewood Holder

Now I just needed 12 of them total so I locked in the new distance for the fence for this part and chopped up the remaining bit into pieces.

This project only consist of four different parts. What I’ll call the side, the tops which are slightly longer than anything else, the horizontal shelves, then the mitered points. Keep in mind that it would be simple to add more to subtract the number of cubbies, depending on your spaces needs.

Alrighty, now I’ll edge band the edges that will be facing the front. Actually, on second thought, I like the idea of painting them instead. Note: that if you edge band you’ll need to do that before joining the parts together, but if you want to paint, then you can go straight into assembling.

Step 3: Assembling the Firewood Holder Cubicles

For assembling, I started off on top of my workbench and what I did is apply some wood glue, I’m using DAPs weldwood here, to every joint, then pin nailed things together using my 23 gauge nailer. This is a pretty weak joint until the wood glue has time to set up, so I was being careful as I was moving it around to attach the next leg. If I didn’t have a 23 gauge, I would have used a 18 gauge instead.

After getting a few attached, I thought it would make things easier to do it on the ground so I could see everything clearly as I was attaching legs. So I moved it down to the floor and continued. I would juke and jive to create the points of the cubbies, then attach the horizontal that will create the separation between.

I paused when I got to the very top because the way I have it designed, the top edge will actually be seen. With that, I edge banded both of these parts before adding them on. This is as simple as heating up an iron and warming up the glue on the back of the banding until it sticks to the plywood edge. This will be slightly different than the ply, but it doesn’t bother me.

Step 4: Painting the Firewood Holder Cubbies

 I left that where it sat to give that glue time to set up and dry. While it was, I grabbed pieces that will make up the back from my 1/2” plywood scraps. I also grabbed the pieces that will make up the sides. I want both of these to be painted the same color as my wall which means I need to give them a few coats before attaching the cubbies.

Since I have the paint out, I also wanted to paint that front edge of the cubbies. I first give them both a good sanding to get them smooth. Now when working with plywood, there are typically voids on every single edge. In order to get a smooth looking paint surface, I apply some wood filler on a putty knife. I’m using DAP Premium wood filler. This stuff not only dries fast but is easy to sand and is great to color match if you are staining something.

After letting it dry for about 30 mins, I came back with a sanding sponge to knock it down flat so that I could roll on the paint onto the pieces of the firewood holder.

With finishing out of the way, let me just push this button here to raise my finishing shelf up and locate the hardware I’ll need to attach the cubbies to the back.

Step 5: Shaping the Back to Fit the Firewood Holder Cubbies

I started with a back slightly larger than what I needed, then plopped the cubbies down onto it and lined it up so that the bottom cubby was flush to the end of the plywood. I used my pin nailer to just tack things in place to start. The end is easy as it should be flush, but to make sure the rest weren’t crocked, I pulled a tape to get the spacing perfect before tacking the rest. With it not able to fall off now, I tilted the entire unit on it’s face so that I would have access to the underside to throw in screws. Here, I made sure to pre drill to prevent splitting.

Step 6: Securing the Firewood Holder Cubbies to the Back

The top location is easy to locate because you have a visual on where the shelf is located. However, the second one is tricky because it’s in the middle of nowhere. What I do is grab a speed square, this Crescent one has an additional 6” flip out rule so that I can position it in the center of the shelf, go down to the dimension needed, and pre drill. If you don’t have this speed square or another long one, then a level would also do the trick.

For the angled portion of the shelves, the speed square wouldn’t work, so I grabbed a scrap and cut in an angle at the tip. This way I could rest it on the shelf and allow me to mark the height. Making sure to keep it in the same location, I moved the scrap to the face closest to me to now drop it down back to the line I made which gives me the location of the angled shelf to pre drill and attach a screw.

With the back on, this thing now feels really secure and strong. I flipped it up to take a look. I actually think it looks pretty good with a square back on it and was considering leaving it as is but then I decided to stick to my original plan and make the back flush to the geometric shape. I wasn’t able to locate my palm router, which is actually the ideal tool to trim the back off, so instead I put a flush trim bit in my router table and trim it off that way. The key here is to keep the unit nice and flush on the table as you move it along.

I laid the unit over and attached the side. This will help support the horizontal shelves that will actually be supporting the load of the firewood.

Step 7 : Installing the Firewood Holder and Cutting Firewood

 Last thing to do was install them. Now I personally wanted mine up off the ground so I wouldn’t block an outlet I have over on the right hand side. Then I also like to use this area for storing my games and puzzles. With that, I propped the units up, found the studs, then drove a few screws into the back of the unit to attach them.

Ok lets load it down and see how much it can hold. Now that, is much better than before. Instead of ugly boxes and totes, I now have a nice firewood holder with dedicated space for the wood. This will allow me room to store and separate all different sizes of firewood during winter. Then I personally like the look of wood enough to keep it full year round, but I could also store other kinds of nicknacks during spring and summer should I want to.

What do y’all think about them? Remember how easy it is to make larger or smaller. I even think they would look good horizontal, depending on your space. I have a set of plans for this project as well as many other over on my website. In fact, if you want firewood storage ideas, I have a few of them.

I’ll see you next time.

Material I Used For This Build:

Who doesn’t like sitting outside with a good fall breeze and some crisp air? It’s finally time to start getting ready for fall, what better way than building a good fire pit. Grab a set of plans and follow along with this video so I can show you how I made mine.

Let’s Build a Fire Pit

I’ve created a set of plans to make building this fire pit super simple and easy to follow.

Materials I Used for this Build

• Wood
• Wood Glue
• Saw
• Nails
• Brad Nailer
• Wood Finish
• Casters
• Fire Pit Plans

Step 1: Building the Fire Pit Frame and Assembling

The first thing I’m going to do is build a frame from 2x4s. This will be a big box to hide the propane tank needed to feed the fire. I intentionally bought a tank that can safely be laid down on it’s side so I could keep my table lower to the ground. By the way, if you want a cut list and dimensions of this table, I have a set of plans for it over on my website. If this table is too big for you, I also have a smaller version available

After using the miter saw to cut down a few 2x4s, I assembled them. I first lay out all my parts to do a dry fit. This way I can make sure it all looks right before sticking things together. Here I’m using exterior rated wood glue and a few screws on each joint. This is designed so that the top boards overlap the joints of the bottom boards. This will create strength but it also makes it quick to put together.

Step 2: Creating the Boxes Body

Next will be to sheath it, to put plywood around the frame to create the box’s body. Since this will be outside, I’m using an exterior plywood that is treated. I also painted the outside faces which you’ll see I’m making sure to attaching pointing towards the outside of the body.

This is because I plan to do a slatted design outside of this layer and wanted a dark color to be in between each slat. I’m attaching these sheets by first pre drilling then running in a screw along the bottom. Then also running in a screw to connect the top of the boards together. When going into thin wood like this 1/2” plywood, I switch over to using trim head screws like these here.

Step 3: Framing out the Top and Attaching it to the Body

The next thing I did was frame out the top side. These members will give me support to secure the top in the next step. They can be tricky to add since there is nothing except the plywood to connect them to the bottom framing so what I did was use a clamp to hold it in place once I got it lined up to the top of the ply. Again using the trim head screws to secure it. I started with the two longer pieces then connected the two shorter sides in between.

Alrighty, now lets throw the top on. This is another piece of exterior rated plywood that I painted the top side of. The hole in the center will be where the fire tray gets inserted later. I lined it up to the body then secured it down by first pre drilling around the perimeter then running in some screws. All over I made sure to sink the heads of the screws so that nothing would prevent the slats that will come next, to attaching flush to the body.

I’m going to leave that as is for a bit and start making the slats that will cover it.

Step 4: Making the Slats to Cover the Body

For this part I’m going with western red cedar 1×4 boards. This is what will take this boring box and turn it into something gorgeous to look at. I started by taking my full length boards and ripping them to width at the table saw. I made the slats half the width so two slats could come out of one board. Now I’m going to go with a water fall look so that the top boards will miter over into the side boards. To achieve this, I turned my table saw blade to a 45 and used the miter gauge to

 cut the boards to length. When setting up my fence, I place a clamp and a scrap board to act as a stop block. Notice how I place this far enough back on the fence so that the board will no longer be touching this scrap once it contacts the blade. If it contacts both at the same time, it creates a pitch zone which causes kickback. This is a fast way to make lots and lots of repetitive cuts.

To put the miters together, I use exterior wood glue once again then also reenforce the joint with a few 23 gauge brad nails. Nice and simple. Next I repeated that same process to create a whole bunch of them. Since the pattern is the same in all four quadrants, I could prep all the parts and have them staged on my workbench. This also gave the glue time to set up.

Step 5: Applying the Slats to the Fire Pit Body

With that done, this next step will fly. Lets start applying the slats to the body. So the sides will have verticals that come up and meet the top slats. With that, I want the top covering the end grain of the verticals so I make sure to hold up a scrap to get the spacing correct. You can see I move it along as I work on securing that first board, but then after that the rest can get laid down with just a spacer. I also move this spacer along to make sure the slat is getting attached parallel the entire length of the board. See me using it on the top but also on the side.

My spacer is just a random scrap I found to be the size needed for the gap. When I get to the inside most slat, I hold it in place so that I can go to the inside with a pencil and mark the center hole opening. I think it’s easier to cut this now with a bandsaw but know that you can also attach it and cut it after the fact with a jigsaw or even a flush trim bit in a router. The fire tray with cover it so no need to make it super pretty.

Step 6: Creating the Propane Tank Door

I’m using a few streaks of DAP Dyna grip on each one of these before the brad nails. This is my favorite construction adhesive as it’s incredibly fast setting and works for both interior and exterior projects. You can see next I repeated much of the same process but this time with just straight vertical boards. These are butted up right to the underside of the overhanging top slat and I make sure to use the same spacer so things remain consistent.

All these slats hang past the body slightly because I personally wanted casters on mine so that I can make this thing mobile when not in use. The overhanging amount will cover the added height. This big gap here will be a removable panel to allow me to access the inside propane tank. I’m using magnets here and attach them by counterboring into the framing material then screwing in a magnet.

Now I can attach a washer on a screw to the door on all four corners to correspond to these magnets. Once the door is in place, I could repeat the process of attaching verticals to make it disappear into the body.

Step 7: Applying Finish to the Fire Pit

Lets go ahead and put a coat of finish on them to really see them pop. In order to get in all the nooks and crannies of the sides of the slats, I’m spraying on my finish but you could absolutely just roll or brush it on instead. I’m using my Wagner HVLP which makes very quick work of this step. For a finish I’m going with the Total Boat Gleam 2.0 as it dries quickly, does a great job at leveling out on it’s own, and what I most like is that it has UV resistors in it so this cedar will hold up even though it will be outside.

Step 8: Adding Casters to Make the Fire Pit Mobile

Oops, If forgot to show you when I attached the casters. But back after attaching all the slats, I tiled the box over and screwed on a few casters which is what is allowing me to rotate this thing around to show you all sides.

I personally like the idea of it having casters on it because it will only be getting used during the winter months but for the summer months, I like the idea of pushing it out of the way and using this space for something else. Once I picked out where I wanted my fire table to be I started loading in the appliances to make it work. The tray slips right into the center opening and comes with pretty simple instructions on hooking it up to a propane tank.

You can’t lay a normal propane tank on it’s side so if you build one of these you either need to redesign it so it can stand upright or buy one that is designed specifically to be laid over.

Step 9: Finishing details! Adding Rocks, Chairs, and Drinks!

Now I need to fill it with rock, grab my portable chair, and a drink and enjoy. As you can see there is plenty of space for company to join me and also plenty of space to set drinks or a plate of food on the unit itself. However remember that I have plans for this larger unit but also a more compact unit if you’re interested in building one yourself.

Conclusion

If a fire pit has been on your to do list then I hope this video has given you some good inspiration to tackle it this fall. Be sure to check out my website for a set of plans for this build as well as several others. I’ll see you on whatever I’m building next.

Additional Things I Used in the Build:

Let’s Build a Rotating Shelf

This rotating shelf is awesome! I love how it helps me keep my shop functional but also saves me some space.

I’ve created a set of rotating shelf plans that will help you take on this build.

Materials I Used On This Build

Step 1: Prepare the wood by pre-drilling

Lets start off with a piece of plywood. This will make up the wall that will hold the shelves and rotate around. I have a ton of walnut scraps around so that made my choice but know you can use any 3/4” stuff.

Ok next is to drill some holes in what will be the top and bottom framing members. Actually there are a few parts that require a few different holes in it. I took those parts to the drill press and did them all at once. Some counterboring, some through holes. If you would like exact dimensions and specs for this unit, I have a set of plans with all the details over on my website.

This is one of my favorite new things in the shop. Instead of having to clamp my bench vise down to the drill press table which is always a pain, this base has four knobs that activate or deactivate magnets. It makes adjusting parts a breeze.

A tip for you: this part will end up being on about this long but I left it longer to make it easier to hold onto while drilling for the holes.

Step 2: Putting a threaded insert into the left and right parts of the shelf

These three pieces will make up an assembly but first I want to take the left and right part and put in a threaded insert, one of these here. It’s important for it to go in as straight as possible so I thread on a wheel that will later connect to it because on the top is an insert for an Allen wrench. This gives me a way to use a screw driver to start the insert and turn it. I used a speed square to keep an eye on my alignment as I started it.

Once it’s grabbed a few threads into the wood, then the speed square can be tossed aside. There still came a point where my strength wasn’t enough to continue turning it so I put a washer into some pliers to finish, turning the plier handles horizontal so I can use leverage to crank it around. With that finished I can finish attaching the rest of the components including a pin that will work as a pivot point and a drawer slide.

Step 3: Creating the sliding piece for the top of the rotating shelf

Ok now I repeat to make something similar for the top of the rotating shelf. This one has a few less parts but it still needs the pivot point pin, then a drawer slide attached to the backside. Now I have two crawly things that will make sense in just a few mins. For right now, I set them aside and started building a box. This is simple construction with wood glue, a predrill, and a few screws to hold things together.

I started by attaching the bottom, then added the first side, then rotated it around to attach the second side. I slide it to the edge of my workbench so it won’t interfere with my drill as I’m pre drilling.

Step 4: Making the top and attaching it to the base

For now I’m going to leave off the top. I still need to make the top. This is that short piece I drilled holes in earlier and to make sure I got both lined up with my marks, I went ahead and ran in two screws so the point was sticking out. This way I could set them in my predrill spots and know it was lined up straight without having to measure. The center hole can get a threaded insert so that I have a way to attach this aluminum piece that will be a swing arm. I know this is looking a little crazy, but it should make sense in the next step.

With the top made up, I can go ahead and attach it. I first stood up the piece that will hold the shelf and set it on the bottom pivot point. I precariously left it leaning on the box body while I went and grabbed the top. Now I can set this part on the top pivot point. I’m leaving off the wood glue on the part just incase I need to get back in here to make adjustments.

At this point, I’m still not sure if it was going to work or not. So just a few pre drills and screws to set the top in place. However, instead of the final product just spinning freely in a circle, it will actually just flip like this from one side then to the other, then back again. To do that, I tilted the center shelf so that I could crawl inside slightly and attach those swing arms I made earlier. There is one I snaked my arm in to attach at the bottom, then also the same at the top.

Step 5: Hanging the rotating shelf!

Now I originally intended to hang the rotating shelf on a few studs up on my wall so that it’s at a comfortable height, but then I saw my plumb toolbox and figured I would use it to set the unit right on top of! But know that hanging it is certainly an option.

Ok, now what to store on it?! The great thing about it being a bare center wall is you can custom design any shelving unit to hold whatever it is you personally want to store, whether it be shoes or towels for the house, or hardware and sandpaper for the shop! That’s what I’m going to use mine for. I used the CNCs to cut out some custom shelving that would allow me to take this big pile of mess and instead organize it.

Other Thing I Used In This Rotating Shelf Build