Life in the Village and beyond, based around the interests of my life.

Life in the Village and beyond, based around the interests of my life. Sunset at Telegraph Point.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

The Wooden Letterbox

Making the Letterbox

Good friends of ours wanted a new letterbox - nothing fancy - just a functioning letter box.
They even provided a fully detailed engineer's drawing.
(which I have misplaced, but will post here when found)

Here we go.



Made from recycled timbers sourced from far and wide.
The ship-lap boards are western red cedar from my brother in law's renovation and the remaining parts are alpine ash from a reclaimed bed-head.



Hinged forward using brass hinges.  The salty air at the address necessitated some corrosion protection.



The sides of the letterbox hang down below the base so that rain does not cause rotting problems to the floor of the letterbox.


The roof overhangs the body on all sides to provide a constant self draining design that doesn't impact the sides.
And here is the finished article all mounted on its post.


The choice of finish for a salty environment is tough gloss acrylic paint - inside and out.
The existing number and newspaper holder were retained.  And they are sheltered from the elements.
Happy shavings to all.

7 comments:

  1. Are there no provisions for outgoing mail?

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    Replies
    1. Not in Australia. We don't have that postal service. Anything that we post has to be taken to an official postal box or a post office for mailing. In cities and town there are postal boxes in most neighbourhoods, but in the countryside where we live, we have to travel to the post office to mail letters and parcels.

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  2. Learn something new every day!

    I don't trust leaving anything important out there anyway, so that wouldn't bother me.

    Thanks

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  3. Have you found the plans yet? My husband needs something to do during the school holidays (Qld school teacher), and this is a perfect project. We're on the Fraser Coast, and the design is great for the weather around here.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Anna. The plan was a simple pencil picture drawing showing only the front.
      The rest came from my head.
      I must have thrown the picture away.
      Make the four corners first and attach the front and back panels.
      Add the base to keep it square then attach the sides.
      Once the box section of the letterbox is complete make the lid.
      Hope this helps

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