How to Make a Trash Can Out of Wood
- 1). Measure the dimensions of your trash can. Decide on the width of all four sides. If the front and back pieces are 15 inches, divide that by 5 and that will mean 3 inches per board. You want all of your boards to be as even as possible. The two side pieces will be 4.5 inches narrower in width than the front and back pieces because they will fit inside of them when assembled. Use a table saw to cut your boards to size.
- 2). Cut your connecting pieces. The connecting pieces will run horizontally along the top and bottom of your four sides. When you measure, you should leave .5 to 1 inch extra to overlap both sides of your side pieces, front and bottom. The connecting pieces for the front and back pieces will be exactly the same length as the front and back pieces. When you cut your connecting pieces with a handsaw, all four pieces will be 2.25 inches wide.
- 3). Nail on your connecting pieces. For the side walls of the trash can, nail in the top connecting piece horizontally with a hammer, 1.25 inches from the top. Nail in the bottom piece so it is even with the bottom edge. For the front and back walls, nail in the top connecting piece horizontally 1.25 inches from the top and nail the bottom piece even with the bottom edge, then connect the individual fence boards with an air stapler.
- 4). Nail your four sides together. When you assemble the four sides they will form a rectangle, with the two side pieces fitting slightly inside the front and back pieces. Nail the top and bottom connecting pieces on all four sides together.
- 5). Attach your base piece. Measure the dimensions for your base piece after you have assembled your sides. Cut it from a single piece of plywood and nail it into place using the bottoms of your connecting pieces as the meeting point.
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