Storage Bins

When I made the range box, I made a large plywood box by mitering the corners and gluing them directly together without a frame.   I have done several projects since then using the same technique, however, sometime I do use glue blocks in the corners on large boxes.   I have discovered that this is a good way to make a very strong, light, and durable container from plywood.  

For years I had been storing things, in cardboard boxes, on shelves in my shop.   This worked, but since the boxes were not uniform and frequently stacked on top of each other, it was difficult to find things.   I recently decided to make some storage boxes to replace the cardboard boxes using thin plywood with mitered corners.   So I got some sheets of 5mm (about 3/16") plywood (sometime called underlayment) and built storage boxes.  

Strap clamps work well to keep pressure on the mitered corners while the glue sets.   The primary problem with building thin plywood boxes with mitered corners is holding them in place while you assemble and put glue on the edges.   I had tried using the Rockler cauls for box joint boxes but they were too small for this size box and the little interdigitated fingers really didn't work well for this size project plus it is not easy to get all four straight when gluing.   The Rockler cauls on the outside corners still didn't hold the box sides in place (cauls too light to hold the larger panel) while I assembled and put glue on the miters, the panels keep falling down.   I built forms for the inside which helped a lot but I had to have a different size for each different size box.  

So I came up with cauls with a built in clamp for the bottom and the bin's sides.   I made the caul's vertical 11 " high with a 6" long 1x4 base on top of a 5/8" plywood base the same size (3-1/2 x 6").   The cauls are made from 1x2 with one 45° mitered corner.  

I decided to build some short cauls with clamps for shallower boxes, the vertical is only 6" high, but everything else is the same.  

I also build a set of 24" high cauls for trash bins.   I have also built several other projects, some with thicker plywood, using this technique.   Here is a link to the back bath vanity.

1/2 sheet of 5mm plywood underlayment.   I have to cut these in half as I unload the pickup, my shop is too small to handle a full 8 foot long piece of plywood.

Plywood panels cut to size, ready to miter.   These are 24" long and 12" wide side panels for 10" wide bins.   Actually, 11-15/16" high, that way I can get 4 across a sheet of plywood.

Stack of front/back panels cut to size.   Another benefit of mitered corners it the lengths are the same as the outside dimenstions of the final box.

The router table setup to cut the 45° edge miters.

Closer look at router table setup to cut the 45° edge miters.

Stack of front/backs with 3 edges mitered.   Your looking at the top edge and one side of a box.

Two mitered edges at a corner.

11" cauls ready to use.   I have an even taller set of cauls for making trash bins.

Tool caddy in short cauls.

See the nice edges, with these cauls, mitering plywood panels is easy.   There was a little splintering when I sawed the plywood.

Box clamped in tall cauls, ready to put a bead of glue around the top edge for the box bottom.

Mitered bottom corner perfectly aligned in the tall cauls.   I glue mitered boxes upside down, I glue the bottom on last because it makes sure the box is square.

Box, upside down in the tall caul clamps.   Acutally I have another set of taller cauls for making trash bins.   The weights on top keep a little pressure on the box's bottom as the glue sets.

A look at the long mitered corner while the glue sets.

A storage bin for the shelves in the shop.

A smaller box with french cleat.

Hung on the wall.

Tilt out bin in the bathroom.

The range box.

Back bath vanity.   This is made with 1/2" plywood, mitered at the corners.