At last! This is finished! It shouldn't have taken so long! But it did. I'll explain.
It's made almost entirely out of reclaimed materials. The top was a discarded cutting board that a friend of Mikey's was throwing out. He offered it to Mikey, since it's nice wood, it's artisanal-looking, thinking that Mikey could make something from it. Mikey, of course, hummed and hawed, because it IS nice, but being just one piece, there's not too many projects readily available for such a thing. That, and we have this habit we're trying to quit of collecting materials and letting them sit forever.
But I knew what I could use it for right away, so I claimed it. Thanks, Dan.
The wood making up the rest of the box is 100% from off-cuts (and one unused plank) from Mikey's vertical gardens. None of them were long enough to make for the height of the piece, but all of them were just over slightly half what the height should be... So I made four quarter-walls, and completed them with another off-cut from the inside. This thing's only real weakness is that a good kick to either side will probably snap the wall inward. After the show, I'll secure that with some extra wood before I try to find this thing a new home.
The screws are all a combination of left-over from old projects, reclaimed from deconstructed materials, or otherwise reclaimed. One of the time-consuming things about making this was trying to make sure the screws for each part were of an appropriate length, so as not to go right through and be sticking out the other side. Then I had to drill pilot-holes for each and every blessed one, to keep the wood from splitting whilst attaching it together. Then changing between Phillips and Robertson... Fortunately I got away without needing to use any slot-head screws. But still, if anybody scraps this baby for parts down the road, they're going to need to change bits often.
Even the magnets that hold the door closed, the hinges, and the corner brackets were already here from past projects. The spackle I used for the door came from someone else's condo-painting job, and the primer for the front was given by the same friend who gave the cutting board top. Thanks again, Dan.
The magnets ON the door are from our own fridge. Mostly of our own making, for Belleville-Ville, but also from friends. I might ask for some more.
There were only a few things I needed to buy to make this. A handle for the door, a whopping $2. Pretty cheap, and you can see I accidentally squished in the top-right side while screwing it in.
Castors, for the bottom. Four of them, two with locks. That ran me a wild $20.
Then, when I brought the castors home, I found out that the holes for screws were much wider than any of the screws I had for the length I needed... So that set me back another day, needing to get washers.
I also went and picked up a dollar store LED press-light, and a curtain for the back. Another crazy $6.
Maybe I should show you the inside, too!
Tonight we have a rehearsal space to go through the full run. That's pretty exciting! And we're still trying to fundraise, so if any of you out there are feeling able to be philanthropic, you'll get our gratitude in return! And potentially any of the prizes we have listed. Including a commissioned painting by yours truly. :)
