Laundry basket make

In need of a new laundry basket to complement a newly decorated bedroom and with plenty of timber laying around the workshop, I decided to build one from scratch. The challenge was to build one without the use of screws or nails and to use only timber joints or pegs.

I began creating a simple CAD drawing in AutoCad for the dimensions and to see how it would fit together. I chopped all the off-cuts of pine I had laying around to the necessary lengths.

For the base, I decided on a tongue and groove joint. I cut an MDF square which would then slot into the channels of the pine strips that I cut along the lengths of.

All glued up making a really strong base.

For the lid, I mitred the frame and glued in place.

I then added a lip for the slats to sit onto. These were glued in place with a removable spacer between them allowing a uniformed positioning. Lid complete, onto the sides.

Rather than an individual joint for each slat, I decided on tongue and groove again considering that there were 56 slats in total.

I cut channels through the lengths of the pine strips, and cut all the 'tongue' joints into the slats.

With some of the components together now, I stained the pine using a chestnut finish. These parts were then finished with a fine grade of wire wool.

To assemble the sides, I created a jig to make sure all the components were square.

To strengthen the frame of the sides, I added wooden pegs.

To finish, I rubbed a natural clear wax all over to bring out the final colour and to seal the stain.

The finished result it below.

Completed Laundry basket

This was a satisfying build. Not only did I complete my own challenge of not using any screws or nails, I also used up some left over timber.