she writes, "i started with a ramberg chest with 3 drawers. picture 1 is the final result, picture 2 is opened hamper.
the idea was to gut the interior to make a presentable, large hamper. (picture 3 is interior, picture 4 is the back support for the lid)
none of the interior drawer parts were used. the extra parts are:- some 1" by 1" boards to support the front sides
- a 1" by 2" by 34" board to support the hinge for the top
- a 1" by 2" by 34" board to support the hinge for the bottom front
- a slab of masonite to fill the bottom (the drawer parts were too narrow)
- and of course a 30" piano hinge
related hacks:
> how's this for a big capacity laundry bin?
> a neat and slim laundry hamper
As a suggestion to opening the top, I'd rework the design so that the topmost "drawer" front was actually part of the lid.
ReplyDeleteYou'd only lose an inch or so in internal storage space and it would be much easier to open.
Good Hack!
- Mike Buckbee
To open it, what if you were to take the top drawer and attach it to the lid instead of to the front. The lid would then be "L" shaped and you could use the knobs on the top drawer to easily open it.
ReplyDeleteYou should get those magnetic hinges where you press and they pop out. I see them on entertainment center doors a lot, the ones with glass cabinet doors with no handles. A fake vase would be pretty hilarious too, though you'd wouldn't be able to open the lid flat against a wall.
ReplyDeleteMaybe instead of attaching the top drawer to the dresser as it is now, you attach the top "hatch" to the top drawer, and use the existing hardware on the drawer to lift the entire hatch open. The top drawer becomes the "handle". You get my drift?
ReplyDeleteUse a Magnetic Touch Latch to fix your open and close problems. It has a spring inside, so it'll pop open when you push on it and close flush, when you push it again. They're less than $5 USD.
ReplyDeletewe still haven't figured out how to readily open it: we currently squeeze our fingers below the top panel. we are thinking of screwing in a fake vase or an ash tray onto the lid as a handle."
ReplyDeleteWell that's easy. Make the top "drawer" part of the lid, and you can open it using the handles. Just make sure you reinforce the join between the front and the top.
LOL people, read what the others before you have written, then there wouldn't be the same suggestion again and again ... :-D
ReplyDeleteactually, i find the ideo of a vase or ashtray as "handle" very cool, and much less of a bother.
I like it. The only thing I would add is a divider so that darks/whites can be kept separate.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous - that's illegal. Goddamn laundry segregationists... makes me ill.
ReplyDeleteYou can actually pick up the magnetic latch as a spare part at IKEA.
ReplyDeleteVerrry clever idea!
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion to make the lid easier to open is move the top forward a bit so that it overhangs the front of the dresser.
OR
Get 1 of the long u-shaped IKEA kitcken cabinet door handles (Lansa) & install it across the top front of the dresser as a pull(lift).