Mailbox Posts

[Joe Angrisani]

Time to replace our mailbox and post. Wonder if any Creekers have given their posts a woodworker's touch, whether dressed up with applied moldings, or neanderthal'd with mortises and tenons, or..... Pictures would be great.

[Bill Bukovec]

I always thought I wouod build one similar to Norm Abrahms'.

I would not wrap moulding around a solid post.

When the posts swell, the moulding may pop off.

My brother in low learned this the hard way.

I think Norm used medium density overlay that fit loosely over a post.

Bill

[Lee Schierer]

Between the teenagers with baseball bats and the snow plows, fancy mail boxes don't have a long expected live span. I have mounted mine so that it is pretty much immune to the snow plow in the winter. The triangular arm supporting the mail box is hinged on the post so it will swing out of the way if hit by the snow plow. A gate spring returns it to the original position unless the snow gets reaaly deep.

[Matt Meiser]

Same thoughts here Lee. Plus mine is right across from the neighbors' driveway--in a perfect blind spot if you are backing up.

[Charlie Barnes]

My woodworker's touch is using some of the bricks left over from building my shop to build a surround that's baseball bat, pumpkin, and F150 proof.

[Myk Rian]

I built one a few years ago. Made the post to slip over a treated 4x4 cemented in the ground. 1/2" or 3/4" MDO is good to use.
I looked at a lot of designs on-line for ideas, and came up with this one.

[Greg Portland]

Time to replace our mailbox and post. Wonder if any Creekers have given their posts a woodworker's touch, whether dressed up with applied moldings, or neanderthal'd with mortises and tenons, or..... Pictures would be great.Be aware that certain municipalities have rules governing the strength of a mailbox post (i.e. they should be weak, not ultra-strong). Snow plows are often cited as the reason (you don't want to clip a giant concrete bunker mailbox with a plow). It's worth checking your local statutes before building something nice.

Also be aware that hitting mailboxes (with a bat or vehicle) is a "game" in some areas. It would suck to build something really nice and have it smashed by local kids. You of course know the area that you live in and can make that call...

[Richard Wolf]

http://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Woodwork-Adding-Authentic-Details/dp/1561581763

Mario Rodriquez has a great looking mailbox post in his book. Mario is a great craftsman and teacher, and any of his books are well worth the money.
I have built the mail box post and it looks great and is a fairly easy project.

[richard poitras]

http://images.inmagine.com/img/aspireimages/pdep086/pdep086004.jpg

[John TenEyck]

Be aware that certain municipalities have rules governing the strength of a mailbox post (i.e. they should be weak, not ultra-strong). Snow plows are often cited as the reason (you don't want to clip a giant concrete bunker mailbox with a plow). It's worth checking your local statutes before building something nice.

Also be aware that hitting mailboxes (with a bat or vehicle) is a "game" in some areas. It would suck to build something really nice and have it smashed by local kids. You of course know the area that you live in and can make that call...

I just got cited for having a mailbox post that does not comply with NYS regulations - never knew there were any and it's been there for 20 years. Anyway, in NYS the post can't be any larger than 4 x 4" in cross section, and it cannot be cemented into the ground. It's your mailbox, but it's on state land, so they have juridiction since they are liable if an accident occurs. I should mention that I live on a state highway, so the regs. may be different in other locations, and most probably in other states. Anyway, best to check before committing time and money.

[Shawn Christ]

I was inspired by Norm's mailbox post. Mine was made out of reclaimed red cedar; the post slipped over an 8-foot treated 4x4, sunk 4 feet in the ground. As you can see I decided to paint it after installation so it would easily stand upright.

193685

[Seth Poorman]

Joe
I want to send you a pic of my mailbox,but the snow plow hit it and another truck hit last fall so it doesnt look so good know!!
I made mine w/ a 8x8 cedar post and applied moldings and I cut my top to a sharp point and applied molding just beneath angle on top really looks good when its not in pieces..

[Joe Angrisani]

Thanks, everyone. I don't need to worry too much about high-speed snowplows and bored kids with baseball bats, so I may have a little fun with our post.