Reinventing the Wheel

[Bill Spero]

Hi Guy’s;
Well it’s starting to get into the season when I can open the garage door and start to feel like I accomplishing something. Anyway, I digress. I’m not a turner, but I’m starting to feel the need to although it’s not in the budget for this season. I need some ideas from you guys. I’ll attach some pictures of some mailboxes I make, and being limited to flat work I have problems with the wheels. I’ve come up with a method where I cut the blanks out with a circle jig on my BS and then I use a round over on the router table to do the outer edge. To make a profile that mimics the hub I clamp a square frame to the top of the router table the same size as the wheel and then drop the wheel over the top of the router bit and then rotate. The problem with this is that the results vary quite a bit. I realize it’s just a mailbox but I’d like to be more consistent with the result any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bill :D

[Lee Schierer]

Great looking work, how do you keep the mailbox bashers from denting the fenders or worse??

Lee

[Dominic Greco]

Bill,
Sounds like a classic case for an MDF pattern and a flush trimming bit.

If you're making a bunch of them, heres what I would do. First, buy a copy of the book "Router Magic" by Bill Hylton. He has several different jigs in that book that would really help you. The one that first comes to mind is the Vacuum Clamping jig. I think this would be the best way to go.

The operation would be like this:
1.) Cut the wheels to 1/8" oversized on the bandsaw
2.) Have your vacuum jig and wheel template ready.
3.) Install a flush trimming bit in the router table
4.) At the router table, use the vacuum to attach the blank to the template.
5.) Route the blank to perfect size. Do the same to the rest.
6.) Install the appropriate size round over bit.
7.) Use the vacuum clamp to hold the blank and round over the ends

For the concentric circle rim detail, make up a jig that hold the blank in place by the bottom. using some MDF make a template with a hole cut in it that is the size of the rim detail. Use a plunge router with a bushing and round nosed bit to cut the detail.

Not the best explanation I realize, but I have to get back to work. The book does a heck of a lot better job explaining the details.

[Jim Becker]

Those are awesome mailboxes, Bill! And I agree with Dominic. Good technique.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Bill
Those truck mail boxes are very cute.
For protection - you enclose it in a steel frame made out of angle iron. That'll keep the baseball bat from hitting the box.
Daniel :rolleyes:

[Dick Parr]

I would love to put a mailbox like that up in front of our house, but we have gone through 7 mailboxs since we lived here. :mad: It is the fun thing to do around here is bust up everyones mailboxs. At least that is what the kids must think. :mad:

[Greg Tatum]

Hi Guy’s;
Well it’s starting to get into the season when I can open the garage door and start to feel like I accomplishing something. Anyway, I digress. I’m not a turner, but I’m starting to feel the need to although it’s not in the budget for this season. I need some ideas from you guys. I’ll attach some pictures of some mailboxes I make, and being limited to flat work I have problems with the wheels. I’ve come up with a method where I cut the blanks out with a circle jig on my BS and then I use a round over on the router table to do the outer edge. To make a profile that mimics the hub I clamp a square frame to the top of the router table the same size as the wheel and then drop the wheel over the top of the router bit and then rotate. The problem with this is that the results vary quite a bit. I realize it’s just a mailbox but I’d like to be more consistent with the result any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bill :D

I Love the mailboxes!.....is it possible to use a rosette cutter on a drill press to make wheels? Drill one side then flip it and do the other? I dunno...I've not seen a rosette bit in action but what the heck. I'm trying to attach a pic but I'm computer stupid :p



Greg

[Greg Tatum]

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/rosette.htm

maybe this will work.

greg

[Michael Ballent]

Those ROCK!!! If you do have a local turner you could them to turn the wood round for you, until you feel the pull from the spinny thing ;). Then you could slice off the wheels (cross cut sled, miter saw, band saw etc) round over over and the MDF template for the inside cut. Another possibility would be to locate round stock from a lumber yard that caters to contractors. Found one in Phoenix that sells to the public and saved a lot of $$$. Or just be done with it an just buy the wheels from Rockler, Michael's etc

-Michael

[Dean Baumgartner]

I would love to put a mailbox like that up in front of our house, but we have gone through 7 mailboxs since we lived here. :mad: It is the fun thing to do around here is bust up everyones mailboxs. At least that is what the kids must think. :mad:

Dick,
We used to have the same problem with mail boxes at my parents house. Find a pipe fitter and some heavy scrap pipe, large enough for a regular mail box to sit inside plus a piece of 4" pipe for the vertical. Weld the large to the leg and set the leg in concrete. Not only does it defeat the kids with bats but the snow plow pushing a wave of heavy snow doesn't touch it either.

Dean

[Bill Spero]

Thanks for looking folks; I've had a big call over the winter for duplicates of these. I like the idea for the MDF pattern and the rosette cutter. I’ve never put one of these out for myself but I guess I’d be pretty cheesed off if some kid destroyed one for fun. My next step would probably try to build one out of steel that looked like wood………………… :D

Bill

[Dick Parr]

The problem was that just hitting them with a bat must have gotten old, because they just started driving over them with cars or trucks. :mad: Not the last mailbox but the one before it I used a 2-1/2” galvanized pipe and sunk it 3 foot down and then while is putting concrete in the hole, I filled up the pipe with it. The last one that ran over it high centered the truck on the pipe. The women across the street saw it but couldn’t get a number off the plate because it was dark. She said it took 4 of them to get it off the pipe. It did some damage to the truck because there was an oil slick all the way down the road. :D That was a year and a half ago and we think that was the one that was doing everyone’s because no one has had a problem since. I shouldn’t have said that, you know what’s going to happen now. :(

[Charles McKinley]

Why didn't she call the police? Messing with mailboxes is a federal offense isn't it?

[Bill Spero]

The URL below is from the USPS regarding damage to mailboxes.

http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/smashbox.htm

[Lee Schierer]

The URL below is from the USPS regarding damage to mailboxes.

http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/smashbox.htm
While The law is what it is, try and get any action out of the post office or police for mailbox bashings.

My neighbor saw the culprits hit his. It so happened he was in his car at the time and followed them. He saw them bash several more mailboxes on their way home. Took down each address that was hit, the address and lisence number of the perpetrators and a description of them. Filed with the police and the post office. Two weeks later in the wee hours of the morning his mailbox was stolen. He replaced it, it was stolen again. He sees the kids that did it drive by and wave at him.

Cops said they won't persue kids for a $40 mailbox. Post office never did a thing except file the report.

Lee

[Greg Tatum]

Dick,
We used to have the same problem with mail boxes at my parents house. Find a pipe fitter and some heavy scrap pipe, large enough for a regular mail box to sit inside plus a piece of 4" pipe for the vertical. Weld the large to the leg and set the leg in concrete. Not only does it defeat the kids with bats but the snow plow pushing a wave of heavy snow doesn't touch it either.

Dean

Here's what I did to thwart the little hoodlums...it works for those drive-by mailbox smashers......I put a chunk of telephone pole in the ground as a post, cut the top into a tenon nice and thick...cut the bottom out of the mailbox and mount it over the tenon....looks like a regular MB....then, my real MB is on a post on the other side of the decoy...since this is in the country, the kids tend to drive and swing out of a pickup...they get a suprize when they hit that solid box.

Could this cause injuries? I dunno, no one has come by to say they got hurt smashing my mailbox ;)

BTW, either they never learn or it's just always different kids, but that decoy always has new dents in it....go figure.

Greg

[Chris Padilla]

Our housing development doesn't have curbside mailboxes. All ours are either at the front door or garage door.