Well people, I've finished my cat box. It turn out great. All the parts and materials cost about $60. I made it 12' x 22" w x 12"t. It's totally corrosion proof and should be weather proof. I had to make it long to fit the bowsprit pole. I ended up using Polyethylene barrels. You know, The big 55 gal. blue or white ones. I split them in two, cut the ends off, then sleeved them together and rivoted. I used 3.5 barrels to get 12'. the forward end is intact, and I put a hatch on top. The aft end opens for a door like a reg catbox. All this is screwed to treated plywood. Hope this gives other ideas for box projects.

Also note that the white barrels let light in sort of like a skylight. It's great for seeing up in there.

All barrels are UV resistant. Most can be found for pretty cheap.

Great Idea, and thanks for posting it.

Light in the box is also excellent, when I made an end for my tube, I put in a piece of plexiglas.

The pic looks great. Where do you find such barrels, how did you cut them cleanly in half, how did you sleeve them together, and how did you attach them to the plywood?



Jonathan

I couldn't tell you where to buy them. Here I had several places to chose from. I guess you could make a few calls.

To cut them in two. I basicaly used a 24" level to get the barrels as true as possible, then marked verticle lines down both sides. I used a little geometry to find the intersection for the true centerline. If I remember it is pi x dia. =circumference. Then divide by 2. This will tell you where to place your marks for the verticle lines. After cutting, use a good jig saw, lay them out and cut off the ends. Leave one end on for the forward most barrel. Once you start to overlap the barrels, you will have to trim down one edge about a 1/4 " to allow it to slide under the barrel forward and aft of it. So basically , you will end up with one ontop,one under,one ontop,one under,etc.etc. until you get your desired length. I overlaped about 5".

I mounted this to 1/2" treated ply that I put treated 1x2 as a rail that runs full length. The barrels were attatched to the wood using sheet metal scews and washers. Once I started, I rivoted the next one to the first. I placed caulk between the overlaps. It won't stick, but I hoped it would at least form a gasket. Once the whole assembly is finished, I went back over the seams with a GOOD COMMERCIAL hot glue gun. Go slowly and allow it to soften the plastic surfaces as it glues. So far it's holding well.

You can find the barrels at your local soft drink distributor. When you get them make sure you soak the inside of the barrels with tons of bleach before using. The smell of Coke syrup will surely make you blow chunks, and I don't think you want that on your sails...

Hi, I am currently working on a construction of used billboards. (2mm polyester 6 mm Styrofoam 2mm polyester).

You take a used billboard ( I did get mine for free from a advertising company when they were changing a big Supermarket’s house style).

A aluminum L profile and some locks and stuff.

Total amount of money spend around USD 75,00

Low cost, light weight end product.

As soon as it’s ready I will post a picture on the forum.

Eric,



Nice box, but I can lay on mine, with friends, use it as a table, stand on it when rigging, and stepping the mast, use it as a work bench (course my boat never needs worked on), it's been a bleacher at skipper meetings, etc.

Todd, You forgot to mention,,,outhouse, doghouse, camphouse,weightroom,sauna, and anything else your imagination can come up with. If yours was a little bigger, you could put the boat in there too. j/k