Considerations were that it would have to be lockable, able to hold at least six jerry cans, solid, weatherproof, and fit in with the house. Oh, and cheap. Thinking ahead, I kept one of the crates that held construction materials for this very purpose.
But apparently I didn't think too far ahead. One thing I learned very early on in my construction instruction was that square, straight, plumb and true are good things. This crate is none of the above. Starting the project I quickly found that the bottom of the crate is a full inch wider than the top, and this crate is only about a metre tall. I sat there an pondered how I was going to fix this dreadful unsquaredness and eventually I came to the conclusion "this is a box for holding jerry cans for crumbs sakes, live with it!" Living with it meant that making things like doors would be a little more difficult, but nothing was impossible.
Living with my construction sensei's dictum "Always think plan ahead" the first thing I did was add extra 2X4's in the corners to have something to nail the siding to at the end of the project. Yes, siding. Remember it must look like it belongs with the house, besides I've got a good pile of siding left over. Hmm, another discovery, none of the four corners are the same height. Not major differences, but my god what did they thing they were making... a crate? Oh, yeah.
At this point I began making the doors from a scrap piece of 1/2" plywood and some scrap 2X4's. Because of the odd shape of the crate I took one piece of plywood, cut it to the height I wanted, put it in place, scribed the sides direct from the crate and then cut it in half. Leaving me with something like this....
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