In August 2002, Melissa asked me to build a new compost bin for
her. She looked around a bit until she found one she liked,
and then sent me a picture to use to build this one.
Construction of the bin took an afternoon including going over
to Lowes to pick up the materials. The bin is made mainly of
1x4 cedar planks with 1x6 cedar slats cut from 10' tongue and
groove boards for the front. Additional materials include
plastic netting (came with the house), some threaded rod and nuts
(used to hold the slats in while still providing some "play" so
they can be easily removed), galvanized metal angle brackets, and
square-drive deck screws. The only tools used were aDelta
miter saw, a craftsman electric drill, and a hacksaw to cut the
threaded rod to size.
The bin is three feet tall by three feet deep by six feet
wide.
One note. If you build something like this yourself out of
cedar, make sure you pre-drill and counter-sink all the screw
holes. This is a good idea anyway, but I noticed that cedar
splits very easily, so it is even more
important.
Here is a view of the front of the bin. The slats on the
left side aren't sitting evenly because one of them is warped. I
won't bother replacing it, though, as Melissa said she won't use
more than maybe 6 or 7 slats at a time anyway :-)
Here is a fiew of the right side of the bin. You can see
the cedar slats and the threaded rod which holds them in. In
the center you can also see the double set of vertical supports,
providing something for the slats to slide between.
Here is a 3/4 view of the bin.
There are two additional changes I have yet to make to the
bin. 1) Include a partially-framed fold-back mesh "lid" to
keep falling debris and leaves out of the bin, and 2) Put the
plastic mesh in the middle to separate the two compartments (an
oversight on my part. D'oh!)
