WOOD WORKERS.........

Brth729

I've got a decent amount of experience making things, and I don't just mean spice racks. With the warmer weather finally starting to set in, I want to start a new project. What I want to make is a new cabinet for my guns. Can any of you suggest a site that has some plans or prints. I'm not all to concerned with detail, as I usually end up changing them to suit my taste and fit with the rest of our decor.

***It is not so much what a man possesses, but what possesses the man which determines his quality of life.***

BlueTic

I just go to the local bookstore and get stuff like Country Pine and Antique books. Then make it the way I want anyway. I've thought about making a display/gun cabinet, but I don't want to sacrifice the security either. I hate the idea of putting a nice piece together with maybe cut glass pannels and then have to reinforce with metal bars. Maybe have a locking bar inside that way they don't have to break the glass??

IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)

Alpine

That is the problem with a cabinet. No security. The crooks can smash and steal. (I wonder if they would bother to go to a local gun store and transfer the firearm to their name. See only the law biding will obey all these silly waiting period, DOJ checks.)
I only use fire resistant gun vaults, bolted to the concrete floor, and heavy enough that fork lift is required to move them. I know cause that is how I got them set in the first place.
When I return home, if the house is still standing, I know the guns are still in the safes.

woodsrunner

I've had alot of new gun owners come to me and tell me about the great display cabinet they bought. I always bring up the security issue with them. I've helped a few of them as best I could. 1st thing we've done is put a piece of really heavy plywood or a thin steel plate to the back. Plywood is actually better I think because you can glue it and screw it. Then drill holes on either side of the guns and run an armored bicycle cable lock through it. We usually end up tinting the glass door too. Keeps the prying eyes of talkative people from seeing them. I don't consider it wise to advertise too much about what I have. Everyone knows I have guns and shoot alot, but they don't know how many I have or what they are.

Woods

How big a boy are ya?

Brth729

BlueTic-Alpine-Woodsrunner
I can understand your concerns with the safety issue. As it will be going in the corner of our bedroom, I'm not all to bothered with the thought of people seeing what's inside. Most likely it won't have glass any way. The only ones who ever go in there are my wife and myself. One thing I surely would do is add a cable or bar through the trigger guards. Just to be a little on the safer side, I also thought about putting some scrap steel or cinder blocks in a sealed area in the bottom. Not only to make it harder to move, but also a little more stable.

***It is not so much what a man possesses, but what possesses the man which determines his quality of life.***

Sawz

Brth
I just did a google search and came up with lots of places that have plans for projects like that. You could do a little research yourself easy at www.google.com . One I found there looked like a good one at www.plansnow.com . Along with the cable through the trigger guards you might consider tying the cable to somthing solid in the wall like a framing member so they cant just pick up the whole thing and walk off with it which is what happened to a neighbor just down the street. luckily they caught em in the act as they pulled into the drive as they were hoisting it out a second story window.
Like you I love to work with wood and a gun cabinet is a nice project and hope you get to enjoy for years to come.[url][/url]

COONASS

What nobody keeps guns under beds and in closets
anymore.........

*

Mr. Lobo

I made a new years resolution to get them in some sort of a safe...times they are a changing.

Jim

timberbeast

Try looking up Taunton Press on a websearch, they publish Fine Woodworking magazine. Far as security goes, any currently available safe can have its skin cut open in about 30 seconds with a roto-zip. As for cable-locks, any ?good? thief has a pair of boltcutters........

Otoman

Timberbeast! What is a RotoZip????Oto

KIMBER: Pistol du jour

daddo

I must agree with most on this post. How much are these collection of guns worth to you? I built a wooden safe for my guns a while back, but, after reading info. on this site- I bought a fire steel safe ($800.00).
Shortly after, someone tried to get my guns but were unable. I found a crowbar and a dolley in the yard they tried to use to get into and/or move the safe. I had bolted it to the concrete floor and to the wall studs so they couldn't move it. $6,000.00 worth of guns saved for only $800.00- a great deal!
If you want a wooden safe go ahead, but if I had the room, I would build a wall in the corner and use a steel door with two deadbolts. The inside wall would be plywood-3/4", and an alarm. Your looking at $300.00. *Make sure the hinge pins are on the inside. This advice is my two cents, but worth hundreds! Good Luck!

TOOLS1

I would sugest that if you are going to build a gun safe with woon that you use a product called advantec. At least 1 inch thick. This stuff is almost bullet proof.
TOOLS

daddo

Tools1- I would like to know more of this product. What is it, and where is it, and cost, and what size -sheets or boards?

timberbeast

Oto: Kinda a "mini-router", lotsa guys use them for cutting out electrical box holes in drywall. Can be used for steel-cutting as well. Most safes have pretty thin skins, heck some recommend drilling holes in the top for moisture problems (!). Have a buddy who got to thinking and tried the roto-zip on his safe. (a treadlock). Now has a cinder-block room in the basement with an old vault door on it.
I kinda like the idea another friend uses. He has a "gutted" Coke machine. I hear they are REALLY hard to break into, and who would think of looking for guns in a Coke machine??? Me, I just got an outbuilding, happened to be here when I bought the place, has 6" poured concrete walls, no idea what it WAS used for, but I use it as an "office", has a 4-inch thick maple door (birdseye, in fact, it's all I had at the time). Keep my guns (the ones not leaning in various corners of the house) in there, and my guitars and amps. I figure if someone can get in there without waking the dog, the neighbors and me, they kinda earned it! Looks like an old toolshed from the outside. Shhh!!! LOL

glb243

Hey Timberbeast, I couldn't agree with you more. I spent about a month researching "Gun Safes", comparing wall thicknesses, fire ratings, and locking features. After much debate, I decided that if I could afford the $1500-$2000 range models, I might have the security of a lunch box?!?!? Truth is, these so-called safes are a joke. Even the top end Fort Knox is nothing more than a glorified lock box! If you read their specs, you're trusting your beloved guns to a box made out of sheet metal(1/8"),which any recipro-sawzall, or even an axe or splitting maul could penetrate, and sheet-rock(fire-proofing)!!!NO THANKS. I searched the want-ads and classifieds for a real SAFE. I ended up with a double door safe made around the turn of the century, with seven(7) inch walls,consisting of 1/2 inch plate with concrete in between. The safe weighs around 3500 pounds, and does not have the pretty pictures of deer and bird dogs on the front, so it may not be for everyone. But for me, I sleep quite soundly while on vacation now.

Aim small...Miss small

Alpine

Timberbeast: Roto zip cut thru 3/16 armor plate!!!!! What are you thinking? Even an oxy-act. cutting torch has problems with armor plate with fire cement backing. You are talking about a lunch box I'm talking a real fire resist gun safe.

BlueTic

I hope they bring their heavy carbide blades, or a plasma torch. Built my safe outa stainless. Bolted it to 2 walls and the floor.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)

SXSMAN

There are 1000s on the web (like this one) http://www.PlansNOW.com/dsplcab.html
Just search wood projects or gun cabinets.
Sounds like a fun project compaired to mine.
SxS,a slave to a old wooden house.

Have guns,will travel

whiteclouder

Store 'em in the closet and buy a 90# dog.

Clouder..

simonbs

...or two 140# Great Danes...

We only have a few special years with our children in which they desire our time, attention, and love. After that time is over, it is gone forever, and we will be the ones that desire their time, attention, and love. Make those few, short years count -

TOOLS1

Daddo Advantec is like OSB (oriented strand board). But is very dense and has a resin that is water resistent. It is intended for use as a subfloor in construction. And should be availble at most lumberyards.
I used 3/4 inch on a bonous room above a garage last month. After carying 8 4x8 sheets of this stuff up stairs. My helper informed me that if I ever used that stuff again He was going to quit. I told him that I would to.
I have some scraps left over and if I get a chance this weekend I am going to find out how many thickness of this stuff it takes to stop a 30-06. I think 3 inches ought to do it.
TOOLS