Need some advice on the gun cabinet I'm building

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X-JaVeN-X

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Hey guys...I mentioned building a "hidden" gun case a long time ago here and finally have gotten around to working on it. I'm kind of wanting to get some ideas on a good way to lock this thing (and to show you guys what has been done so far of course...hehe).

Anyway, the idea was to have a functional DVD/Video game case on the front that acted as double swinging doors and behind them would be an 8 rifle gun cabinet. The bottom section is double doors to hold ammo and what not. This is a simple cabinet/cam style lock, but what I'm trying to figure out is how to integrate a lock on the dvd shelf area to keep them closed. Now, this is not a "safe" obviously. I just want something that will keep it locked from the kids. The pictures below are of the cabinet currently...It isn't finished. There are no doors on the bottom, and the center where the cabinets meet will have a piece mounted on one side so that when it's closed, you won't see a seem and it'll just look like a spine divider going down between the shelves. The top also hasn't been done. It will have some sort of crown on the top that will come out a little further than the shelves, to help disguise that the shelves are actually doors. The shelves will have a little lip on the front to keep the dvds/games from falling out when the doors are opened. Anyway, you can get an idea from the pics of where I'm going with it. Help me devise a lock/latch system to keep the "doors" closed and without having an obvious lock on the front of it.

Before any doors installed:
cabinet.jpg

Current progress:
photobucket-6265-1343695201986.jpg
photobucket-1960-1343694897810.jpg
photobucket-5274-1343694950063.jpg
photobucket-3111-1343695014037.jpg

It will be stained probably a golden shade to be determined later lol. Get creative here. The only thing I can think of is maybe routing out a little bit of space on the inside of the left door and placing a plate over that with a hole in it to accept the cam arm...sort of like what's on the inside of a typical door jam, but leave a think space between the wood and plate for the cam arm to swing into. The lock would obviously then be on the inside of the right shelf (might have to take a couple dvds out to access it, but it would be hidden for the most part. Give me a better idea than this!
 
Thanks for the feedback and suggestion...I hadn't thought about any kind of push button lock.

I'm also thinking about putting some kind of pistol hanging racks on the backside of the doors. I think that would be pretty neat when you open then up.
 
What about installing whatever flavor standard deadbolt lock (key, combo, etc) in the top section of one side. Hang a steel bracket from the top of the cabinet that the bolt passes through on it's way into a receiver on the other door. This would effectively lock both doors together and to the top of the box. You could put one in the top and one in the bottom if you want to slow someone down even more.
 
Locking on these tall doors reminds me of industrial cabinets. Many have a central handle that retracts long bars that fit into the top & bottom of the cabinet. For ordinary purposes this latches very robustly. If you remove the "handle" from the center and cover the hole in the wood this would work.

Remove the contents of the shelf and uncover the hole where the removable handle goes. The handle could be tossed on top of the cabinet for casual storage that is out of sight.
 
I love it. You have done a nice job so far. Some have already given some good lock ideas. The only thing I do not like is how the shelves that move out are shorter than the back and then the overall piece is deeper than the shelves themselves which is an instant red flag to me that there has got to be more to this shelf than the DVD's. Maybe if the shelves that rotate out were as high as the overall unit then it would not be as noticeable especially if you have it sitting between two other things. As far as getting the shelves to stay still when closed have you ever seen the closet door bolts that are at the top or the bottom of the door? They have a mechanism at the top or the bottom that a cylindrical bolt slips in and out of. If you close it with just the right amount of force the cylinder will temporarily slip down into the mechanism at the top of the door, only to go back up into a recessed hole at the top of the frame which thereby holds the door in place. Does that make sense? I will see if I can find what I am talking about online somewhere and post it for you as it is kind of hard to explain. My biggest problem would be finding a way to keep them locked securely.

Something like this to simply hold them in place...

http://www.doorcorner.com/mabldrbacaws.html?gclid=CKjwz-27xLECFcyb7QodbEkAIA
 
If you can't find a suitable latch I would just drive a couple wood dowels in both cabinets to keep it shut. unglued you can tap the dowels right out. The wood dowels would look like a screw cap to a burglar. You mentioned a golden finish. I have got great results from Minwax Golden Oak. In combination with a can of walnut stain there isn't much I can't match for repairs. Early American is another golden color that has less yellow in it. Early American will turn any soft spots or heavy grain black.
 
SilentStalker said:
I love it. You have done a nice job so far. Some have already given some good lock ideas. The only thing I do not like is how the shelves that move out are shorter than the back and then the overall piece is deeper than the shelves themselves which is an instant red flag to me that there has got to be more to this shelf than the DVD's. Maybe if the shelves that rotate out were as high as the overall unit then it would not be as noticeable especially if you have it sitting between two other things. As far as getting the shelves to stay still when closed have you ever seen the closet door bolts that are at the top or the bottom of the door? They have a mechanism at the top or the bottom that a cylindrical bolt slips in and out of. If you close it with just the right amount of force the cylinder will temporarily slip down into the mechanism at the top of the door, only to go back up into a recessed hole at the top of the frame which thereby holds the door in place. Does that make sense? I will see if I can find what I am talking about online somewhere and post it for you as it is kind of hard to explain. My biggest problem would be finding a way to keep them locked securely.

Something like this to simply hold them in place...

http://www.doorcorner.com/mabldrbacaws.html?gclid=CKjwz-27xLECFcyb7QodbEkAIA
Click to expand...
The top isn't finished yet...It will be built out so that the top is as far forward as the shelves so that it looks like a bookcase...Just haven't gotten to that part yet...heh.

...and yea...I'm not sure what you're referring to with the latch idea.
 
One_Jackal said:
If you can't find a suitable latch I would just drive a couple wood dowels in both cabinets to keep it shut. unglued you can tap the dowels right out. The wood dowels would look like a screw cap to a burglar. You mentioned a golden finish. I have got great results from Minwax Golden Oak. In combination with a can of walnut stain there isn't much I can't match for repairs. Early American is another golden color that has less yellow in it. Early American will turn any soft spots or heavy grain black.
Click to expand...
Yea...I was thinking something similar to that last night...putting two holesin the bottom of the bottom shelf that I can just drop bolts into that extend into the bottom cabinet (which will be locked). Make some caps to go on top of the bolt that fit perfectly in the holes drilled so I can drop them in from the top andit would be flush. The only real way to get them out would be to unlock the bottom cabinet and push them back out from the bottom (if that makes any sense).

Also, I ran across something called a plunger lock that would work for what I want to do, but I'm just not sure if the plunger would be long enough to catch as there is a little play/gap between the doors.
 
Looks good. I think it's too late now but a mirror in the back behind the DVD's would make it look deeper than it really is.

If this is going to be free standing once you get the shelves loaded up with DVD's it may tip over when you open both doors. May not be a problem since the bottom is deeper than the top.
Dallas Jack
 
Dallas Jack raises a good point about balance... but you could anchor it to a wall stud or two... or keep a couple good bags of lead shot in the bottom cabinet (and doing both would make it harder to cart off that way, too)

ETA: you've done it now! no slackin off, you gotta finish this thing so we can see it!
 
Keep the plans.

Very nice, but not big enough.

You will need more room eventually.

Trust me!

rc
 
Very neat setup, great for handy folks that like space-saving furniture, honestly. Since there's two swing out doors, a cross bar latch of some sort would work well, and you could actually gang a couple cross bars together (a-la submarine door latches) for a more secure closure. I'd suggest beefing up the hinge for security (though you did say you weren't really designing for impregnability) and strength, depending on how heavy those doors can get. How do you keep the door-bottom from scraping the top face of the cabinet?

Whatever you decide, ensure those two doors line up with eachother perfectly along that entire front "seam" is the most crucial element for concealment. If one of those doors warps "out" even a hair at the top or bottom, it'll stick out like a sore thumb.

Also...
You gotta get some motorized doors for that thing, it's just begging to go all "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" at the flip of a switch. Fill it with AR-15s and grey egg-crate foam :D. Glocks and Silenced FNP's on the doors :D

TCB
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. On the weight issue...yea...I'm going to kind of play that one by ear. I'm planning to load up the shelves and see how it responds before I put any guns in it, because I think full of guns, it would have enough weight in the back, but I don't want it to suddenly fall over if I take a couple guns out...that would suck. Worst case, I'll just anchor it to the wall.

As for the size of it...this isn't my only gun storage...but my son (he's 5 now) is showing interest in shooting and I am always looking for a new toy to play with, so I started looking into gun cabinets. We're kind of out of space for bigger pieces of furniture, and our DVD rack is some cheap Walmart special in a box that has seen better days. So, I started looking for gun cabinets and I came across a couple "hidden" gun cases behind facade curio cabinets that you could buy, but I didn't care too much for them and I'm always leery of the quality you get when you buy something "off the shelf" like that and having someone build one custom can get outrageous fast. So...necessity is the mother of invention and I needed a dvd case...and wanted a little more gun storage...so there you have it.

I will be sure to post some more pics when it's done. Not sure when I'll be able to get back to it.
 
Magnetic Lock?

I don't knwo how "secure" you are looking for, but i've seen these in drawers and cabinet doors.

Pretty neat. The magnet activates the lock. You obviously could force the door open if you really wanted to.

http://www.overstock.com/Baby/Rev-A-Lock-Cabinet-Security-System/6455365/product.html?cid=202290&kid=9553000357392&track=pspla&adtype=pla&kw={keyword}

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4449506

I just googled "magnetic lock for cabinets". You get the idea.

Or if you want something "secure" and totally hidden, and have power avaliable, you could do a true door mag lock with a hidden pushbutton.

http://www.magneticlocks.net/proddetail.asp?prod=MAG-H600LSDSDM
 
Neodymium aka "Rare earth Magnets"

Sink one in each side and it will really latch on.

Amazing work BTW. Looks great
 
Quick Update with some pictures. The cabinet is "mostly" done. I still have to put some handles on the bottom cabinet door...just have to pick some up. Anyway, here are the newest pics...it has one coat of stain....needs to be sanded and another coat put on, but this is pretty much what it will look like finished. I threw some DVDs up there and stuck a few guns in it just for reference (you can see the edge of the crappy old dvd case, that this is a replacement for, in the pictures lol)..


Closed:
photobucket-37803-1346885749185.jpg

Bottom Cabinet Open:
photobucket-27895-1346885721615.jpg

Open Top (doors do open further if necessary):
photobucket-29395-1346885654645.jpg

Side:
photobucket-40980-1346885620511.jpg
 
You need to seriously concider building these for sale. After all, the safest safe is the one the thief does not know about.
 
As far as locking it you could have a simple countersunk slot headed bolt that passes through the two doors at the top and at the bottom. While not a lock, it will hold the two doors firmly together and the casual observer would never notice as it would look like part of the hardware. It would also be good enough to keep children from accidentaly opening it as long as you keep it secret.
If a real thief were to find an actual lock he would just break it open with a crow bar anyway.

Good work!
 
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