Need some advice on the gun cabinet I'm building

[Centurian22]

AMAZING!!! As both a gun and woodworking enthusiast this is dualy impressive to me. Only lock idea I had to add was possibly something like a normal cabinet lock mounted on the upper part of the bottom cabinet (the ceiling so to speak) that would catch on the matching hardware plate placed on the bottom of the door with the overlap (looks like the right hand door). Downfall being when the doors are open the lock would be sticking up through the floor. Best of luck finishing this beautiful piece of functional furniture.

I'll have to upgrade to something like your design eventually. I just built my first gun rack so I could stop keeping everything in foam lined hard cases. All came out of one 30" piece of 2x4.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Right now, I still don't have a lock in place. I have a pin at the top that just drops down into the top of the right shelf (doesn't go all the way through, so it is not visible from the underside). The crown molding on the top covers this unless you actually are tall enough to view the top of the cabinet.. Since I know it's there, I can just reach up and pull the pin and open the cabinet. The lip on the front edge of the right door (that covers the vertical seam between the two doors) holds the left door closed.

Also, someone mentioned earlier about balance. The top and bottom are bolted together and there is no inclination of it tipping. I loaded it up with DVDs and took out all guns just as a worst case scenario with no weight in the back and it's not going anywhere. You'd have to make a concerted effort to tip the thing over. So, that was good to find out...now I don't have to anchor it to the wall.

I think a future project will be lining the interior sides of the doors with some pegboard to hang handguns on....that'll probably be a ways down the road though.

 

[SilentStalker]

I love it man. You did some excellent work. How long did it take you to complete it? The only thing I have a problem with is that in the shot you took from the side of it at an angle you can definitely see the brass hinge, or what looks like the brass hinge, running the entire length of the top cabinet that folds out. So, that makes it pretty obvious that this thing contains something behind the doors. it would have been much more obscure with some kind of internal hinges that could not have been seen from the outside. However, you may not have built this to hide it from those that might take something. Its a very nice piece for sure. Fill it up and take some more picks of that bad boy . Will it hold an AR type gun or something with a bigger magazine?

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

^^yea...being ultra-concealed wasn't really what I was going for, otherwise a different style of hinge would definitely have been a better option. It's more-so to be a functional piece of furniture that doubled as some gun storage. With that said, if you're not looking for it (it actually is going to be in the corner of a room), you'll likely never notice the piano hinge spine. There will be an entertainment center on one side of it and an exterior wall on the other side that will obscure the sides of the cabinet for the most part. The "hidden" aspect as far as a thief is concerned is just a nice side effect. My guess is that if a thief came in to rob the place, he'd probably just assume that it was just storage for DVDs and maybe some A/V equipment and grab the TV sitting beside it lol.

As for the depth. I don't have an AR rifle. So, I just put a 30rd "banana" style mag in the ruger min-30 (with scope) and it fit exactly. The back of the door touched the corner of the magazine, but the door still shut flush as it should. I measured the height of that gun with scope and 30 rd magazine and it was 11.75", so that is pretty much the exact limit of gun height that it'll hold. The cant on the butt grooves gives it a little more depth than it looks like it should have.

 

[Saakee]

since it seems you're done it's probably too late to suggest this but you could just use a couple high strength magnets set in to the doors to hold together when needed to stay closed.

Lately ive been thinking it would be nice to build a full set of bookcases on one wall using those style folding doors as the basis hiding a wall of weapons.

 

[Sleasys14]

Looks amazing


Sent from my MiPhone !

 

[dprice3844444]

try a magnetic lock or a push button mounted on the top.

 

[dc.fireman]

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.

I was thinking of a modified version of something like this: drill a hole sideways, through the two swinging cabinet doors, and then fashion a locking rod to fit through the holes. You could use a TSA luggage lock on each end of the rod, so that it cannot be passed through the doors, unless the locks are removed.

If I haven't described it quite right, imagine a miniature "barbell", with the locks passed through the rod acting as the "weights". If you put it back far enough in the shelf, you could even hide the locks by stacking DVD's in front of it. The upside to this is, no lost keys, and it's fairly inexpensive.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Being made of wood, all a lock would do is keep children and nosey visitors out. A real thief could tip it over and tear the back off with a crow bar IF he knew what it was. In my way of thinking placing a visable lock on it would be like a flashing neon sign telling a thief that something valuable is in here.

 

[JTHunter]

X-JaVeN-X - nice piece of work.

As for the lock, how about putting a small L-shaped piece of metal on the underside of the guncase top (inside), then using a cabinet lock going through one/both DVD doors positioned so they catch this metal plate? This would give the lock better strength but still be readily accessible to an adult.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Whatever lock you choose make sure that it does not look like a lock.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

Yea...that's why I'm leaning towards no lock for the top. I still think I like the idea of dropping a bolt through the bottom of the bottom right door that will drop down through the bottom cabinet. I would recess the top bolt and use a really flat headed elevator style bolt. I could either make a cap to cover this from the top, or just leave it and let the DVDs on the shelf obscure it. On the bottom, I could have a simple wing nut screwed on to keep the bolt from being pulled out from the top. You would have to unlock the bottom cabinet, remove the wing nut and push the bolt out through the top. Seems simple and would keep me from having a second lock on the cabinet anywhere.

 

[Centurian22]

Sounds like a great 'keep it simple ____' idea! I would imagine some type of smooth rounded top carriage bolt would work based on your description.

 

[theautobahn]

Excellent idea and even more brilliant execution. You should definitely think about selling these.

 

[Fred_G]

Impressive.

 

[Trent]

Dude, that is awesome.

 

[KTXdm9]

That looks really nice. You have some serious wood working skills.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

Sounds like a great 'keep it simple ____' idea! I would imagine some type of smooth rounded top carriage bolt would work based on your description.

Yea...I think I'm gonna grab an elevator bolt like this:



I would just have to make a thin recess and drill a hole and it should drop right in.

 

[CapnMac]

I'd be inclined to just use sliding door bolts on the back of one case, then a simple drawer lock about halfway up on the other case, that would then engage a bit of metal plate on the other case. The drawer lock would then have DVD's in front of it, concealing it from view.

Access would be: Get key; slide DVD cases over, unlock cylinder lock; swing that case open, then reach in and side the bolts open on the other case (if needed).

If you go with some other lock--hey, that's ok. Consider, though, adding some velcro to the back of the DVD cases, and some rare-earth magnets to the back wall of the case. Can be very handy to have a place to velcro up a a bag for range flags, or the like. And, having magazines that are up out of the way is also cool.

 

[Centurian22]

Awesome, never even heard of or seen those before, I'll have to keep them in mind for my own various projects. Hope it functions well.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

Awesome, never even heard of or seen those before, I'll have to keep them in mind for my own various projects. Hope it functions well.

Yea...they're actually used for leveling furniture (at least that's what I've always seen them used for). Such as on the bottom corners (feet) of your oven/range. You turn them in or out to get it perfectly level. It just looked like a good option/shape for what I was looking for in this case.

 

[Owen Sparks]

The true security of this gun cabinet is not on the strength of any lock, but in deception as it looks like something a potential thief would not be interested in. After all, the best place to hide something is in plain view. This is probably more secure than a typical safe because it does not look valuable and will not draw attention.

An aquaintance had a break in and his gun safe held but the thieves ruined it trying to open it. It required an all day effort from an expensive locksmith with some very heavy equipment to cut it open. His warranty did not cover damages because the safe was not breeched and nothing was stolen. He was out several thousand dollars in replacement costs and locksmith fees. If he had something like this cabinet they probably would never have found it in the first place.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

The true security of this gun cabinet is not on the strength of any lock, but in deception as it looks like something a potential thief would not be interested in. After all, the best place to hide something is in plain view. This is probably more secure than a typical safe because it does not look valuable and will not draw attention.

An aquaintance had a break in and his gun safe held but the thieves ruined it trying to open it. It required an all day effort from an expensive locksmith with some very heavy equipment to cut it open. His warranty did not cover damages because the safe was not breeched and nothing was stolen. He was out several thousand dollars in replacement costs and locksmith fees. If he had something like this cabinet they probably would never have found it in the first place.

Yep...being theft deterrent was kind of a good side effect. I could have used some different hinges to help this, but being as I've never seen a dvd case with guns behind it, I doubt a thief would pay much attention either. Granted, there is hundreds of dollars in video games and movies sitting right on the front of the case, lol.

As for the safe you mentioned....did he try getting his homeowners insurance to cover it? That sucks that he was out that kind of money. I guess there will always be morons in this world that feel theft is an acceptable option.

 

[Owen Sparks]

As for the safe you mentioned....did he try getting his homeowners insurance to cover it? That sucks that he was out that kind of money. I guess there will always be morons in this world that feel theft is an acceptable option.

I actually advised him not to because he had about $3,000 in damages and his deductable was half of that at $1,500. The one time I had a similar sized claim from a lightening strike that zapped all my electronics my rates went up. The insurance company more than made up the $1,200 they paid me over the next few years. When I tried to change companies I was rejected because I had a claim in the last five years. I would only use insurance on major damage now.

 

[Ramone]

A friend who lives in a small apartment has the cleverest 'hidden in plain sight' safes. He took a hot water heater box, and with a few bits of lath and some hot glue reinforced it, cut out the top and back, slid it over the safe.