Monday, 1. June 2009, 23:55:40
I've been living with my
Mark I chuck box for a couple years now and I thought I'd post a bit of what I've learned. Every time I'm in a hardware store my antennae is up for ways I can improve its design and/or usefulness. I've upped my inventory a bit, even including a bud vase among the stock items, but it's not yet jam-packed and I remain very pleased with its size, weight, and utility. I do think about building another one, a Mark II, aiming for chuck box perfection. We'll see. Until then, here are some thoughts.
I increased the available counter space with a side table. It's mounted with common track and brace shelf supports. The 1/4" ply table and the brackets pop out and store inside the box with a minimal amount of effort and space, which is exactly what I aim for. The extra space keeps the other surfaces from getting over-loaded and it looks great. The braces are wrapped with duct tape to mute the sharp edges so they can be used to hold a draw string garbage bag.
Opposite the side table is a 3 bar towel rack like your grandma maybe had around the sink. I usually use one of the bars to hold a roll of paper towels and the others for dish cloths. It advances the "everything has a place" ethic and is another worthwhile addition. On that side there's also a bottle opener that comes in handy from time to time.
With the table on the left and towels at the ready on the right and with additional space up top and with hands-free garbage access, all within easy reach and at the right height, the workspace works even better than it used to.
Lots of people are interested in the legs. I talked about them a little bit in the comments
to this post, and the method of attachment can be seen in the photo below.
I used a piano hinge for the door, and that's a good choice. But I deliberately mounted it so that the door when opened drops down from the bottom of the chuck box, thinking that this way any spills wouldn't run into the box. It also means you can't open the door when the box is on a table or on the ground. That was a big enough nuisance that I mounted feet to prop it up a bit so the door can be opened when it's not on its legs. Now the feet get hung up when I'm sliding it around. Next time, I'll mount the door so it opens flush. Speaking of sliding it around, a set of those Magic Sliders on the bottom sure makes life easier.
I don't mind if the outside gets beat up, but I want the inside to give the impression of being pristine-clean, so I used the most durable glossy white paint I could find, and over that I sprayed clear enamel. It still wears and scratches, though, as things jostle about during transport and as things are repeatedly slid in and out, especially the green propane tanks. I think I would have better achieved my goal if I polyurethaned the inside rather than painted it.
The box's dimensions are designed around a Coleman Fold-n-Go stove, which is a compact choice. But it doesn't have a wind screen and a small breeze can significantly decrease its cooking efficiency. I compensated by fashioning a sturdy screen that attaches to the side of the work area, but it's a bother to set up and take down. Bother is bad. If I could, I'd go with a more standard stove configuration with a built-in wind screen. Sadly, the depth of this box is 1/2" too shallow to allow that, and I'd probably want just a bit more height as well. The Fold-n-Go fits in the vertical compartment. A standard stove would have to fit in one of the horizontal compartments and have stuff on top of it.
I could get some of the space needed for a standard form-factor stove by going with 1/2" plywood rather than 3/4". Starting from scratch I'd definitely go with 1/2" material, maybe even thinner on the back if it wasn't going to open. I'd keep the external dimensions about the same, maybe bumping up the depth and height a half inch or so in addition to the half inch I'd gain by using the thiner material. That would still fit in the hatch of the old Swedish Sporty Utility Hatchback that I seem to be keeping for the rest of my life.
I really like the three compartment configuration and using a couple bins and washbasins to hold most of the stuff. I would route out 50% of the material in the vertical divider to save some weight, maybe add a swoopy front edge to make it look more fancy.
I'd add another drop-down door on the back side to get another work space. Having both a prep area and a cooking area available at the same time would come in handy when you have a team-produced meal in progress.
I originally used screw-in eyelets for the chain that supports the door. I changed those out with hardware that bolts through.
There are big chalk boards painted on the back and on the door for menus and messages that is useful every once in a while.
That is about all I know about chuck boxes.
WIDGETIZE