Making A Working Box

Scott Rolls takes you through how to make a box for your working ferrets

Someone asked about making a ferret box saying they are no good at DIY. I was in the father-in-law’s workshop and saw some 8mm ply hanging about so I decided to knock one up to show you how easy it is. Anyway here’s a simple box that is made using limited tools and I didn’t cheat with power tools, I forgot how tiring it can be without them. The tools used were a hammer, handsaw, tape measure, and pencil. Oh and a hand drill for holes, no power tools remember?

Materials:
8mm ply wood
small screws (use something less than wood thickness)
panel pins (I had loads of 25mm ones so I used them)
2 x hinges
4 x corner plates (zinc plated)
1 x latch (don’t know what the name of the thing is but you will see it in photo)
wood glue

Box cutting size - 8kb

Cut your 6 pieces of ply to the size of box you need. I chose 400mm x 230mm x 230mm or 16" x 9" x 9" as I have small jills. Deduct twice the thickness of your chosen wood from the width of the end sections

Box glue - 8kb


Apply glue to an edge to be joined

Pin - 7kb


Pin with panel pins

Lidless box - 7kb


Work your way round until you have a box with no lid

Corners - 5kb


Turn upside down and screw corner plates into position

Wipe excess glue - 5kb


Wipe away excess glue with damp cloth

hinges & latch - 5kb

Attach hinges to rear of lid and box, and latch or locking system to front

ventilation holes - 7kb

You can make a series of holes with a drill for ventilation. I chose to use a hole saw and pc fan grill.

basic box - 13kb



You have the basic box. This one held me and the glue wasn't dry! I weigh just over 12 stone.

sand - 7kb

Now your glue has dried sand all edges to a smooth finish, I like to round them off

wipe with damp cloth - 6kb

Wipe over with a damp cloth to remove any dust

treat - 5kb

Treat your timber with a weatherproof treatment. Make sure its a non toxic treatment. I prefer to use a natural beeswax

strap1 - 5kb strap2 - 6kb strap3 - 6kb
Now all you need is a strap. If you can get down the breakers yard the best thing you can get is a seatbelt. To fix the chosen strap I prefer to use a nut and bolt rather than a screw for extra strength but always use a washer to stop it pulling through the strap. If you position towards the top back of your box it will help to stop the corner from digging in when you carry it. Once the first side is fixed place the box on a table in the carrying position and mark the length to where you feel comfortable and fix as before

ply - 4kb

Cut a piece of ply slightly smaller than your lid, say about 5mm in each direction.

round off edges - 4kb


Remove any sharp edges

round off edges - 4kb

Then use some rubber foam. I used one of these knee pad things for gardening or a camping roll mat would do. Glue them together using PVA and allow to dry

trim - 6kb

Trim off excess and edges to 45 degree angle. You can sand down to a better finish if you wish.

cover - 6kb


Take your covering and pin or staple in position.

fix with screws - 6kb

Screw through underside of lid into bottom of the seat. You can now give your ferrets longer underground and have a brew in comfort.

finished - 5kb


You now have a finished box.

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