Mail and Key Holder

This Instructable goes over how to make a mail and key holder out of one board of a 1x8. The whole purpose for making a mail and key holder is for when you get home you have keys and most likely mail in your hand. Instead of wondering where you put your keys you can hang this up by your front door an you can put your keys on the hook so you wont lose your keys. When you get your mail there may be mail for someone else in your house hold and instead of leaving it lay around your house until they get home you can put it into this mail holder.

• 1x8
• Wood Glue
• Nail Gun
• Wood Filler
• Band Saw
• Table Saw
• Compound Miter Saw
• Belt Sander
• Block Sander
• 2 Sided Wood Working Tape
• Drill
• 5/64" Drill Bit
• 7/8" Cup Hooks
• Clamps
• Putty Knife Scraper

Optional:

• Stain/ Paint
• Paint Brush(paint)/ Sponge Brush (stain)

Note - I sanded every piece of wood that I cut with a block sander to give it a good finish

I first started by brainstorming of problems I have in my families house. Two of them happened to be people forgetting where they put their keys and seeing mail lay around until that person gets home to open it. So I figured I would try to solve both of those problems in one project only using one board of a 1x8. Once I figured out what I wanted to make I drew a rough sketch of what I wanted it to look like with the measurements.

When you're going about choosing the 1x8 you are going to want a straight board that doesn't have any chunks missing or have defects. The straighter the board and less that's wrong with your 1x8 is less work that you have to do.

I first started by drawing out my side pieces with the measurements that I used in my drawing. (See picture to see how it was drew out) I first had to cut out two 4" x 6.5" rectangles. Once I got both of the rectangles cut out with the compound miter saw I then lined them up on top of each other. By using double sided wood working tape I stacked the two pieces together. I used multiple pieces of the wood working tape to make sure when cutting with a band saw that it wouldn't move and the two pieces would be the same. Then using the band saw to cut them.

Knowing that the averaged sized envelope is around 4" x 9.5" I made the width of the back board 10.5" long and 6.5" wide. With the back board being 10.5" long it gives some wiggle room and even allows for some bigger envelopes. I used a compound miter saw to make the cuts for my back board.

I first starting by cutting out a piece of wood that measured to be 2.5" x 10.5". Once I got it cut out I used a protractor and got a total angle of 106° then I divided by two and got 53. I then did 90-53 and got 37. Then I used a table saw at the angle 37° and cut my joint piece.

I got my 1 x 8 and cut out a rectangle to the size of 3.5" x 10.5". Once I got my rectangle cut I then cut the top and the bottom of the piece so it would run flat with the side. I used the table saw to cut the piece of wood at 18.25°.Then on the side that would meat the bottom part that holds the mail I cut another 37° angle to match my other joint angle.

The next step is to put the two pieces of wood together that is going to hold the mail.I started them off on their face so i could connect the two by using double sided wood working tape (I only used one side of the tape). an then I put glue in where the joints meet. Once I added the glue I folded the two pieces of wood together and I pushed and held them together with my hands for a little bit. Once I held them for a little and thought they were stable enough I put them away to dry.

Once the piece that holds the mail was dry I then used a nail gun to connect the side pieces together. After they were connected I then connected the piece that holds the mail to the side piece and back board. I chose to use bar clamps to hold everything in place while I nailed everything together.

Once everything was connected and all in one piece I used wood filler to fill in all the little dents to hide the nails from the nail gun. I used a putty knife scraper to make the wood filler fill into the holes that were made by the nail gun. Once the putty set and was hard I sanded the whole thing to get rid of any possibly pencil markings that may have been left behind. Then you need to add your cup hooks every 1 1/4" (see last step to see them. And then you're done with this project unless you want to paint or stain it.

This step is optional if you don’t want to stain or paint skip to next step. This next step I decided to use stain the color "Gunstock" I applied this stain with a sponge brush and used an old rag that I don't use anymore to wipe the stain off. I applied the stain generously on each side of the project and waited roughly 15-30 seconds before wiping the stain off with the old rag. I applied the stain 3 times leaving them on each for 15-30 seconds. Then I let the stain dry over night.

Once the stain or paint that you used is dry I then used a drill with a 5/64” drill bit to put in pilot holes so the wood wouldn't split. With these pilot holes I didn’t go all the way through I went only half of the depth of the piece of wood. I put these holes every 1 3/4” and one inch above the bottom piece. Once the pilot holes were made I then put the 7/8" cup hooks where the pilot holes were made. When putting them in I used my hand to hand tighten them to where they were in all the way and where first and wouldn’t move.