Package Drop Box for UPS, USPS, Fedex

The Inspiration vs. The Final Product

I built a gate for the driveway recently, and my wife (a USPS delivery driver) insisted I put up a Package Drop Box. It was supposed to be "super easy" and "as simple as this one".

Personally, I'd prefer to overcomplicate things, so I set out to use every tool in my shop to put together a "simple package drop box."

All the tools... let's see if I can keep track

1. Belt Sander
2. Planer
3. Hand Planer
4. Miter Saw
5. Table Saw
6. Sawzall
7. Portable Drill
8. Band Saw
9. Pocket Hole Jig

No plans today. I've got this picture my wife sent me to go off of, and I have some scrap laying about. I tend to use material less efficiently this way, but I've got enough scrap I'm sure I can make something work.

I had a friend mill the cedar for my gate and some fir for another project, so I had some scraps to use for building this "super simple package box." I intend to build a frame with fir dimensional lumber, then wrap it with cedar fence boards.

I took a rough cut 2"x8"x96" piece of fir and trimmed it down to more manageable 48" lengths. Then ripped them down to 3.625" width so they're easier for the hand planer. I really thought I was going to leave them at this width, but I quickly realized 2x4s are too big for this, and I'd have twice as many if I ripped them all in half.

So, I ripped them all in half. Or, a little less than half. I went with 1.75" x 1.75". Square studs are harder to mess up which way I install them.

I started cleaning them up with a belt sander, but ain't nobody got time for that. So I switched to the hand planer.

I had already planed most of the cedar, but I had a few cutoffs that I had to run through the planer so they'd all match thickness and style.

Since I'm using scrap, I've basically got to find my shortest board and use that to determine the length to cut all the others.

So I picked the shortest useable Cedar scrap, squared one end, and set a depth stop to cut all the others to.

But I don't know how many to cut. The best way to find out is to just lay 'em out and see what looks right.

I picked an arbitrary height to stop stacking panels at. Then I added a half inch gap below the panels so they wouldn't be sitting on the ground, soaking up moisture.

Remember Trigonometry or Geometry in High School, and "When am I ever going to use this?"

Today is when.

Here's how to find the angle to cut at when you know what overall dimensions you want it to finish at...

Tan(angle) = opposite / adjacent

So (obivously) your cut angle = tan^(-1) * (7.5 / 21.25)

Full disclosure, I had to google how to do inverse TAN on an Iphone (turn phone 90deg: 2nd, then Tan)

Set the Miter Saw to 19.5, then cut to the correct mark.

First I need to cut the horizontal braces.

I know my panel width needs to finish at the same width as my cedar boards, and I need to account for my verticals in there. When I can, I like to stack the wood I need to account for... I could measure each piece and add it up, but in my experience wood takes up more space than it's measure at. I think part of it is a small margin of error on each piece, and part of it is from dirty or loose joints.

I laid my frame out, clamped it, and sunk some screws. I made it a point to keep the ugly sides of the frame against the cedar so I don't have to sand out saw marks and nobody can see them. It's not lazy, it's smart.

I used the brad nailer to place the cedar siding panels, using the boards as the square. Hopefully my miter saw is dialed in...

I built the second side right on top of the first side. That way they're perfect mirrors of each other and I don't have to measure anything.

To figure out the back width, its the same steps as the sides. Add up the material to cover, subtract from overall finished width.

I've done this long enough that I can usually predict where I'm going to screw up before I do it, and I can work in reminders in the design. I should've seen this coming: I put the horizontal pieces on the front instead of the back. Luckily I used Pocket Hole Screws and it was easy to remove and replace.

I only had a long strip of 3/8" CDX to use for the bottom, so I had to gusset the seams with some cutoffs from the fir.

I notched the corners with the bandsaw and used the brad nailer to affix it.

I set the Miter back to 19.5, then cut a couple top rails that the roof will be able to mount to. I left a little air gap above the paneling in the back. I don't know why exactly, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.. vented roof, I guess? Gotta meet Code requirements.

I stacked a couple more cedar planks on the sides and used a Sawzall to cut them flush to the top rails. Any ugliness in my cuts will be hidden by the roof.

Of course, dry fit first. I laid out all the cedar panels I had left, and made sure they'd fit the roof.

I overhung the bottom one 2" on all sides, squared it, and brad nailed it.

Working from the bottom up, I placed all the roof panels, and admired my work. The pup admired it, too.

All done, time for installation.

1. shake out the sawdust
2. set it where it belongs
3. hope it doesn't blow away
4. wait for presents