Secret Compartment Remote Caddy

I designed this to try keep all the remotes in one place after getting frustrated after 1 too may times of not being able to find the remote and as I have just a little obsession with secret compartments I had to put one into this. The secret compartment is quite substantial at 120mm x 85mm x 28mm. Hope you enjoy making this as much as I did :)

I have also included the 3D print files on the last step if anyone wants to 3D print this instead.

Timber

650mm x 150mm x 8mm timber of your choice. In my case I used Beech 1 piece of 4 mm plywood 126mm x 94mm for the bottom 1 piece of 4 mm Plywood 122mm x 94mm for the false bottom Machinery Router with 4mm straight cutter Table saw (or handsaw either will work) Consumables Glue wood finish of your preference

Disclaimer I am in no way responsible for any injury that could be sustained to anyone while making this project. Anyone taking on this project is responsible for their own safety. All safety equipment should always be used. If you don't feel comfortable doing a certain cut don't do it and find a different way to do it, one that works for you.

Now that that's out of the way

I have made an easy to follow set of plans with all dimensions for each piece and attached it here. It is just a word doc with pictures inserted so you can print it out and have it next to you as you work for reference. I have also color coded my layout the key is as follows Red = 4mm wide x 4mm deep grove Blue = 8mm wide x 4mm deep Green is 8mm wide x 2mm deep Purple =2mm wide x 4mm deep and Black is 6mm wide x 4mm deep. I suggest laying yours out in the same order as I have here to leave everything in groups that can be machined together.

Cut the 2 sides and the back free from the rest

Take the sides and the back piece and set up your router to cut a 4mm wide by 4mm deep groove along all the pieces marked in red except the 1 in the left side this groove was a mistake in marking and I didn't realize until it was too late, however if you do route it as i did you can cut a piece of wood 4mm x 4mm and glue it back into the groove as this wont be seen in the final piece.

After you have routed the grooves marked in red for the back and the right side (as I mentioned before the red groove on the left side was a mistake DON'T ROUTE THAT ONE) it is time to cut these three to final width.

Next we come to the vertical grooves/ blue Grooves these are 8mm wide and 4mm deep. In my case I just used my 4mm straight cutter and done 2 passes but if you have an 8 mm cutter you can change the 4mm one out at this point. Since these grooves are stopped grooves I set up a stop block 105 mm from the cutter and ran the pieces through until the hit the stop and turned of the router. I waited for the bit to stop spinning and then removed the piece. I repeated this for the front, back and the 2 sides.

At the bottom of the left side piece the purple layout line must now be removed, I did this at the router with a backer board to insure the piece would not wobble going through the cutter as there is not much surface area of the board against the fence, I hope this is clear from the picture.

Next up is the joinery that connects the sides to the back and the front. We will start with the sides, flip the side pieces over with and mark a 4mm wide 4mm deep groove that runs the length of the board as shown and then its back to the router to remove the 4x4 area. After routing sand the area to be exactly 4mm x 4mm and smooth (I find gluing some sandpaper to a block great in this situation. Now repeat with the other side.

Next I took a chisel and squared off the top of the 8x4mm groove in both sides so the side to side dividers would sit in flush to the top.

Next I took the front to back divider to the table saw and using a cross cut sled I cut the marked area (8mm wide x 2mm deep)

On to the False bottom and the actual bottom I cut these to size on the table saw (sizes are 94mm x 122mm x 4mm and 94mm x 126mm x 4mm respectively) and using a block plane or some sandpaper lightly chamfer all edges, this will make the assembly go a lot smoother.

Now that all the pieces are complete its time for glue, I suggest gluing this up in stages. I used a fast setting glue to speed up the process but this is not necessary. Firstly glue the Right side to the front and check it for square as it sets up.

Next up is the false bottom, glue this into the second from the bottom horizontal 4mm x 4mm groove insuring that it doesn't protrude into the vertical slot on the right hand side of the picture as this will obstruct the other side from sliding into place later.

Next we move onto the dividers glue the front to back divider to the side to side dividers again insuring everything is square (90 degrees to each other)

Next glue the dividers into their corresponding grooves on the front and right side and leave to dry.

Slide the back into place on and glue.

Finally Glue in the bottom piece into the bottom groove.

Now simply slide your remaining side (left side) into the corresponding tracks on the front and back, don't force it down if it is getting caught you just need to sand the tracks on the left piece some more. This can takes some time. I suggest using some sandpaper glued to a block of wood, it really helps.

I choose to paint mine as I thought black would match well and not be too distracting as I plan on leaving this beside the TV but any finish will work be it oil, lacquer, paint, wax etc

All done! Now when you want to get whatever it is that you stashed away just push up on the bottom of the left hand side of the box to slide the whole side piece up reveling the secret compartment.

The best advice I can give you is to take your time when making this you don't want it to be too loose, leave the sliding side a hair too big and sand for the perfect fit.