Steel & Wood Mail & Key Organizer

I created this video to show how I made the mail and key organizer for our kitchen. I used reclaimed wood from an old bookshelf, 16 gauge sheet steel, and 1 inch square tube. All materials used for the build were drops or scrap found in my shop.

The caddy has three spaces for envelopes and four hooks for keys.

Watch the build video. It will help you to understand the steps involved.

Tools needed:

- Welder
- Saw (preferably table saw)
- Pencil
- Tape measure
- Combination Square
- Angle Grinder
- 4 ½ in. Cut off wheel
- 4 ½ in. Flap disc
- File
- Electric drill
- Drill bits (to drill steel and for deck screws)
- Counter sink drill bit
- 6 (1 ½") General purpose deck screws (I like the ones with square bit over philips)
- Wood clamps (about 2)
- Vice grips (about 3)
- Sandpaper

Materials:

- Nice piece of hard wood
- 1 inch steel square tube
- 16 gauge sheet steel
- 4 screw hooks (I made mine from eye screws that were on hand)

Using my SketchUp design as the guide, I cut the sheet steel, steel square tube, and wood to size. I also played out marks for where the shelves were to be placed.

I've included the SketchUp file here.

After cutting steel to size with the angle grinder the steel is left with very sharp raised edges. I always de-bur the edges with a file or flap wheel on the angle grinder.

Next, I dry assembled all the parts with clamps and vice grips.

This steps, as with all steps, makes more sense in the video.

While keeping the parts clamped together, I tacked and welded each component.

While keeping everything clamped together, drill three holes on each side through the steel and into the wood body.

I drilled an oversized hole through the steel to make insertion of the screw easier. I then use an appropriate sized drill bit to pre-drill the wood for the deck screw. I chamfer the holes with a counter sink bit. Finally, drove each screw home making sure the heads were flush to the surface.

I pre-drilled four holes near the bottom of the caddy for key hooks.

A few finishing notes. The wood I used was reclaimed from a book shelf so it was already finished. As for the steel, I liked all of the scratches and heat tint from the welds and I wanted to preserve those artifacts. I left the steel unfinished except for a little paste wax. The wax helps to keep steel from further rusting.

Also, I didn't document the hanging system for the back of the organizer. I strung some picture wire across the back and that was that.

Thanks for reading through to the end. Have fun!

I welcome all questions or feedback. Thanks again.