Attach "Visor" Perpendicular to a Cylinder

[Don Hein]

I'm asking for ideas on means and materials to fabricate and attach a "visor" on the side of a plastic barrel.

The project is to use a heavy-duty plastic olive-shipping barrel to make a weather-resistant drop-box for use by the UPS, FedEx & DHL drivers. The item will be placed outside our driveway gate, which is often closed to keep deer from entering our garden. Delivery drivers sometimes will not open gates to make deliveries. Thus, we need a drop-box.

The olive barrels come from the Mediterranean, and are about the size of a 36-gallon trash can. The concept is to cut a rectangle hole in the side of the upright barrel, extending about 40% of the barrel's circumference and 80% of the barrel's height. I want to use some of the removed barrel material to make a "visor" over the rectangular hole, so as to enhance rain protection over the opening.

I would like suggestions on making the "visor" and on attaching it to the side of the barrel.

Thanks for your help.

Don

[Jamie Buxton]

If I'm understanding you right, it sounds like what you're thinking won't be too weather resistant. The visor is going to be the same width as the hole it was cut out of. Wind-blown rain will fall past the edge of the visor and into the hole. Can you acquire a second barrel to make the visor from?


Different question... You're thinking about standing the barrel with its axis vertical. Could you run the axis horizontal? The delivery hole would be in the end. The visor would be a half-cylinder cut from the second barrel, just sitting on top of the first barrel, sticking forward to shield the opening. The whole unit would somewhat resemble the conventional mailbox.

Well.. okay, use a couple of pop-rivets to anchor the two pieces together.

[Don Hein]

Thanks for your thoughts, Jamie, and for taking time to consider my project.

Some amount of wind-blown rain is inevitable, but in this part of western Washington most wet weather comes out of the SW, and my barrel will face north, so incidental wet should not be a large factor.

The option of a second barrel is there, but would reduce my satisfaction of meeting the one-barrel "challenge," plus double the cost.

This morning, I thought of using sheetmetal to make a cone for the upright barrel, making it look a bit like a silo and less like yard trash. However, I'd have to buy materials/labor, so again the challenge is diminished.

Here are some reasons why I want to go vertical: 1- It might look less like yard trash. 2- I'm thinking to put a shelf 2/3 of the way up to make a more protected spot for small items. 3- Easier to level/stabilize on the slight slope. 4- Easier to see if items have been left inside, and to fish them out.

In using the cut-out piece for the visor, I'm thinking to turn it sideways to the hole, cut a semi-circle off one side, then affix the big piece above the hole, like the bill of a baseball cap, only sideways. The "affixing" is the problem, though it doesn't have to be weather-tight at the joint.

[Jamie Buxton]

Okay, here's an idea which would get you the upright barrel, and should only require one barrel.

The visor is made from the quasi-rectangular cutout. The cutout gets cut into three pieces: approximately a half, and approximately two quarters. Together they form a visor which is wider than the hole. This is the old lumber-stretcher, applied to plastic. The pieces of the visor can be fastened together with nuts&bolts. Notice that they overlap like shingles, so the bolting isn't trying to make a water-tight connection. The visor is sloped down to make water run off. The rear of it tucks inside the opening in the barrel, so that rain runs off. The rear end of the visor can be connected to the top of the barrel with a machine bolt. Put some caulk around the washers before you tighten the bolt, and it should reject most water. The sides of the visor could be bolted to the barrel, or you could get a little clever with the edge of the hole, so that there is a slot where the visor edge hits.

[Don Hein]

Jamie, that's a nifty illustration; the configuration is very attractive.

I just came into the house after cutting out and washing the barrel. The barrel is 36" high x 23" diameter x 72" circumference, slightly tapered at ends. I cut out a piece 28" high by 24" wide, with radiused corners.

These barrels are used to ship bulk foods such as olives and soy sauce. The one I have has no removable lid, it's sealed up. There are only two capped holes in the top (soy sauce). The barrel is of deep blue plastic, about 3/16" thickness. Some people buy them for rain barrels. A local lumber yard sells them for around $15.

I am going to turn it top-down for use, and put a plywood floor at that bottom, supported by some scrap pieces of treated 2x4. It looks like it might work to just attach the cutout to the top end surface of the barrel broadwise so that the natural curvature of the plastic cutout forms a little eave over the opening. It would be a bonus to give it a bit of style, like your illustration, but maybe this time I'll just have to persuade myself to see elegance in crude simplicity.

Thanks for your ideas on this; it helped to have some other perspectives.

[Bruce Page]

Don, what happens if the package just barley fits through the opening – how do you get it backout? Have you considered building a small “dog house” structure with an access door? I think it would afford better weather protection and look nicer too.

[Jamie Buxton]

You might put some holes in the bottom. If rain does get in, it would be good if it drains out.

[Don Hein]

Yup, I'll put a few holes in the bottom for drainage and some air flow.

Bruce, I did think about the possibilities of too-big packages. If one does get stuck inside, maybe I could just reach in and cut it open in-place, remove the contents and then the box. But I think there's enough flex in the plastic barrel to get out anything that would go in; the opening is almost as wide as the diameter of the barrel. Plus, the availability of on-line parcel tracking will allow me opportunity to be available on a day when a large parcel could be expected. Since I'm retired, this is not a hardship.

As for a stick-built drop-box, I did rough-sketch one but decided that for me, the appearance upgrade wouldn't outweigh the much greater investment in time and materials. As for a door, I felt it would reduce the convenience of being able to see at a glance from the car if there was a parcel.

[Don Hein]

Here's a picture of the completed drop-box. Two 1" stainless bolts attach the cutout to the top. Six 1" drainage holes are in the bottom. The scrap ply floor is supported by seven bricks, which stabilize the barrel. The green milkbox shows scale, and can be easily removed, to accommodate large parcels, or used to support small parcels in a more protected position.

I hope the picture shows up; this is my first attempt to add a photo.

[Bart Leetch]

Gee if I was a thief I could see real easy if you got anything from Lee Valley.

My Dad had one of the jumbo mailboxes with the regular flap that closes the front up so it can't be seen if there is something in the box. That would be my preference.

I would rather have to open a door to see if something is there than to have a thief see it there & take it.

[Don Hein]

Yeah, maybe we're fortunate to be the last house on a dead-end, three-house driveway, and where non-residents' vehicles usually are noticed. The risk at the drop-box is only marginally greater than for parcels left on the front porch or in the carport. Since I'm retired and home 98% of the time, the drop-box is really only for the convenience of having the gate closed to keep munching deer out of our garden. It's within 100' of the house, and easily visible from the living room windows.

From what I see on TV and in the newspaper, burglary/theft seems highest in dense, development-type residential areas, and less frequent in semi-rural environments such as ours, where lot sizes run from .75 to 2.5 acres. Perhaps burglars find skulking easier where folks may be less likely to personally know their neighbors.

I guess we've all gotten more security-aware in recent years. Sad, in a way.