Clothing Hamper

Yes, If I were to do it again - high quality wood all the way.

I think a nailer would make it a bit easier.  Brads have to be used on the lathes also and they are only 1/4 inch thick.  So if you think the nailer won't split them or punch the brad too far, it would be easier to line them up with the nailer.   The brads need to be put in an angle to catch the meat of the frames.  I don't have one yet (on the list) - thus I did them by hand.

Another note:  This is an expensive hamper - all the wood and hardware ran me a little over $100.00.  Thats why I tried to cut costs on the legs and the cheaper plywood for the back and bottom.

LOL Ray,

Yea I wear EVERYTHING before I do wash - so a big hamper does me well!

Hi Tomboy,

Thank you.  This project took me a long time to complete and I made some mistakes you might benefit from. 

If you have the little fold out plans that you get in the store, step 2 of the instructions are wrong.  However, you can determine what that step is from the drawings or you can view or download the online plans from lowe's with the correct instructions on that step.

About the assembly: (This might be hard to explain but it will come clear when you get to building it) When making the framing you have to cut a rabbet into the inside edge that the lathing inserts to - make sure when making your pocket holes that the one nearest this edge is far away enough to cut the rabbit.  I had to remove the screws from these pocket holes on mine to cut the rabbets.

The back panel calls for two peices 1/4 inch plywood.  I laminated them together prior to installing them.  Don't do this.  It was more difficult because you can only use small brads to secure them onto the frame.  Insert each panel individually using the small brads. 

Make sure you get nice looking plywood if your going to stain it - I used birch plywood for the top, it came out nice.  I used standard type plywood for the bottom and back and they don't look as nice.  Also make sure the plywood is not warped - I had to rebuild my top. It didnt seat flat accross the front.

The plans tell you to chisel out the corners of the rabbit to fit the back and bottom panels because the router makes a rounded corner - I thought it was easier to just round off the corners of the panels - it looks fine this way.

Buy the recommended wood for the legs.  They are hardwood pieces you can get at lowes's.  I went cheaper on the cost and cut them from 2 x 4's but it was much harder to get them as square as they should be and the hardwood will resist denting better.

 

Otherwise building the lathes was fun, pay particular attention to how the instructions tell you to lay them out and look at how they are going line up when inserted in the frame.  One side has to extend further than the other.

 

Hope all that helps.  It was a challenging project for me that needed patience, but worth it in the end.