How to Build a Metal Box

Metal boxes are both fun to make and incredibly useful. You can give them to friends as gifts, use them for little knickknacks or fill them with makeup and jewellery. You can even build larger ones to hold toys. Making a box with thin metal is fairly easy to do. When the job is finished, you can paint the box with a metal spray paint, which can be purchased at any hardware store.

Thin sheet metal (size depends on your project)
Ruler
Metal snippets or cutters
Rivets
Permanent marker
Drill and drill bits
Rivet gun
Gloves
Metal spray primer
Metal spray paint

Instructions

- 1
  Decide what size box you want to make. Smaller boxes are easier to make and are probably best when you are starting out. Buy a sheet of metal that is big enough to make a box in one piece, without cutting. Buy a thickness to your liking but make sure it's thin enough that you can bend it with pliers. When you have the dimensions, draw the box bottom face in the middle of the metal sheet.
- 2
  Cut from the edge of the sheet to each corner of your drawing, using the metal snippets.
- 3
  Place the metal on a stable surface and align the edge or seam of the square you have drawn with the edge of the surface. Place the small piece of wood in the middle of the metal and hold it down with a clamp. This will secure the metal in place.
- 4
  
  Use pliars to help you pull down the edges.
  
  Push down the edge of the box which overhangs the platform. You might need the help of pliers to do this. Repeat this with each edge. When you have finished, you will have a four-sided box. Excess metal wing hang over the edge of each side, this is normal.
- 5
  Fold the excess metal over the folded sides, so that you have a perfect box. Drill a small hole in each corner of the box where the excess metal is folded over. Insert the rivets into these holes. This will keep the box together.
- 6
  Spray the box with a primer and then with the color you want and leave it to dry in the sun. If you want the box to have a lid, repeat the steps but draw a square which is approximately 1 cm bigger on all sides.

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