My homemade sled - picture heavy thread.

[JJBat150]

As I posted previously, I’m currently using a wooden ice fishing box that my grandfather built over 35 years ago in this post:  http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=103927.msg3069146#msg3069146

I finally got working on the replacement box, and figured I’d post some pictures of the progress so far.

The majority of the box is made of  half inch hardwood (birch) plywood, so it’s a bit more expensive  then common plywood, but I’ve found that it’s got less flex, and absorbs oil-based paint better for a waterproof finish. 
 
The bottom is actually a 3 quarter inch glued panel that is sold in various sizes.  I was debating about using half inch or 3 quarter plywood for they bottom.  As it turned out, the panel was cheaper than plywood, and saved me needing to purchase another sheet of plywood.

I went with making the box 36 inches long, 20 wide and 15 tall.  I’m incorporating jbird68's idea of a side compartment for rod storage; the compartment is 4 inches deep, so it will accommodate both my bait caster and inline reels.   I am  still figuring out the exact size of the door and layout of the compartment.  My goal is to have room for 4 or 5 rods that are separated and easily removed.  Until that's figured out, I've left that side panel off.

Below are some pictures of the work so far:

After bottom and sides were cut to size I started screwing and gluing the bracing that would hold it all together.  I didn’t have the patiences  to make dado cuts on all the joints, so instead, I cut cleats for the inside of all joints and I’m using gorilla glue and #6 screws to old everything together.  I’ve probably over-engineered it a bit, but I know it will be solid and last hopefully as long as grandpa’s did.

Laying out the bottom:



Measuring up so everything I want to bring along fits:



Although the gorilla glue and screws will hold everything together, I still clamped everything to insure it’s tight.  Because of this, the workshop got a bit crowded at first:





Lots of measuring, cutting and double-checking



We did so much work that first afternoon, that my helper decided to take a nap.




I’ve been busy the past few weekends, so I’ve only been able to putter on and off.  I finally got the box assembled, here’s what it looks like so far:



The compartment in the upper left of the picture will be for storing tip ups.  I can comfortably  get 7-10 in there, along with a gaff and ice skimmer and could drop a shorter rod or 2 on top if necessary.

Another view of the inside showing the small storage area.  In the other box, this was nice for keeping little things for falling down to the bottom of the box.   Underneath it is open space, not sure yet if I’ll make a few more shelves / boxes or leave it open for now.  Since I took the pictures, I cut the inside edge of the storage box so that it angles up from the tip-up storage area; doesn't really affect storage space, but it eliminates a sharp edge that can snag gloves or clothing.



Another couple of views with flasher and heater inside.  The 2 boards running from side to side are to support the top.  The top will actually be cut and hinged at those boards.  They are 4 inches from the front and back.  The top above the rod storage will be fixed, so when the top doors are flipped open, only the area in these pictures will be accessible.  Once I get the top cut and attached, I need to figure out what size to cut the top doors.  Not sure if I want to cut then equal, or make 1 shorter, so that it’s easier to stay sitting on the box and open the smaller door to access the inside. 

Gut feeling right now is that the end with the tip up storage would be the longer door. 





Next steps are to get the inside painted, and rod storage figured out.

As I get more done, I'll continue to post updates.

[Cotacatchers]

Carpenter to wood worker  ,,nice work.

[Wyo-Fisher]

Nice job, looks real functional!

[IDbasser]

Looks good.  I have some sleds in the past.  I liked the building part and anticipation of using them.  Now I just need to figure out what mods to do to my flip over.  Enjoy the sled.

[Whopper Stopper]

Nice job! Good looking hound too!

          WS

[lefty2053]

I sometimes dream I was a wood worker half that good.
I can cut wood-just not straight.
I can nail wood together-Just bend the nails.
And I can sand and Paint-Wife doesn't let me do trim.

Great work on a nice looking sled.

[JJBat150]

Busy week this week with Thanksgiving and deer season in full swing, but managed to get a few hours in this afternoon so here’s the latest progress:
Got the interior painted with 1st coat of oil based paint; picture shows the inside storage after the cut I mentioned in previous post.  I also added cleats on the top of the front and back to tighten everything up on final assembly.



After talking things over with my father (my woodworking mentor), I didn’t realize how much of a geometry puzzle it would be to make the rod storage door; he mentioned things like keep it as small as possible, what way is it going to be hinged, what happens when it opens up and gets broken , and so on.

Anyways… The box is 36 inches long, and longest rod is currently 30 inches long.  Wanted to cut as small of a door as possible, but still make it functional to store a number of rods.  Logic says that if I put the rod tip in first and touch the inside of the box,  I could have the door open 6 inches in from the far end; if things get tight, the door should be tall enough for some “wiggle room” to make it fit. 

After using cardboard and blue frog tape to mock up a door opening that worked, I crossed by fingers and cut the door out.
 
Success! The door opening came out as expected, with one exception; even using a thin kerf blade, there’s still a bit too much gap between the door and frame to make a weather tight door.  Because of this, I want to make the door an overlay door, but instead of working on the door, I got the  rod storage finished up.

After a lot of trial and error, by setting things up putting rods in and out of the storage, making adjustments, and then trying again, here’s what I came up with for storing the rods:

Final product with outside of box removed:



The dowels are spaced 4 inches apart which give enough clearance for bait casters and inline reels.  I can actually get 2 rods on each dowel set, plus 2 on the bottom of the cabinet.   Right now the dowels are just set in the brackets, and the brackets are just screwed in.  I’m figuring that the end with the reels will get glued in place, but the tip end will stay as is so that I can adjust in the future if necessary. 

Pictures with the face frame temporarily in place:





I kept the bracket for the rod tip back quite a ways so that there would be enough support for soft tipped rods.  This also gives me some extra storage space up front of the rods if necessary. 



Picture looking down at rod brackets – picture taken when still testing layout:



Next step will be to get a few more coats of paint on the interior, plus get the rod cabinet painted.     Once that’s done, I can get the top and side attached and get top doors and rod cabinet door cut and attached. 

[CHEPIGUY]

how are you pulling this thing around. its gotta weigh 60 lbs empty. add the gear you got a easy 100 lbs. good luck

[scavengerj]

Nice looking indeed!

Just a suggestion...you may want to look for a way to secure those rods a little better. Hills, uneven terrain, and pulling them with a sle or something else may lead tp the rods shifting back and forth causing them to fal off those pegs. Rod tips are pretty easy to break if they jam into something if sliding forwards in the box.

[JJBat150]

how are you pulling this thing around. its gotta weigh 60 lbs empty. add the gear you got a easy 100 lbs. good luck

Good question... I never weighed the old box either empty or with equipment, but I am able to lift it no problems into the back of an SUV, and never had problems pulling it through 10-12 inches of snow.

Quick guess on the new box would be ~25 to 30 pounds empty based on plywood weighing 48 lbs per 4*8 sheet (or 1.2 lbs per square foot)

Equipment is probably another 20-25 lbs, so it's not going to be unmanageable.   I'll have to throw is on a scale when completed.

[JJBat150]

Nice looking indeed!

Just a suggestion...you may want to look for a way to secure those rods a little better. Hills, uneven terrain, and pulling them with a sle or something else may lead tp the rods shifting back and forth causing them to fal off those pegs. Rod tips are pretty easy to break if they jam into something if sliding forwards in the box.

Good idea, I moved things around to support the rod tips, so I'd hate to see them mucked up from sliding around inside the cabinet.

I'll probably be rigging up some Velcro straps or bungee straps on the rod handles to hold them in place better. 

[matzilla]

you can take some large o rings and loop them on the dowel, over the rod and back over the dowel. Velco is probably easier, however lol

What kind of heater is that?


Your woodworking skills are excellent!!!

[Whopper Stopper]

Very nice !

       WS

[Big treble]

Nice job, looks sharp

[sinneD]

I'll probably be rigging up some Velcro straps or bungee straps on the rod handles to hold them in place better.

Golf bag club tubes are good. Check the local thrift stores. Use short sections for the tip holders

Bungies: I like these type. Yes, I know they are cheap foreign crap, but buy a few, they are handy. They are in the bicycle section of the fleabay..





http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Universal-Bicycle-Torch-Flashlight-Handle-Bar-Holder-Mount-Mounting-Black-/261475183445?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ce122ab55

Usually, those sellers also have LED lights too, so you can combine orders for things. Like headlights and such that work good for icefishing. I have a couple of lights I took a chance on and have been really pleased so far. I use an extra Vex battery to run lights and fan.

Some of the rigid flashlight holders are interesting too for clamping things parallel or peprpendicular.

Looking forward to your updates

[Chris338378]

That's a great looking sled and I'm sure it'll last a very long time.  You're truly a craftsman.  Have a good season and thank you for sharing the pics with us. 

[JJBat150]

What kind of heater is that?

It's a older Coleman Model 512 catalytic heater that I picked up a few years ago when I was feeling nostalgic and wanted something "old school". It's dated 1968, and was unused in the original box.   Doesn't have any controller to regulate it, so it sure does pumps out the heat.  Picked it up for like $15 bucks, so really can't fuss too much about it. 

Latest update on the box itself :

Got the rod cabinet exterior panel glued on, then worked on getting interior painted up – 3 coats of oil based paint.

Only had overlay hinges for 3 quarter inch thick cabinets and local big-box store didn’t have any, so had to order some half inch ones online – found a dealer on eBay with great prices, so will probably be using them again. 

Once the interior was painted, I attached the top – again screwing and gluing it on, then touching up paint on all the inside corners.

Pictures of it clamped up:





Although I put a larger cleat on it to support the top doors, I didn’t leave enough cleat to screw the top down along the long edge.  Between the little bit of cleat and the plywood panel between the rod cabinet and interior storage, there was enough surface to get everything glued up, but had to get a little creative on clamping it up.

Once everything dried, this is what I’ve left with:





Working now on getting all the edges cleaned up and any screw head and blemishes on the exterior touched up with wood filler.  After that it’s down to cutting rod cabinet door, top flip open doors, and then getting exterior painted.

I have an extra set of Xcounty skis to use, but they do have to be cut down to size.   My wife and kids were in good will store looking for ugly Christmas sweaters and said there were a bunch of skis there.  I’m thinking of stopping by to set if there any shorter kids ski that I can use to save on the cutting.

Also going to make a frame similar to a Smitty sled frame to actually attach the skis to, then attach the fame to the box itself. 

Did have a little flub-up during the glue-up; had marked off the area where the top doors would attach so that I won't put any glue there.  Anyways, me & Father were chit-chatting as I was putting it together, and of course I put glue down where I didn't want it.   Father just laughed and said "saw you doing it, figured I'd wait until you realized you screwed up."  Easy fix; just had to scrape the glue off once it dried. 

As father said "Even good woodworkers make mistakes".

[trundog]

Nice work.  There is no substitute for craftsmanship

[Silverbullet555]

I never seem to get my woodworking projects to work out that well.

Good job.

[JJBat150]

Been awhile since I posted any updates...  finally got it done.  Had some issues with painting because the temperatures were like a see-saw between Christmas and new years... 50 degrees one day, 20 the next.  We only heat the workshop when we're in it, so paint was very slow to dry.

I didn't find a pair of skis at the thrift store that met my approval, but did find a pair of unused kids downhill skis on Ebay for $24 delivered to my door.  So the new skis went to the new box, and the skis on the old box got re-used.

I built "smitty sled" bases for both boxes, and painted them up. 



Moving on the the new box itself.. here's a picture of the final product.  The pull handles on the doors are some cheap poly rope that I got out of Tractor Supply's bargain bin a few years ago.  It's got reflective material weaved into it - so the pictures don't show the details.  I basically tied them into Solomon bars so that I can grab them with gloves on.  The skis are 100cm long, so no cutting needed.  Probably could have went with something a bit longer, but that's fodder for the next project.



A couple of pictures of the inside storage area.  The boxes are removable, so that I can put items in the recessed area.  They were an afterthought, but add a nice touch to the box.  There's 8 or 9 tip ups in there along with a home made gaff.





Some better pictures of the rod storage cabinet.  The orange thing is some kind of flexible rubber tie-down that I bought to use on the kayak. It's only temporary, as it doesn't quite secure the rods as well as I'de like it to.





Typical load of what I would take out on the ice - the hand warmers and pan fish jigs in the other pictures are still inside the box.  The plastic container is what I carry larger jigs and spoons in (mostly target lakers with 'em).



and the same thing loaded up into the box.  It's a little tight getting the auger in and out, so it probably won't ride inside very often, but instead will get strapped on the box.



I've also got 4 more light weight jigging rods that I bring along if the girls fish with me.  Taking the auger out of the box, they'll fit inside nice.



And finally, what it looks like with the shanty on board, ready to go fishing.

[nail bender]

I've been brain storming for a sled to haul gear. Neat ideas here.  Thanks for sharing!

[Whopper Stopper]

Nice post and pics!

Thanks!

     WS

[P Meyette]

very nice work