We don’t advise you to buy or build a small sized cabinet. Over the years, your number of weapons may increase and you will certainly have to buy a new cabinet.
Also, building a gun cabinet with your own hands could result in a great reason for pride.
The process of creating
The first step is to determine the exact dimensions. You should take measures and calculate everything in advance. The main measurement will be the height. The height determines the type of weapon you will be able to store now and in the future, when you will be expanding your arsenal. Some weapons can be disassembled for compact storage, but there are models that can’t be folded and in the future there may appear some technological innovations. So it would be best to build a tall cabinet.
Let’s consider the standard height of 497⁄32in, add to it another 2 in for convenience, and we get a cabinet height of 513⁄16in.
Additional measurements
The next step is to determine the width and depth of our weapon deposit cabinet for shotguns and rifles. The depth of the cabinet is the distance from the end wall to the door of the safe. It should provide convenient and comfortable storage for weapons with various modifications, as well as optical and bore sight scope that has high brackets.
The approximate depth should be at least 12 in. In case of storing shotguns, with attachable magazines, you’ll need to increase the depth to 20 in.
The width of the safe will depend on the number of weapons that you plan to store now and buy in the future. For example, one unit of combat firearm occupies about 4 in.
Materials for manufacturing
After determining the size, should be defined and the material, which is also important when building a handmade gun safe. The thickness of the metal plating for the cabinet of firearms should not be less than 01⁄8in. Additional shelves and drawers inside the gun cabinet can be made using different materials that will prove highly durable and reliable. But it’s a waste of time, effort and money. The easiest way that won’t hurt the quality is it to make the cabinet from ordinary sheet steel. You do not need any special skills, which makes it possible to build it even for a person who doesn’t have any experience.
Other elements needed for building of the gun cabinet
• Metal corner with a shelf to create sturdiness.
• 0,5 gallons of bright paint.
• 2-3 metal sheds.
Work progress
The first step is to begin to cut the pieces that will be used for the walls, bottom, floor and doors. You can cut using two ways by using a grinder or the guillotine, which is designed for cutting metal. Use the option that is more available or convenient for you. Do not try to cut a metal work piece using a cutting torch. The thermal overload bends the metal and it becomes uneven. A cutting grinder is available everywhere, so there will be no problems with that.
The guillotine can significantly shorten the process of cutting and the workpieces are smoother and pleasant to look at. If you buy sheets at any particular metal-working company, ask immediately for an additional charge to cut it to the size you want.
The assembling
It is carried out by means of welding. The main condition for a successful welding and reliability of the construction in the future is to set the minimum amount of current before welding. A sheet of thin metal burns very quickly, if we just increase the strength of the current or, on the contrary, we overexpose a part of it.
The current strength in welding is determined by the selection of electrodes of the required thickness. You can examine the dimensions, as well as the additional parameters on the pack of the electrodes. There is always a table of conformity which will help you. But you can use other methods as well. Take the thinnest available electrode. Ideally, you should use a 2 mm (3/32 in).
Then slowly add the current level until the arc is no longer quenched and the electrode adheres to the walls surface. It is best to experiment on a scrap piece of metal to avoid spoiling your weaponry safe. The assembly should begin with the back wall:
• Place it on a flat surface.
• Start to set the bottom of the safe slowly.
• Then, a side wall.
• After attach the top.
• And join a second side wall.
It is essential for the welds to be inside the safe. If you are just a beginner welder and don’t posses extensive knowledge in flat welding, the internal components can help hide all the flaws and uneven welds. Do not weld the safe with continuous welds.
Pretty often this leads to thermal deformation of a thin metal. A continuous weld should also not be applied in this case because the safe doesn’t require tight plugging, such as a container of water. Best would be to use the following welding method. In the process of tack welding, place the potholders on the metal at a distance of about 315⁄16 in apart.
Offering a rigid design
After welding the entire main structure, it should be strengthened. In order to do this we should frame the front part using a metal bracket in the place where the door will reside. The first step is to weld the metal bracket to the side walls of the cabinet. This operation should only be done inside the safe. There should be no welding elements outside of the cabinet. After that is done, you may begin to construct the door of your cabinet.
Making the front door of the gun cabinet
Take the already pre-cut door from a metal sheet and reinforce it by using metal brackets. The first thing to do is to weld the bracket structure to the door.
In addition to strengthening the area, this plays an important role in terms of security, for instance: it blocks the door, if the attackers want to remove it from hinges in the closed position.
After the installation of the framework, move to assembling the locks. Begin with drilling the slots for the two keyholes.
Now that the door is done completely, you are ready to install it directly to the cabinet.
The door hinges should be welded first to the corners of the door and then to the wall of the safe.
It is best to use the method of spot welding, which works as follows. The welding passes through the holes of the hinges for the screws, thereby avoiding extra breaches and excessive welding.
After that, the completed door is welded to the hinges.
Building an ammunition box
We know now how to create a gun safe, it is now necessary to make a box for ammunition storage as required by the law. In order to do this, we just weld a small ammunition box, which will be separate from the weapons.
Finally, we paint the gun cabinet. If you wish, you can sheathe inside some leatherette and place seal rubber on the door.
Also, you should draw the gun cabinet plans, through which you can design and create any parts of any size.