Homemade wire baskets
Datetime:2015-07-20 Hits:
Control your clutter by making customizable wire baskets from chicken wire and aluminum pipes. The industrial tone of the metal on metal, hand-crafted baskets gives them extra appeal, and they can easily be retrofitted to suit any measurement or shape with a few simple adjustments. And if you also think the steps below is complex, you can directly order the baskets from WUZHOU KINGDA, they have a lof of wire baskets can be choosen. You definitely can select one wire basket your favorable.
Step 1: Mark the Thicker Aluminum Tube
Measure and draw marks on the 5/16-by-36-inch aluminum tube every 9 inches, using a black, fine-tip permanent marker.
Step 2: Cut the Thicker Aluminum Tube
Use an adjustable pipe cutter to cut the aluminum tube into four pieces, using the marks drawn earlier. These will later be used as the side supports for your box.
Step 3: Connect the Smaller Aluminum Tubes
Connect the smaller aluminum tubes into a square shape using wire. Cut a length of the 20-gauge wire roughly 70 inches long. Note that this wire will not be cut or trimmed during the construction process but kept intact as a single length of wire to be threaded through the aluminum pipes in a continuous fashion. This methodology will help to keep the pipes tightly connected as there is no opportunity for the wire to come apart in the junctions.
Step 4: Add the Thicker Aluminum Side Pieces
You should now have one thin aluminum tube with wire coming out both ends. Connect the larger aluminum tubes to the corners of the square using more of the wire. Slip one thicker aluminum tube (from the pieces you cut earlier) onto each of the protruding wires. Do not cut or trim the wire, as you will need it for the next step.
Step 5: Connect the Rest of the Tubes to Create a Box
Using the rest of the wire and the rest of the tubes, continue threading the tubes onto the wire and bend the pieces into a 3-D box form. Pull your wire and pipes tight after each step to ensure adequate tension. You'll want to thread the pipes onto the wire one by one as you create the box. Thread your wire through the nearest pipe to secure each pipe as you build out the 3-D shape.
Step 6: Finish the Box Shape
When you finish creating the box form, twist the last of the wire up and around where the three pipes come together so that it is tightly wound and will not come loose — roughly four to five twists — and then cut the excess wire off with wire cutters. Repeat on the opposite end of the wire and trim off the excess. If needed, use needle-nose pliers to hide, in the opening of the nearest aluminum tube, any small portion of the wire left exposed.
Step 7: Cut the Chicken Wire Into Side Pieces
Using heavy-duty wire cutters, cut four pieces of chicken wire to match the width and height of each of the box's sides, with 2 inches added to both length and width for a necessary 1-inch overlap on each side to attach them to the box. Use the even grid of the chicken wire to help keep your lines as straight and even as possible. Set each cut piece of wire off to the side.
Step 8: Wrap the Side Pieces Onto the Box
Turn the box on its side so that the edge you intend to work on is facing up. With your work gloves still on, flatten the pieces of cut chicken wire between your flattened palms. Lay the first piece of cut wire on the box. Gently fold the wire edges up and over the aluminum tubes on all four sides to attach it to the box frame. Repeat the steps on all four sides of the box.
Step 9: Cut the Chicken Wire to Match the Box's Underside
Measure and cut a fifth piece of chicken wire to match the underside dimensions of the box plus 2 inches to both sides to accommodate the necessary overlap.
Step 10: Attach the Underside Piece to the Frame
Flatten the cut chicken wire with your work gloves on again, and then use the same wire bend-and-overlap method to attach the piece to the underside of the box.
