Gun Safe Cabinet in Garage

Jerzsubbie

Jerzsubbie

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I've been wanting to build a cabinet to conceal my safe so that I'm not screaming "hey I have a big gun safe here" when my garage door is open. I figured some shelves for all of my ammo, accessories, and reloading supplies wouldn't hurt either.

I finally picked up the wood and started building today. Outside is 3/4" birch ply, center divider and shelves are 1/2" birch ply, 1x3 pine footer, 1x2 pine face trim, door will be made of pine 1x6's with 1x3 trim and 6.5" black steel handle. Hutch is 12" deep (half total depth).

Before (minus the moving blankets that usually covered it):
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70% done
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I have to finish the 1x2 face trim, build the barn style door, and install the hardware. The shells will remain open, the door will only cover the safe. Bottom shelf is big enough to fit 8 50cal cans + 4 30cal cans.

I'm still undecided on the finish. Thinking a light-medium or gray stain. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions.
 
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Man that's really nice. Wish I was handy enough to build something like this.
 
Is that base board heat along the right side of the cabinet?? Appears too thick to be normal base board.....
Biggest issue I see is that if they can see your ammo they will know exactly what's in the safe. And if they see the ammo they will know there's safe somewhere....
 
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Bailey Boat said:
Is that base board heat along the right side of the cabinet?
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Looks like a concrete lip, keeps spills in the garage from running under the wall and into the house, keeps the framing dry, etc.

Good looking cabinet work. I'd be concerned that your shelves might be undersized for ammo.
 
JimB said:
Looks like a concrete lip, keeps spills in the garage from running under the wall and into the house, keeps the framing dry, etc.

Good looking cabinet work. I'd be concerned that your shelves might be undersized for ammo.
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Correct it's a concrete lip that runs along both sides of the garage.
As for the shelves. I haven't attached them yet as I plan to test how much they can hold before deflecting any. Since I'm doing a 1x2 face trim, I can double up the shelf with another 1/2" ply or OSB since it won't be seen. The bottom shelf is already braced with 2x3 underneath since I plan on loading that one up with ammo cans.

As for people seeing the ammo from the street and knowing what's in there, sure it's possible but if they're looking that closely we may have an issue.
 
This is a really great idea, look forward to seeing how you get it finished up
 
I'd like to try that too but I suspect the humidity down here in the southeastern corner of the state would destroy the wood, endanger the safe contents or both. Maybe I need to air condition the garage!
 
Excellent idea. Looks like I'm not the only one doing this. My dad had a couple safes with extensive coin collections and we built a workbench over top of them and a false panel to hide the actual safes.
 
I think some doors are in order for something that nice. I order mine from barker door in oregon
 
foopid stucker said:
I think some doors are in order for something that nice. I order mine from barker door in oregon
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Order?? I built my door tonight ;):D
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I didn't mount the door or hardware yet(it's just propped up for the pic), nor did I finish the trim. The door took a little longer but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Solid (for pine) but not too heavy.
 
Jerzsubbie said:
Order?? I built my door tonight ;):D
View attachment 13160

I didn't mount the door or hardware yet(it's just propped up for the pic), nor did I finish the trim. The door took a little longer but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Solid (for pine) but not too heavy.
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Looks great! I would def look at doubling the shelves if you plan for much weight on them so that they do not bow overtime with humity of a garage.
 
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Bailey Boat said:
Is that base board heat along the right side of the cabinet?? Appears too thick to be normal base board.....
Biggest issue I see is that if they can see your ammo they will know exactly what's in the safe. And if they see the ammo they will know there's safe somewhere....
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Same with the reloading presses.

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Grits said:
Same with the reloading presses.

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I'm not sure that 95% of people even know what "that" is for. I've had people walk into my shop and ask, if I have one mounted to the bench.... I have pillow cases covering the 4 presses that are in view on the upper shelf....
 
Just to clarify regarding the ammo and other items not being concealed... most people have no clue what a press is or ammo cans are, my flags and signs aren't necessarily subtle either.
I'm not trying to hide the fact that I'm a gun owner but I also don't want to scream "hey, I have a gun safe right here!" I think this cabinet does exactly that. Also there are enough tools, mountain bikes, and other items to grab someone's attention if they get a glance while walking or driving by when my garage door is open.
 
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Here's a better shot of the door. I hope to get it hung tonight but have a work dinner so I may not get the chance.
image.jpeg

I am indeed going to double up the shelves. I have plenty of 1/2" birch laying around. The majority of the weight will remain on the bottom shelf which is braced underneath with 2x3's anyway.

Getting a little closer on the finish. I'm thinking about a transparent medium stain.

Thanks for all of the compliments so far!
 
No new pics to share yet but I did get some time to work on it last night.

I doubled up the 2nd and 3rd shelves, the bottom one is braced with 2x3 underneath, the top 2 are small enough that there won't be significant weight on them.

The trim is all completed. I attached the hardboard backer to the shelf area and made a slot to run power. Since I had them, I added a few corner brackets that won't be visible but will add some strength.

I also ordered different, slightly nicer hinges than what I was able to find at Lowes, so I won't be able to finish this up until the weekend. I may stain it in the mean time.
 
the only thing you're missing is rigging that safe up to 220v with a hidden kill switch
 
I spent a little time testing stains to make sure I have the finish I'm looking for. It's very humid but I think I'm going to apply the stain tonight and let it sit overnight.
I found that vinegar helps age the wood and slightly subdue pine grain, which I really like. So I'm going with "VO".
index.php

Samples are pine, birch ply, pine.
B= Behr cedar, O= Olympic canyon brown, v= vinegar, P= plain.
 
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Annnnnnd I'm done! This was my first time making a door, anything with a door, doing face trim and only second time using stain. That said, I learned a few things but am still very happy with how it turned out!

For hardware, I used 4 self-closing cabinet hinges and a solid steel black handle.

For stain, I did a little experimenting as mentioned yesterday and ended up going with Olympic Max exterior Canyon Brown stain + sealer lightly wiped on with a rag. To prep the wood, I sanded to 220 then did a coat of vinegar to weather the wood a bit and subdue the pine grain. I learned here that this technique works GREAT for pine, but not so well for birch plywood. In the future, I'll skip the vinegar on the birch.

Everything I wanted to put on the shelves fits nicely with room to spare and now I have 2 free shelves on my shelving unit to the left of the cabinet for other stuff.

Let me know what you guys think.

image.jpeg image.jpeg
About 1/4" to spare before the door would hit the bench... Measure 6 times, build once. image.jpeg

I'd say I accomplished my goal of concealing my safe and providing better organization of my parts/accessories. Sure, if you know what you're looking at, you'll figure out there's a safe in there, but they'd still have to get past my "defense system" to get anything :)
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Oh wow, that looks fantastic!
Lots of organized storage space too
 
Looks great! If it wasn't for the ammo cans I'd be thinking garden chemicals.

Pine sucks for taking stain, it just does. I've sealed it with a thin coat of shellac and then stained over that, probably should have suggested that a few weeks ago.
 
JimB said:
Looks great! If it wasn't for the ammo cans I'd be thinking garden chemicals.

Pine sucks for taking stain, it just does. I've sealed it with a thin coat of shellac and then stained over that, probably should have suggested that a few weeks ago.
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Thanks! I'm actually really happy with how the pine turned out, not so much with the birch ply but it's OK. Because pine is said to suck taking stain I did a few tests of 3 different stains (solid, semi, transparent) with and without vinegar first coat. Frankly I think it looks like a polished turd without the vinegar.
 
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