Make a Hide - a - Key (stash Spot)

Intro: Make a Hide - a - Key (stash Spot)

This instructable will show how I turned a scrap piece of wood into a secret Hide - A - Key.  This is another project that cost me close to nothing to build.  You will need a few power tools so be careful!!

STEP 1: Materials and Tools Needed

You will need a saw.  I use a chop saw and a band saw.  A couple clamps. And some wood glue.

STEP 2: Begin....

Begin by cutting a piece of wood 6 to 8 inches in length. Using  a band saw cut off one side, then flip over and cut the other side. These will be your top and bottom . Choose the best side for the top and label so you dont mix everything up. Set aside these pieces for now.

STEP 3: Cut...

Cut the middle piece length wise off center a bit so your stash space is a little bigger.  Label these pieces and set the smaller one aside.  Now cut out most of the center of the last piece using the band saw.

STEP 4: Glue...

Glue and clamp all your pieces together starting with the center. Note: be sure you know which piece will be your top ,because this will NOT get glued.

STEP 5: Once...

Once the glue dries your almost done. Too keep the lid on, I insert 2  little dowels into the top piece. Drill a couple holes in the same spot on both pieces, and apply a little glue to hold the dowels in place.  Whallah... put keys , a note, or whatever you want inside and hide in bushes or some other inconspicuous place.

Comments

[eviekinzey]

Looks like a fun sized Geocache to me!!

[Androgynous14u]

I think it's great & if I had a bandsaw I would be making one right now. :-)

[casper27292]

this is pretty cool, but i would make it to hide something else, locking your doors to your home is just to keep an honest man out, A thief will get in no matter what even if they have to kick the door off the hinges, bust a window or whatever, That's why I have security cameras and an alarm system, I may not keep them out, but i will know who did it and where to look and when they do it. But it's a nice little secret compartment for something

[lilchumy]

You should enter this into the "Secret Compartments Contest" I think you have a shot. let me know if you do. ill vote. Good job.

[jsowder]

I would make it but I have have wood grips

[Mihsin]

I love the idea, however I needed a sequoia tree trunk to stash the goods were stolen from my summer place ( $11,000).
Cngrats on a small object, but a great saver.

[dolfinmagikpro]

An alternate way of making the hole in the middle would be to use a router. This would eliminate the need for all the gluing. Just a suggestion. Great idea!

[ShadowHawk]

Another idea would be to use a router to clear out the innards. The lid could have some a couple of magnets embedded in one side with a small piece of metal to match on the body-side. That way you wouldn't have to worry about losing the lid if the stick gets knocked around by a kid, squirrel, or other pest. Now.. it's not gonna keep someone from throwing it into a fireplace for kindling, though,, ;)

Great 'ible!

[batman96]

I did this with a Chop saw and a Jig saw I made it with a slightly bigger piece and a thinner walls, instead of cutting the side off, I drilled a hole and started cutting out the center there, but you can't do that with a band saw, yours has straighter sides though, I also only put one pin on the corner so it "hinges" the top slides to the side.

[lol XD]

Same Here, took a geocaching merit badge and now i'm hooked!

[cearles]

heck all i have for saws are a hand saw jig saw and a cirular saw im gunna do it wth those three ill try and get sum pictures to show u how it turns out but i may have to use my webcam to take them cuz i dont have a camera to use for it

[HamenChips]

Very hard to keep but can be converted in to a lamp.

[ernie666]

you could have just routed it out instead of cutting it into pieces.

[bobandthemonkey]

ever head of geocahing? this would be a great one!!! (go to geocaching.com for more info)

[dawoj]

Good one. But I am afraid my wife will throw in the fire place.

[King Crab]

It looks good, but I don't see where I could hide this. You can't just have a tiny log sticking up in the middle of your hard. If you have a pile of wood outside, it would be great. But I don't.

[TechDante]

if you could cut a length of post then drill a hole and create a stopper which sits in the hole about half way. then have a couple of dowels to keep the post flush. you would just need to fins a way to stop the wood from expanding in wet weather

[slamfist]

thats cool i can think of some possibilities for that, but i have fears of getting loaded and throwing my stash in the fire pit

[webman3802]

Nice idea!  Much better than the obviously-fake-hide-a-key-rocks that advertise the spare key.  One question, in the picture I see you're using white glue.  Have you had any trouble with it holding up in rain and weather?  An exterior-rated wood glue might last longer.

[l8nite]

pretty cool ! I don't understand why you cut it up so much though, if you had just sliced off a "top" then drilled and chisled out a space and put the "top" back on with the same "pins"  But then its your idea and seems to have turned out rather well ( a final pic would be nice) Nicely thought out pictures and instructions