A Mackay's Mailbox

Our old mailbox was getting a bit of a lean going, some trees had grown around it and the bricklayer who built it didn't use any reinforcement to hold it together it was only a matter of time before it would fall and hurt someone.

Today more then ever I seem to be getting more packages then letters. The postie keeps driving in fast and he's under the pump to deliver. I have kids and Dachshund's, they are running around while old mate is burning rubber to get to his next delivery. I have been thinking about it for a while I had to do a gate and fence to keep them in and others out and try to blend everything in together.

I have a 7yr old son who I'm trying to inspire. I thought the big things he could learn from this project is the importance of using our mind to imagine the desired outcome. Drawing it on paper then using work and perseverance to bring our thoughts into reality. It had to be something he can be proud of, coming home to everyday and something he could tell people in the future that he helped his Dad build.

I'm not a believer in just going out and buying new materials if I can help it. I kept an eye on local second hand shops and gumtree as well as other secondhand selling sites. I find older materials helps to give it an established look when finished.

Surveyor to give boundary peg if not one in place.

Bricks, Rocks recycled if possible.

Bricklayers Loam /sand,1 bag lime, 4 bags Ivory cement, dishwashing liquid.

Recycled concrete / 0 - 15mm or fines, 10 bags grey cement

Shovels, crow bars, strong back, willingness to shovel.

Spirit level, laser level measuring tape.

Excavator or other earthmoving equipment required to clear site and dig footings.

2x 2.6m Steel square post 100mm, Other posts as required for gates or fence etc.

2 x 1.4m Gal angle iron 70 x 70

2 x 550mm Gal Flat Bar 75 x 3mm

2 x 2.7m roofing sheets, screws to suit.

1 x 2050 infill / roof sheet, screws to suit.

Bolts 12mm 4 x 120mm , 2x 40mm

Paint 2 x spray cans black.

Rio bar Y12 & F72 or better mesh.

I did my first 3 drawings of what I thought it might look like when finished. I used to have low line angus cows and I thought a cattle grid in suburbia would give a nice rural feeling, as well as keeping the Dachshund's in.

I like to express transmutation designed in the things I do, where it grows up out of the ground and changes as it gets higher above the ground. So I start with basic rock then it becomes brick then metal.

I wanted to protect the mailbox from accidental knocks and bumps. Almost every mailbox gets a rub from some unexpecting driver reversing or just forgetting to stop.

It had to be dry for the mail and big enough to take large parcels as well as letters. I didn't want my parcels to fall from a height either like some boxes do.

It had to be practical and long lasting with no maintenance, easy hose / wash down.

The other thought was when we order food to be delivered it would be good to wait out of the rain and also be able to have a bike or scooter charging area out of the weather.

After reviewing the drawings I checked the local council website for by laws for building a mailbox the only requirement I could find was a 2.1m height rule. The main requirements from Australia Post was it had to take an A4 sized mail in portrait or landscape fashion with depth to suit. You will have to check your postal service, local council and find out the rules of what's required in your area to be compliant.

Given my budget I wasn't sure how far I would get on bottle tops, so I just drew a basic cheap easy one and 2 more grandiose one's.

I went through the local building second hand places and got gates and chain mesh fencing. I sourced some rocks and bricks from down the back. I also found some old Y12 rio bar 2.4m and lengths 2 x 2.6m posts with concrete still on the bottom.

I sourced a stainless steel door. It used to be a fridge door for a restaurant it was 700 x 560 stainless steel square.

I had a big piece of leftover aluminum propellor plate.

I ordered a truck load of recycled concrete fines. I really like using it. It wants to be concrete it's got everything in it you need. All's you have to do is add cement powder and some water.

A lot of materials couldn't find like concrete mesh and stainless bolts etc I purchased them from local hardware.

I booked in a surveyor because there was no real identifying pegs. Over the years several different wire fences had been there and removed and I didn't trust the bricklayer. Surveying was the biggest cost but I can rest easy knowing the new mail box is built exactly where it is supposed to be.

I got a little excavator to clear the area knock over the existing mail box and I set up a spare mailbox from a builder. I don't like to rush a job like this it could take months to complete, I want to enjoy working with the heavy materials and I don't want to rush it.

We put string line pegs 2m or 3m past the surveyors pegs and left his pegs in place whenever possible. If anyone asks I can point to his peg and say there's the boundary, if I remove the peg I have nothing. I stayed inside his center line.

Setting up the string line is the most important part of any job. It's the first thing that needs to be done, keep your line clean and clear and your job will end up nice and straight.

The trees have grown too big to easily remove so I had to move the gate and mailbox over a bit where there is room away from the tree. The ground height for the old mail box was too low I need at least 150mm of fall over a 6m wide foot path to get the water to run away from the entry and into the gutter.

I hate to waste, so I did the fence first. Then I put the gates in place then the mailbox was to be the infill. I knew roughly how big it needed to be but not the exact size.

I wanted 1 meter or so distance between the driveway gate and the beginning of the mail box. This way I could clearly see any car at the gate wanting to get in. I got a bit of fence infill with the gate, second hand.

Also I wanted to have a couple of big rocks right there to stop anyone who missed the entry from driving into the mail box.

The usual footing depth for a fence post, 2.2m above ground is 700mm and for 2.7m above ground is 900mm.

My expected finished height is 2.1m. I tried to dig to 900mm there was an old concrete footing from the previous mailbox it was too hard to break up and remove so I worked around it.

I cleaned out any loose dirt and swept out the footing ready for the posts. I used a trolley with my brother we moved the posts into place then wriggled them around until they lined up with the new fence and measured to the string line. Once I was happy it was in the right place, we eyeballed from a distance up the fence line to make sure everything was straight to the eye and straightened with a spirit level at the same time. When we were double sure it was right I hand mixed dry, 4 crushed concrete to 1 grey cement. My brother added water with a hose as I filled up the footing. As I layered I mixed the concrete back and forth in the footing it mixed up wet. It looked like real bought concrete with a dark grey colour. It took a while but I didn't rush.

We put in the Y12 Rio Bar horizontally as we went and made a 100mm 90 degree bend in 3 pieces for vertical starter bars.

I wanted to have the biggest rocks near the gate as a dead weight to hopefully slow down any cars. Then they could become smaller as I worked toward the mailbox area. I gathered the rocks and bricks and stacked them near the area. I used a pressure washer and laundry powder to wash and clean the rocks as much as possible.

I used 1 ivory cement, 1 small lime and 3 brickies sand with a bit of soapy water to make the mortar it was more cement then the bag recommended. In my opinion this keeps me covered for being strong enough.

I worked slowly a layer one day then I would mix the 1 grey cement to 4 crushed concrete mix to fill each day before I finished up. This gives the rocks stability for the next day when I come to lay more rocks/ bricks.

I added an extra 2 vertical bars and a horizontal bar just before reaching the top of the 1m low part joining up to the driveway gate.

The Parcel door was the most confusing part that I wasn't sure how to do. I looked on the internet and most parcel boxes are a seesaw balancing act. They use a long panel to counterbalance the door closed and it acts like a slide for the parcel to go down. I didn't want to get to high above the ground, I wanted the parcels to go in at a lower height so they don't have to fall to far. This would also keep the mail box lower and not so much work.

My wife insisted that bigger is always better and wanted a big one for larger parcels.

I used a stainless steel under bench, fridge door from a restaurant. I used a 40 x 40 square gal length screwed into the bottom to act as a counter balance and door closer. I balanced the door on a 10mm threaded bar laying on the ground when I found the balancing point I marked it, then I moved another 20mm to make sure I was past the balance point.

I cut some more 40mm gal box steel to strengthen up to the balancing point and drilled it out to suit 10mm x 80mm stainless bolts.

For the hinges I just used some old risers from my smelting leftovers they were about 30mm round, ( You can just buy some 30mm Alu round bar from a supplier). I drilled it out to suit a 10mm tap in the center and machined 20mm back from the end to tidy up. I also put in a 10mm vertical threaded hole for a bar to tie it into the concrete.

I used some wooden 100mm boards to help hold the door and hinges in place while I bricked up around the door. I bricked as close as possible then concreted up to the wood for a flat vertical surface.

I bent the stainless tie in rods back away from the wood. When I got above the hinges and as soon as I could fit a brick in I removed the timber and bricked the rest of the way up. Unless I point it out no one has noticed the missing bricks below the hinges.

In the beginning I was going to have a separate box for letters but I started to realise how much extra work would be involved. I could have recycled the old front and bricked a cavity but in the future I might need more letter boxes.

I decided on one big flat area for letters to slide down. I cut a piece of propellor plate undersize so there is a small gap if any water gets on the plate it can run off to the edge quickly. I used some stainless 20mm flat bar to set the plate in place on a sloping angle for letters. I searched the internet for mail box opening size and it recommend 30mm for letters. I used some roller blind Alu bottom rail on the edges of the plate so it was nice and smooth and helped to catch letters from sliding off onto the ground.

I drilled and bolted the flat bars to the plate and set it in the bricks to match the top of the parcel door. This way the postie could just slide letters above the door. The gap is 50mm a bit more then the recommended 30mm. If it is a problem I will unbolt the plate and add a different piece of edging to tighten the gap.

Through out history the Lintel has been the most important part of any long lasting structure. The 2 choices are an arch or a Lintel. I wanted to keep low so the arch was out of the question it would have added 300mm + to the finished height. I thought about granite or sandstone but I needed 2 lintel's one front and one back. I was going to use 50 x 50 stainless angle but the nice man wanted $500 for a length. I told him "I'd have a think about it ".

I don't like gal flat bar lintels they seem to crack on a 45 up from the corners. It's very rare to see a door or window without cracks. I searched "lintel" and there's some really old lintels still in place. Some are huge megalithic structures most have some sort of engraving or statement on them for the person about to enter.

We are Mackay's descended from the Pict's so I thought here would be a good opportunity to expose some of our heritage. I looked through and found some generic pictures on line, of the tree of life. There's heaps of free files and downloads or you can pay and get a special one. ( After seeing all the history I got inspired to sit down and draw a new family crest. I'm Raphael and my son is Claymore and Manu Forti is the Family Motto. )

For the tree of life I used idea maker and printed off the jpeg that I had saved. I had a few goes in the end, I printed a 3mm thick base total height of 7mm a blending of 4.

I also used fusion 360 to make the name name plate. My ender 3 only has a 225mm build plate so I made rectangle boxes for the letters to fit inside. When printed overall letter thickness was 7mm. This worked out except for the tapering of the letters. In fusion it's hard to taper writing.

I sanded and painted the prints with 2 coats clear acrylic lacquer. This helped to smooth the surface for casting in sand.

I cut a piece of 12mm plywood to 900mm x 110mm to screw the letters to. I also cut a piece of 12mm x 30mm wood to attach to the mold for the angle part. I used a electric plane to taper it and 3 screws to fix it in place when making the mold.

Then I made a new mold box 1050mm x 200mm incase I go bigger next time.

I had a guess at how much Alu I would need and used my 2 biggest crucibles. It wasn't enough and my first attempt fell short by 150mm in length. I weighed the failed piece and added another 1kg. Now I had an expected weight of 4.5kg.

Second go I melted 4.5kg of scrap Alu and it worked out but was still a bit short on metal. This would be the back side.

Third and final go, I bought a big crucible I melted 5kg of Alu and it worked perfectly. This would be the front.

I cleaned both pieces dried and painted with spray can of black paint. Afterwards I read the label and realised I should have used primer first. The guy at the shop didn't tell me when I bought the paint. He just sold me the paint and said it would cover metal. After it dried thoroughly I used a disk sander to rub back the raised lettering and symbol. Once it looked clean enough I did 2 coats with clear lacquer spray. (This one didn't need priming).

I pop riveted some Alu propellor plate to the lintels and used some small Alu channel to help strengthen the plate. This would have to be strong enough to carry the weight of the wet concrete across the top.

I bricked up and this time I mixed the concrete wet in a wheel barrow. I bent over my stater bars horizontal and used concrete mesh F72 to bridge across. I gently placed the concrete in around the edges but kept the center of the Alu plate clear. I waited for the concrete to set a bit. After a couple of hours I mixed up wet cement and filled in all the way to the top. I also went a bit higher and rounded the top so no water could lay there.

My back was glad to see this stage completed. Overall it took a few weeks as it was middle of summer and I was waiting for the temp to moderate a bit I prefer to do out door work in winter or at least on a cool day.

I forgot to tie the posts into the brick work. I was going to weld the Y12 onto the post but didn't get around to it.

Black was not my choice of infill colour. I wanted to have a soft brown or birchy colour, but I got out voted.

I personally believe the black will get too hot in summer and I may have to respray it a cooler colour. If I do I will cut a decorative sticker spray paint then remove the sticker and have a pattern or street address / name etc.

I was worried about the roofing frame work and how strong it would have to be. But as soon as I screwed the infill sheet to the posts, I realised 2m wasn't a very big distance and the corrugated iron was strong enough to bridge the gap. It's not rated to walk on but every part of the roof can be reached from the edge on a ladder.

The decorative infill sheet was expensive and the guy had a minimum order, so I ordered an extra 2 sheets for the roof I made them 2.7m. This would give 300 overhang at pedestrian gate and 200 overhang at the other end.

I also bought 2 pieces 70 x 70 angle gal and 2 of 75 x 550 Gal flat bar.

I cut away sharp corners and drilled out for 12mm bolts then sanded smooth and spray painted black.

The roof is an illusion there is 10mm fall to one side but I wanted to give more of a slanted slope look so I made it fall back more considerably. The water only runs the length of the roof and falls off the left hand side near the 2 big rocks. I will probably put ferns and lily's there later on, the roof will help water them.

I should have taken more time when cleaning the bricks each day as I went. My mortar was a bit over wet at times and became hard to clean. The days were hot and by the end of each day I was exhausted and didn't put enough effort into cleaning the bricks. The rocks also caught the falling mortar and the fence copped some splash back.

I used a mild hydrochloric soapy solution to broom on and then pressure wash off. I purchased some sealant for the rocks to give them a wet look finish and did the bricks and rocks at the front.

My neighbours have stopped off and given me mostly encouragement. However one guy's wife keeps asking when he will be doing their mail box, so I may have started a fence off in the neighbourhood.

A big thank you to Instructables for for first place prize. I am negotiating with my son on how we should use the prize money in a team effort and if we should spend it on more fencing supplies. Thanks Again.