Toads, Smells, and Puppy Dog Tails: Waz up Wednesday?- Rotating Compost Bin

Waz up Wednesday's is when I talk about a project I've been working on recently. It may still be a project I'm currently working on or one I have recently finished.

To buy a rotating compost bin it can cost you about $100 or more.

I came across this site on pinterest, for a vertical compost bin.

I like the horizontal ones a little better, so we took what we learned from that site and changed a few things.

Here is what we did:

you will need:
(2) 2x6x10 treated wood
(2) 3 1/2″ Butt/Mortise hinges
screws and nuts that fit the hinges (don't use the screws that come with the hinges)
(1) heavy duty latch that can se'curely shut.
screws and nuts that fit the latch (do not use the screws that come with latch)
(1) 1/2" galvanized pipe (we used a 4' one, but you could probably use a 3 1/2' one if you can find it. you will fined this in the plumbing section of the hardware store)
1/2" caps for the pipe
a small piece of 3/4" PVC pipe (we had this on hand from a recent plumbing project)
1 1/2" wood screws
a water barrel (we used an old one that use to belong to my Grandpa. It is a 50 gal. What is important for this project to work with our de-mentions it to make sure the barrel is about 3' tall)

Tools you will need:
saw (handsaw or circular saw will work)
jigsaw
phillip screw driver
pliers
drill with drill bits, philip screw driver head, and hole saw slightly larger then galvanized pipe (I think we used 7/8")
a square
(2) pipe wrenches (you maybe fine with one)
measuring tape
marker of some sort (pencil, marker)
pipe cutter (or box cutter will work)

Okay let's get started...

...first cut the 2x6x10 boards into 3 equal sizes. you should then have 6 boards approximately 3'4" long.

take two of the boards and make a "T". make sure it is exactly center and use the square to make sure it is square. screw together and repeat this process one more time.

You should now have 2 "T" shapes. turn them so they are upside-down T's and take the two remaining boards and line them up like the picture shows.

your stand should now look like this.

Drill holes with hole saw about 2" down from top of wood post and exactly center.

On to to the barrel...

find exact center of the round ends of the barrel. This was pretty easy sense there where two seems that met up in the center. Using the hole saw drill a hole on each end.

for the door you want to first mark out where you want it. we just looked for seems or lines in the barrel to mark where we wanted it to be.

After it is marked use the drill head to make holes in the corner large enough to get your jigsaw blade in.

Saw the sides of the door that the latch and hinges will be attached. (DO NOT saw the other two sides yet)

lay the hinges where you want them and mark the holes. drill starter holes on those marks.

screw the hinges on. Do the same process for the latch.

Once the hinges and latch are screwed on proceed with sawing the remaining two sides of the door.

Open the door. using the pliers and screw driver tighten the nuts to the bolts to fully secure the hinges and latch.

Take the PVC pipe and cut two 1" pieces off, using pipe cutter or box cutter. A saw may work as well.

Here is the tricky part. you will want to take the galvanized pipe and put it through one of the wood post, then a PVC pipe, then through the barrel, through another PVC pipe and through the other wood post.