Crafty DIY Projects

DIY Projects

Okay, agreed, you need the bucket, and you are unlikely to have a store closing down near you and trying to get rid of ice buckets at a bargain price, but bear with me… you might just have an old bucket lying around, or that ice bucket you already have has seen better days, but it’s still serviceable.

The beauty of this, as you will see from the final image, is that even though the buckets (I ended up buying four of them) can be used for kindling for the fire, they can also be used for their original purpose as well – keeping the bubbly cold.

Naturally, with their 4L capacity, they are also very handy around the home and garden for this or that purpose.

Best of all, as they are stainless steel… so NO CORROSION!

Materials:

  • Ice bucket
  • 3mmØ stainless steel rope – about 500mm per bucket*
  • Two 3mm aluminium ferrules or wire rope clips
  • Two #5 stainless steel thimbles (optional)
  • One dowel handle – 22mmØ x 100mm
  • Wood sealer – in this case meranti exterior gloss varnish

*The length of steel rope you will require will be determined by what is required in your particular circumstances and the size of the bucket.

Method:

  1. Three of the four buckets, one completed (on the right) and two to go, with their cut-to-length 3mmØ wire rope, two handles, four ferrules and four thimbles.
  2. Two examples of clips for securing wire rope loops, on the left a pair for 3mmØ rope, and on the right, for 5mmØ rope. These are easier to fit than the ferrules as they can be disassembled, or nearly so, and the rope and end passed through before the bolts are tightened, securing the loop. But I didn’t think they would look as acceptable as the ferrules. They can also be bolted directly to the side of a bucket without any handle holes or loops, but then the bolt ends would protrude into the bucket itself.
  3. Six sizes of ferrules [L-R]: 1.5mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, and 8mm. Hint: if you cannot get hold of ferrules, short lengths of aluminium tubing of the correct diameter can be useful, though not ideal substitutes.
  4. My first step was to make the handles, which I did using 100mm lengths of 22mmØ meranti dowel. First I marked the dead centre of the dowel, and then used a countersink bit to create a ‘V’-shaped cone depression. This would help centre the tip of the drill bit. I repeated the ‘V’-shaped cone depression on the other end.
  1. Then I used a 4mmØ bit to drill a hole through the centre of the dowel. I went from both sides as the bit did not extend right the way through. However, it is a good idea to drill through from both ends anyway as you can then ensure that the exit hole on each end is dead centre – and they are what you will see.
  2. And here’s the completed hole for the cable. It doesn’t matter if they do not meet up exactly within the dowel – you are not going to see the meeting point, anyway. The important thing is to ensure that where the wire rope passes out at each end of the handle looks centred and neat. In this case, however, it went well. After drilling the rope holes I dipped each handle in the meranti sealant so that even the hole through it would be completely coated with sealant and hung each one up to dry. A day later I lightly sanded each handle and repeated the dipping process to ensure the handles would be absolutely fully sealed. Applying the sealant is the only aspect of the project that takes any time (well, actually applying the sealant takes a few seconds – it’s the drying that takes the time).
  3. While the sealant on the handles was drying, I got on with ONE end of each length of wire rope. First, if you have a crimping tool, swage the end of the rope – that means compress it so that you can pass it back through the ferrule, as shown here.
  4. Now carefully push the ferrule up towards the end of the rope, but not off it as that will make you swear.
  1. Now pull the rope back through the ferrule, insert the thimble, and pull the loop tight, again ensuring that you do not pull the end out of the ferrule. Here it is almost tight enough, with just the very tips of the strands of the end of the wire rope protruding. Pull the loop fully tight, securing the thimble.
  2. Now you can crimp the ferrule, securing the end of the rope. If you do not have a crimpling tool, a workbench vice makes an excellent substitute, as shown here.
  3. And here is the completed thimble loop. The vice’s jaws are ridged to enhance its grip on whatever you are securing in the jaws, but as you can see here, the ridges also compress a pattern into the ferrule. This loop will not be coming loose anytime soon, and you will also note that there are no rope end strands visible. This makes for a very neat fastening, but you must ensure that the end of the rope extends right to the left-hand end of the ferrule; there has to be sufficient length of rope encased within the ferrule for it to grip the end securely.
  4. This shows how with the ferrule securing only a portion of the end of the rope, you will have a weak loop that could pull free – landing whatever is in the bucket on the floor. The centre illustration shows the ideal (well, I think so) and the right-hand illustration shows the ends of the strands of the rope protruding from the ferrule. This can be unsightly, but can also result in painful scratches, and so is best avoided if possible.
  1. Now slip the handle on to the rope and repeat the looping procedure at the other end of the rope. If you didn’t follow the above advice and looped both ends, you will not get that handle on the rope and will be rather unhappy.
  2. Now all you have to do is prise the ends of the bucket loops open, slip the loop on to it, and push it back into place to complete your bucket handle.
  3. If you are using rope clips (see Image 2), and if the bucket you are adapting does not have loops already, you can bolt the clip directly on to the side of the bucket, as shown here. Simply drill a pair of holes for the bolts on opposite sides of the bucket, and secure the loops. Using this method you can even dispense with creating the loops… using the clips alone to secure the ends of the rope, but bear in mind that if you do not tighten the bolts sufficiently, you could end up with one or both ends of the rope pulling free – and you turning the air blue.
  4. And here we are… still fully functional for the bottle of giggle water (i.e. bubbly), but also suitable for kindling and just about anything else you might want to lug around in it.

Panel:

The steel rope, ferrules, thimbles and 20mmØ dowel are available at Selected Mica Stores. To find your closest Mica and whether or not they stock the items required, please go to www.mica.co.za, find your store and call them. If your local Mica does not stock exactly what you need they will be able to order it for you or suggest an alternative product or a reputable source.

Project guide

TIME: 1-2 hours… but spread out over a couple of days to give the sealant coats time to dry completely

COST: Cost of the bucket, ferrules, thimbles, dowel and s/s rope about R100

Skill: 1

Assistant: No 

Tools required:

Cable cutter or electrician’s side cutter, crimper (or bench vice), drill/driver