Bin homes - handy DIY hints

[humfry]

Someone else may have posted similar hints, so apologies for any duplication, but thought I would share some lessons learned.

IKEA SAMLA BIN
Just discovered there are two ways to set the wheels, so you can wheel your bin side to side or backwards & forwards - which is useful for me as the bin will sit against a wall between two items of furniture. The wheels just click off & can then be turned 90 degrees. Simples!

This bin is very thick plastic so it took ages to cut out panels on the first one. I tried craft knife & hot knife but made little impression. In the end I drilled some starter holes & used a coping saw but it was a bit wiggly & took ages. My OH did my second bin & used an electric jigsaw with a fine blade. Like a knife through butter, although might tend to crack thinner plastic & also if you go too slow the cut edges melt then fuse back together. So if you know a competent handy person I would definitely recommend this method.

Steep learning curve! As I have connected the two bins vertically with Ferplast tubes realised I need an opening hatch in front of each bin for access rather than just mesh - so I cut up my old wire cage which had 2 doorways & fixed them in place with plastic ties & thin wire.

More hints may follow but please add your own!

[Zoopism]

I used a dremel on Zig's cage. It was excellent (but a bit scary to start off with), I used a cutting attachment for panels and such, the wander for making the mesh and plastic smooth and finally used a drill attachment to make holes for cable ties.
If you can get your hands on one it's the only tool you'll need :)

[Esmy]

When I cut a tube hole in my bin, I started a hole with a cone dril bit and cut the plastic with tin snips, which are designed to cut tin sheets. I'd do it again that way.

[Melainia]

I used a combination of wood burning kit, finely serrated knife, and tin snips. I found if I ran the wood burning tip around where I wanted the hole to thin the plastic first, then used the serrated knife to cut into the box, and then remove the knife without cutting, cutting the plastic only on the down stroke, it went pretty smoothly. Obviously it may be better to use more sophisticated cutting implements, but this did work for me without having to buy anything special since I already had all this stuff. I will say melting holes for zip ties was really nice with the wood burner. Of course ventilation is a must, and I don't have IKEA yet so this was on a large bin I got at Target. Any cracks I got I just used zip ties to stabilize them.