2′ x 4′ BIN

How to build a bin out of 2′ x 4′s.

Before you begin, look over the main How To Build A Worm Bin page to read about the basic requirements of a bin. Once you know these you can deviate as much or little as you would like.

2′ x 4′s are pretty easy to find. At MICA in Baltimore, they sometimes even show up in the dumpster near the station building. The only problem with them (like pallets) is that they are usually pretty warped. At the MICA woodshop, I asked a tech to cut the wood down the middle (so that the wood was cut in long flat strips).

1. Follow the steps from oak plank bin to build your walls.

2. The Bottom

This part is also pretty similar to the oak plank bin. The wood however was much softer, at times I questioned the need to pre-drill the holes. (In the oak plank bin, it was most certainly required) What was so easy about working with 2″ x 4″s was the consistency and softness of the material. It almost felt like I couldn’t mess up!

But then I messed up. This base had a slight gap in the boards (what do you expect with dumpster-found wood? warping!)so I patched it similarly to the bottom patch in the pallet bin. On my first try, the wood split immediately (too fast, too careless with the drill AND as you can see in the photo, poorly clamped). The second try, the wood STILL split, but I deemed it useable for worms.

Using a really big clamp, screw the bottom to the walls.

3. Lid

Throughout the worm bin creation process, I tried to economize my use of power tools and wood. When split, some of the planks knots fell out and thus, had naturally occurring holes in them. I decided these would be good for the lid, which must have holes in it for the worms to breathe, but that a few small cracks in the planks might further aid the circulation.

These small wood strips were cut on the bandsaw. Attach the planks with clamps.

NOTE: To get the right dimension, measure and cut a piece of cardboard that is the same length and width as the opening of the bin. This helped me a lot.

4. Handle