Trash Can for the Lathe

I had intended to go out yesterday and purchase the trash can to go underneath the lathe (as discussed in my previous post) only to discover that the local “big box home improvement store” had absolutely nothing that would either fit or work.  

They were either so honkin' big that won’t even fit in the space provided and would taken years to fill...

                    OR 

They were so tiny that stuff falling from the lathe stood little chance of actually making it into the can without my added some sort of a chute….hmmm…time for a rethink...I think!

Then I saw the 5 gallon can that I had used under the lathe in the shop’s previous incarnation and decided that maybe that using it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.  It was big enough, but not too big, and was now it was surplus.  I just had to figure how to mount it.  Looks like "Cheap and Available" wins again!

After a little head scratching I came up with the idea of fastening a couple curved wooden "Ears" under the bench top to catch the (rather narrow) lip of the can and a bungee cord to lock the can in place.  The bungee would hold the can vertically against the bottom of the bench top and pull it forward to lock it into the wooden "Ears".

Rather than going into a complicated (and probably unnecessary) explanation, I’m just going to show pictures and let you roll your own…assuming that you like/need/want-to-use the idea.

Wooden Hook to Snag the Bungee Cord

Can Mounting "Ears" and Bungee Mounted w/ Screw Eyes

Can all "Locked and Ready-to-be Loaded"

Uptight and (nearly) Outa Sight

As you can see, I've gone to great extremes to avoid showing any trademarks of any particular source of 5 gallon cans.  I don't want any law suits:-)  I'm sure that any 5 gallon can from any source would work equally well.  It doesn't have to be Orange:-)

Stay tuned...there's more to come...