Here's one source for the tins. Pre-pierced or blank

Pie Safe Tins

They are 10×14.

 

Which dimensions are causing problems, Angie ?

 

Charles Neil did a full series of videos on pie safes a few years back …

 

Well… I was assuming a 12×14 tin. 10×14 changes things.

I love Charles Neil. I will have to watch that tomorrow.

Yonak… at the present moment… all of them.

 

Angie, I think BigRedKnothead made one. Might want to check his projects.

BTW my asthma is doing the same thing to me right now, hang in there.

 

Just looked at Reds projects and I don't see a pie safe. You could PM him, I know he talked about working on one and I remember pics!

 

I don't know what kind of pine is available to you. Here in the PNW, the pine we see is almost always ponderosa, a very soft and weak wood, and hard to find in a clear grade. It often contains pitch pockets, which can spoil an otherwise nice looking piece. So I'm wondering if you have considered poplar. It's a medium hard wood, easy to work, and paints up very well.

 

I don t know what kind of pine is available to you. Here in the PNW, the pine we see is almost always ponderosa, a very soft and weak wood, and hard to find in a clear grade. It often contains pitch pockets, which can spoil an otherwise nice looking piece. So I m wondering if you have considered poplar. It s a medium hard wood, easy to work, and paints up very well.

- runswithscissors

I agree. Soft maple could be another good option.

Which dimensions are causing problems, Angie ?
- Yonak

Yonak… at the present moment… all of them.
- AngieO

The tins seem a bit small for the size of your cabinet. It seems like you'd have to go with 4 tins per door, set horizontally, if you don't have a drawer, and four for each side. That's a lot of tins. Here's one with four per door :

 

Angie

I hope you get feeling better. Not fun to be sick!

My favorite Pie safe video and plan is from the New Yankee Workshop. It is straight forward and relatively easy to build. You do not need to buy the plans just watching the show will get you going in the right direction. I too would use poplar for this project and plywood for the side panels and back. In the video, he uses the router to cut the grooves but you can easily make these on the table saw. Take you time and this will be a fun project for you to make!

Here is a single width one to consider as well.

 

FWW has free plans for a pie safe on their website: http://images.taunton.com/downloads/FW1124_PieSafe.pdf

You may or may not want to follow the plans, but they provide short instructions on how to make your own punched tin panels. They recommend Van Dyke's restorers (www.vandykes.com), which sells blank panels for about $10 and patterned pre-punched ones for about $15.

Hope you get better quickly.

 

Maybe to make the dimensions come out right with purchased tins, you just have t a add a little material to all the widths so they are the same but come up to the dimensions you want. A little professional cheating!!
I have done the several time to fit around a given insert. Who would know that all the frame member are a little over 2"wide on those fronts??

Will there be combination lock on that safe, too?

?

???

Get well, Angie!!.....................Jim

 

When I worked at the big orange box we sold tins like you want. Some of the stores have them back in the flooring dept, and some stores keep them near the appliances. There's several styles and sizes

http://www.homedepot.com/s/ceiling%2520tins?NCNI-5

 

Here is another source for tins, 10" x 14" seems to be the standard size for these. Woodsmith also has some plans, here. or Woodsmith in #55.

 

Since it's for someone else and you'll probably be giving a good deal, buying the tins may be the best route.

On the other hand, I've bought rolls of stainless steel flashing, grabbed some Harbor Freight cold (steel) chisels and punches, reshaped them and made my own. Millions of patterns are available on the net, waiting for you to blow them up and tape them to your future tins.

By the way, you might look in to quercetin, which is available in health food stores. Yes, it really works for stuffy. Each of the several friends I've given some to said it helped. It may not be a magic bullet, but it can be a solution to avoiding having to take over the counters all the time.

 

Love Pie Safes. I've built several. For mine(which were an oddball size) I went to http://www.piercedtin.com/. They will custom quote you your panels and have tons of choices for patterns. I've made a few of them and the clients love picking out the ones they like. I'd like to do one with copper tins one day.

You can get them with or without the patina finish to protect them. I went with just having them do it as it did not cost that much extra. If not I'd had to do it myself. I did mine as a donation to our school band booster organization to raffle and raise money. They even gave me a discount since it was for a charity. Great group and great product.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjzi3SCp

Mine's out of cherry and two adjustable shelves.

 

Van Dyke's Restorers (http://www.vandykes.com/search.aspx?query=pie%20safe) sells pie safe tins that are 10" X 14". Norm Abram built a pie safe on NYW a few years back. The episode can be found on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pogZch-j9c). Norm's pie safe project was also published in the "Mostly Shaker" volume of his shop projects.

 

I love Charles Neil. I will have to watch that tomorrow.

Set aside a decent block of time … Charles is very thorough and it will take you a while to watch the whole thing!

 

One thing you can do is find a pattern you like online copy it and blow it up to an 8×11 and tape it to your tin and use it as a pattern. I did a couple of tin panels for a little cabinet I made for my wife last year. I used a old ice pick for the hole punch, worked like a charm. You can get sheet metal flashing at the home store that works well and in a lot of different sizes too.

 

The tins are just .027 Gauge Unplated Steel that can be punched to what ever design you choose. The size would depend on the door panel size. Generally a 1/2 inch larger then your panel opening…..

 

Angie

I hope you get feeling better. Not fun to be sick!

My favorite Pie safe video and plan is from the New Yankee Workshop. It is straight forward and relatively easy to build. You do not need to buy the plans just watching the show will get you going in the right direction. I too would use poplar for this project and plywood for the side panels and back. In the video, he uses the router to cut the grooves but you can easily make these on the table saw. Take you time and this will be a fun project for you to make!

Here is a single width one to consider as well.

- Alongiron

Yea Norm did a good job on the Pie Safe he made and I am sure Charles Neil does a very nice job as well. I would watch both of them and then make the final project your own.

Get better soon .

 

Angie,

You have my email be glad to help if I can, have built dozens of them

 

I have used copper flashing before worked out great. That was 30 yrs. ago so I am sure it cost more now. I thought is was fun punching out the pattern.

 

Alot of folks have given you some good sources. Here is the one that I have found to be the best.

http://www.piercedtin.com/

 

Angie-If your client approves, some vintage pie safes had screen in the doors instead of punched tin. Might be an option.

The owner of this piece claims an 1891 construction date.

 

Looks like you've got a lot of options up above. Happy building. Hope you get to feeling better. Allergies suk!