throughout history secret compartments
have been found in anything from desks
two chairs to lamps in this video we’ll
show you how to add a concealed
compartment in the bottom of a dresser
drawer
they get started on this build we’re
going to need a dresser a desk or an end
table that has a drawer that you want to
add a secret compartment to next you’ll
need a thin board that you can build the
bottom of the drawer out of next you’ll
want a small scrap of wood to create the
supports for the false bottom we’ll also
need a little bit of wood glue to attach
our support pieces here’s the basic idea
we’ll cut a thin board into the same
size and shape as the original bottom of
the drawer we’ll have supports in each
of the four corners that will hold our
false bottom off of the original bottom
of the drawer a hole drilled from
beneath will allow us to use a pen a
nail or a piece of a dowel as a secret
key to lift the false bottom up in
addition we’ll have a magnetically
activated lock that will prevent anyone
from lifting up the false bottom unless
they know the secret to open it the
first step is to choose which drawer you
want to add your false bottom to and
remove it from the rest of your
furniture this nightstand only has a
after removing the drawer from our
furniture we need to measure how big the
interior of the drawer is we’ll cut a
piece that size out of our board if you
have multiple drawers it might be a good
idea to try and match the look of the
false bottom to the bottoms that are
already in there so it doesn’t stand out
in this case the material for the false
bottom isn’t quite the same as the
material that’s already in the drawer
but since there’s only one drawer
there’s nothing to compare it to
the board has now cut almost to the
right size but it doesn’t quite fit in
the amount we need to take down the
width of this board is very minor
so we’ll try putting the gate of the
table-saw right up against the blade and
see if we can trim off just the tiniest
our board is now basically cut to size
and we can start testing to see if it
fits into our drawer but before we do
that we want to add a keyhole the key to
opening the false bottom of the door
will be a small hole in the original
bottom we’ll use a small dowel a pen or
a nail to pop a secret bottom off now
that we’ll be able to get the false
bottom out let’s test if it fits it
looks like we’re really close but it
doesn’t quite lay all the way down and
even though we’re going to have it
raised up a bit more we want to shave
off some of the excess material so it
fits a little bit more flesh than this
looking at the front of the drawer we
can see that there are some slight gaps
in some places and other places where
it’s completely flush with the wood the
spots where it’s completely flushed is
where it’s pressing maybe a little bit
too hard let’s mark those with a pencil
and then take them down using a belt
once you’ve cut and sanded the board
that will be your false bottom so it
fits perfectly into your drawer it’s
time to cut some supports that will keep
it lifted off of the actual bottom of
the drawer this is where our little
scrap of wood comes in I like the
thickness of this scrap of wood for the
total elevation if you wanted anything
more than that of course you can just
cut farther and turn the pieces sideways
to be able to cut all four pieces that
I’m going to need off of this block just
the same size I’m going to clamp this
board in place on to the saw that will
make it so that as I cut every piece is
cut off the same width before we glue
these in place let’s do a final test fit
with all four of these in the corners
our false bottom fits with the nail that
I was using pop it out is too short
compared to this drawer so I’m gonna
move to using this piece of dowel this
is long enough that we should be able to
pop the false bottom all the way up and
out of the drawer so let’s just widen
our hole a little bit to fit this size
dowel with our board fit to size we can
now glue the four supports into the four
we can now fit our false bottom into our
drawer and we can remove it whenever we
want but for an added layer of security
I want to try and add a hidden lock to
the inside of our secret compartment for
this lock we’ll use a small hinge some
powerful magnets a piece of a kitchen
sponge and a piece of dowel that can fit
through the screw holes on the hinge
we’ve also got some super glue and some
two-part epoxy let’s use some epoxy to
glue our hinge down on to the bottom of
our board so that the piece that hangs
down is just about flush with the edge
this kind of two-part epoxy is one that
bonds especially well to metal to help
make sure it sticks I’m also using a
little bit of sandpaper to rough up the
backside of the hinge
with the hinge secured in place we now
want to use the same epoxy to attach one
of our strong magnets to the other side
of the hinge the hinge pin is not made
of the same stainless steel as the rest
of the hinge and our magnet is more
attracted to it if we try and set the
magnet right here it gets drawn into the
hinge pin to keep our magnet where we
want it we’ll apply the epoxy and then
use this small scrap of cardboard just
to keep it in place our hinge now has
the magnet attached to it and we don’t
want this hinge to fall closed except
when we dictate so to keep it open until
we’re ready we’re gonna use a small
piece of sponge as a sort of compression
spring we’ll have a small piece of this
dowel attached to the front of the
drawer when the hinge hangs down the
hole will fit over the end of the dowel
creating a latch to make this or false
bottom can’t be lifted up however using
magnet we’ll be able to pull on the
hinge and it will move out of the way so
it’s no longer attached to the dowel to
mark where we want to put the dowel
we’ll apply a tiny bit of paint to the
outside of the circle on the hinge we’ll
then use our magnets to hold it in place
as we lower the false bottom into the
drawer at that point if we remove the
magnets the hinge should fall down and
if we turn our magnet around we can even
push it slightly up against the drawer
this little spot right here is what was
marked by our paint and then it did drag
a little bit on the side of the drawer
as we lift it up so there’s a little bit
of a white line going up we need to
drill a hole the same size as our dowel
right in this spot
[Applause]
Redell fits into place and of course we
don’t want a very long piece we want a
piece that just barely sticks out far
enough for the hinge to grab on to after
we cut the dowel at this length will
also taper the edge a little bit so it’s
easier for the hinge to fit around it
okay about half of one cut with our
the false bottom is built and our drawer
is ready to go back in the nightstand
guys that’s not all we’ve got more for
you to see that little box up at the top
will transport you directly to our last
video in case you missed it that box at
the bottom will show you what YouTube
thinks you should be watching next and
if you hit this bomb here in the middle
you’ll be subscribed to our channel so
you never miss another video don’t
forget to ring that Bell and we will see you in the next one talk to you then
have been found in anything from desks
two chairs to lamps in this video we’ll
show you how to add a concealed
compartment in the bottom of a dresser
drawer
they get started on this build we’re
going to need a dresser a desk or an end
table that has a drawer that you want to
add a secret compartment to next you’ll
need a thin board that you can build the
bottom of the drawer out of next you’ll
want a small scrap of wood to create the
supports for the false bottom we’ll also
need a little bit of wood glue to attach
our support pieces here’s the basic idea
we’ll cut a thin board into the same
size and shape as the original bottom of
the drawer we’ll have supports in each
of the four corners that will hold our
false bottom off of the original bottom
of the drawer a hole drilled from
beneath will allow us to use a pen a
nail or a piece of a dowel as a secret
key to lift the false bottom up in
addition we’ll have a magnetically
activated lock that will prevent anyone
from lifting up the false bottom unless
they know the secret to open it the
first step is to choose which drawer you
want to add your false bottom to and
remove it from the rest of your
furniture this nightstand only has a
after removing the drawer from our
furniture we need to measure how big the
interior of the drawer is we’ll cut a
piece that size out of our board if you
have multiple drawers it might be a good
idea to try and match the look of the
false bottom to the bottoms that are
already in there so it doesn’t stand out
in this case the material for the false
bottom isn’t quite the same as the
material that’s already in the drawer
but since there’s only one drawer
there’s nothing to compare it to
the board has now cut almost to the
right size but it doesn’t quite fit in
the amount we need to take down the
width of this board is very minor
so we’ll try putting the gate of the
table-saw right up against the blade and
see if we can trim off just the tiniest
our board is now basically cut to size
and we can start testing to see if it
fits into our drawer but before we do
that we want to add a keyhole the key to
opening the false bottom of the door
will be a small hole in the original
bottom we’ll use a small dowel a pen or
a nail to pop a secret bottom off now
that we’ll be able to get the false
bottom out let’s test if it fits it
looks like we’re really close but it
doesn’t quite lay all the way down and
even though we’re going to have it
raised up a bit more we want to shave
off some of the excess material so it
fits a little bit more flesh than this
looking at the front of the drawer we
can see that there are some slight gaps
in some places and other places where
it’s completely flush with the wood the
spots where it’s completely flushed is
where it’s pressing maybe a little bit
too hard let’s mark those with a pencil
and then take them down using a belt
once you’ve cut and sanded the board
that will be your false bottom so it
fits perfectly into your drawer it’s
time to cut some supports that will keep
it lifted off of the actual bottom of
the drawer this is where our little
scrap of wood comes in I like the
thickness of this scrap of wood for the
total elevation if you wanted anything
more than that of course you can just
cut farther and turn the pieces sideways
to be able to cut all four pieces that
I’m going to need off of this block just
the same size I’m going to clamp this
board in place on to the saw that will
make it so that as I cut every piece is
cut off the same width before we glue
these in place let’s do a final test fit
with all four of these in the corners
our false bottom fits with the nail that
I was using pop it out is too short
compared to this drawer so I’m gonna
move to using this piece of dowel this
is long enough that we should be able to
pop the false bottom all the way up and
out of the drawer so let’s just widen
our hole a little bit to fit this size
dowel with our board fit to size we can
now glue the four supports into the four
we can now fit our false bottom into our
drawer and we can remove it whenever we
want but for an added layer of security
I want to try and add a hidden lock to
the inside of our secret compartment for
this lock we’ll use a small hinge some
powerful magnets a piece of a kitchen
sponge and a piece of dowel that can fit
through the screw holes on the hinge
we’ve also got some super glue and some
two-part epoxy let’s use some epoxy to
glue our hinge down on to the bottom of
our board so that the piece that hangs
down is just about flush with the edge
this kind of two-part epoxy is one that
bonds especially well to metal to help
make sure it sticks I’m also using a
little bit of sandpaper to rough up the
backside of the hinge
with the hinge secured in place we now
want to use the same epoxy to attach one
of our strong magnets to the other side
of the hinge the hinge pin is not made
of the same stainless steel as the rest
of the hinge and our magnet is more
attracted to it if we try and set the
magnet right here it gets drawn into the
hinge pin to keep our magnet where we
want it we’ll apply the epoxy and then
use this small scrap of cardboard just
to keep it in place our hinge now has
the magnet attached to it and we don’t
want this hinge to fall closed except
when we dictate so to keep it open until
we’re ready we’re gonna use a small
piece of sponge as a sort of compression
spring we’ll have a small piece of this
dowel attached to the front of the
drawer when the hinge hangs down the
hole will fit over the end of the dowel
creating a latch to make this or false
bottom can’t be lifted up however using
magnet we’ll be able to pull on the
hinge and it will move out of the way so
it’s no longer attached to the dowel to
mark where we want to put the dowel
we’ll apply a tiny bit of paint to the
outside of the circle on the hinge we’ll
then use our magnets to hold it in place
as we lower the false bottom into the
drawer at that point if we remove the
magnets the hinge should fall down and
if we turn our magnet around we can even
push it slightly up against the drawer
this little spot right here is what was
marked by our paint and then it did drag
a little bit on the side of the drawer
as we lift it up so there’s a little bit
of a white line going up we need to
drill a hole the same size as our dowel
right in this spot
[Applause]
Redell fits into place and of course we
don’t want a very long piece we want a
piece that just barely sticks out far
enough for the hinge to grab on to after
we cut the dowel at this length will
also taper the edge a little bit so it’s
easier for the hinge to fit around it
okay about half of one cut with our
the false bottom is built and our drawer
is ready to go back in the nightstand
guys that’s not all we’ve got more for
you to see that little box up at the top
will transport you directly to our last
video in case you missed it that box at
the bottom will show you what YouTube
thinks you should be watching next and
if you hit this bomb here in the middle
you’ll be subscribed to our channel so
you never miss another video don’t
forget to ring that Bell and we will see you in the next one talk to you then
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