Cache in a desk drawer

The need for a simple and reliable home cache is obvious.
The false bottom in the drawer of the desk is easy to make yourself. This is a very effective cache.
It has undeniable advantages:

• extremely simple device: no other locks are needed;
• easy volume adjustment: you can vary the volume of the compartment according to your needs, or remove it completely;
• the stash is easy to make without changing the details of the furniture.

Materials and Tools

To build a cache in a drawer of a desk, we need:

• drill with a diameter of 3 mm;
• hand or electric drill;
• wood glue;
• sandpaper with a grain size of 80;
• steel bar, diameter 3 mm;
• roulette;
• four objects of the same size, preferably about an inch (2.5 cm) high; they will be used to support the false bottom, and the shorter they are, the less noticeable will be the secret compartment;
• four identical corks are used here, but you can use anything: Lego bricks, bottle caps, erasers, it does not matter, but they should be the same.
• hacksaw for metal;
• 1/4 inch (6 mm) plywood;
• old t-shirt (optional).

Double bottom fabrication

First you need to take the inside dimensions of your drawer. In the nearest building materials store, you need to find a sheet of 6 mm plywood that looks like the bottom of a box. It is advisable to ask the store employee to cut off part of the plywood according to the size of your box.
You need to check a piece of purchased plywood to make sure its length and width are correct. If it fits snugly but can still be removed again without much effort, ignore the following few points. If not, read on!
If the piece does not fit, it's okay, you just need to refine it a little more.
Use sandpaper to remove about 0.8 mm from the length and width of the plywood sheet. If it still does not fit, repeat this step until the plywood lies flat.

Stops for the second bottom

Prepare your four identical objects (bottle caps) that you use as supports.
It is desirable that they are less than 2.5 cm in height. A box with a depth of 25 cm, reduced by 2.5 cm, is less suspicious than a 25 cm deep box with a depth of 20 cm. Next, you need to glue four supports (corks) into the corners of the box.

Opening device

Turn the box over with the handle away from you and drill a 3 mm hole in the main bottom, approximately in the middle between the two supports, 1-2 cm from the side wall.
Turn it back and check the position of the hole, it should be below the false bottom. Cut a 15 cm piece from your metal rod.
Bend it at an angle of 90 degrees about 2.5 cm from the end, making a kind of master key hook.

How to open the secret compartment

Take out the drawer from the table. Expand it with a hole towards you.
Insert the straight end of the master key into the drilled hole and press.
So you raise one side of the false bottom. Use the hook to pull the raised edge further until you can easily grab the false bottom and pull it out.
Fill the secret compartment or remove what you need, put the false bottom back in place.
To increase the noiselessness, you can put fabric on the bottom of the drawer.
To do this, you can cut and fold the old T-shirt to the bottom.
Original article in English