Need advice for a large lock/drop box for a shop.

[OilMagnate]

I've been brainstorming an unusual lock box setup for my shop. I have concrete block walls and I have an old unusable swamp cooler that I've been wanting to remove for years now. I recently realized I NEED a bin/box/shed/something to allow the delivery drivers to secure my parts in (mainly weather reasons). I'd like to remove my swamp cooler and put a double-sided 'drop box' in the empty hole. The best comparison I can make is to a large window A/C unit, but with the guts removed. I just don't know what is available or how to go about it. I made a few 5-minute sketches of the basic concept I'm after. I want a locking external hatch door, and a door (not sure yet if locking or not) for the inside as well. I want it to take up the entire wall hole if possible, but I need to take measurements. I want the doors to basically take the entire height and width of the box, because I need to fit large items through the doors such as large brake rotors, jugs of motor oil, 50lb bags of Oil Dri, etc. Any ideas besides finding a local welder and paying for custom creativity? Any help or advice is appreciated. Here's the quick sketches:

 

[Kira]

You need a large pass-through.
One end is free to open so deliveries can be dropped off anytime, I assume.
The inside door locks from the inside so people cannot enter.
Your drawings show a hole already in the wall -where the swamp cooler is now?- .
Is the above correct?

What are the holes dimensions? How far off the ground is this hole? Once the swamp cooler is removed, can the size of the hole be changed?
What is a swamp cooler?

Maybe shorter versions of paint cabinets -with their backs removed- on each side of the hole can be fashioned.
If taller paint cabinets are used, they can stand on the floor. You remove however much of the back you need to.
Paint cabinets have two wide doors and you can remove/alter the shelving.
Vapor sealing cabinets are made of thicker steel.
PERSONAL: Once, the shop where I worked tossed a safety paint cabinet. If you opened both doors the access was all but unencumbered.
The steel used could stop a .22.
When you let both doors go, the hinging and locking mechanism would let the doors close only in the proper order as they made a fairly tight seal.
There was a small fan and vent pipe (2"-3" stove pipe) to carry fumes off; hence the acceptability of a less than perfect seal. You wanted some "wind" to carry the fumes off.
I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing it.

Watcha gonna do about wind and cold? You could insulate metal boxes once in place.

 

[mrsilv04]

We had one at a place that I worked and it was a sliding drawer (think of a drawer on a filing cabinet, on slides.). When you are expecting a delivery, the drawer is waiting outside (of course, inside of a external enclosure). The delivery driver arrives, opens the external enclosure and loads the drawer up, then pushes the drawer through the wall. There are metal panels on both ends of the drawer that are bigger than the hole in the wall, so they will close up the hole in the wall when the drawer is either waiting for a delivery or waiting to be emptied (to keep air/bugs/vermin from entering).

Once pushed all the way through, the drawer locks into place for security, and can only be released from the inside and then pushed back outside for the next delivery.

 

[OilMagnate]

Apologies for replying so late. Been super busy. I never post and bail.

You need a large pass-through.
One end is free to open so deliveries can be dropped off anytime, I assume.
The inside door locks from the inside so people cannot enter.
Your drawings show a hole already in the wall -where the swamp cooler is now?- .
Is the above correct?

Yes. Exactly.

What are the holes dimensions? How far off the ground is this hole? Once the swamp cooler is removed, can the size of the hole be changed?
What is a swamp cooler?

Dimensions I'm not sure about yet, haven't had time to measure. I promise I will ASAP, but I'm taking a trip this week out-of-state. As far as changing the size...not easily. The hole is through a concrete block wall. A swamp cooler as it is commonly called here, is an evaporative cooler. Mine is basically an older, beat-up, non-working version of this.

Maybe shorter versions of paint cabinets -with their backs removed- on each side of the hole can be fashioned.
If taller paint cabinets are used, they can stand on the floor. You remove however much of the back you need to.
Paint cabinets have two wide doors and you can remove/alter the shelving.
Vapor sealing cabinets are made of thicker steel.
PERSONAL: Once, the shop where I worked tossed a safety paint cabinet. If you opened both doors the access was all but unencumbered.
The steel used could stop a .22.
When you let both doors go, the hinging and locking mechanism would let the doors close only in the proper order as they made a fairly tight seal.
There was a small fan and vent pipe (2"-3" stove pipe) to carry fumes off; hence the acceptability of a less than perfect seal. You wanted some "wind" to carry the fumes off.
I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing it.

Watcha gonna do about wind and cold? You could insulate metal boxes once in place.

Paint cabinet huh? Don't even know what that is, but I'm definitely going to do some research on it. Sounds appealing.

Aa for the temperatures, I haven't thought about it. But the way I see it, it can't be any worse than what I have now. It's an unsealed box as-is. I think I ended up putting some foam sheets inside of it to stop the drafts through it a few years ago, but I honestly don't remember. It's terrible whatever it is. Aside from this cooler eyesore, my shop is quite nice. Well, nicer if my business partner would clean up better after himself, but that's a different topic.

 

[OilMagnate]

We had one at a place that I worked and it was a sliding drawer (think of a drawer on a filing cabinet, on slides.). When you are expecting a delivery, the drawer is waiting outside (of course, inside of a external enclosure). The delivery driver arrives, opens the external enclosure and loads the drawer up, then pushes the drawer through the wall. There are metal panels on both ends of the drawer that are bigger than the hole in the wall, so they will close up the hole in the wall when the drawer is either waiting for a delivery or waiting to be emptied (to keep air/bugs/vermin from entering).

Once pushed all the way through, the drawer locks into place for security, and can only be released from the inside and then pushed back outside for the next delivery.

Interesting. Sounds more complicated than I'm picturing, and more maintenance potentially, but I'm definitely not opposed. Maybe I'm just overthinking it?

 

[OilMagnate]

On a side note, I was also discussing this with my neighbor and he had an interesting idea. He said it sounds like I need to skip the in-wall idea, and just get a "job box." Something like this. I could then anchor it to the ground, which would be secure. I'd just need to find one that either comes with, or modify one to include some kind of locking device. I'm picturing a digital programmable numerical code/pin, or a mechanical combo lock that can be changed anytime. Worst case, keys and/or padlocks would work, but it would be nice to allow customers a one-time PIN to access their keys inside when picking up after hours instead of either leaving their car unlocked with the key hidden somewhere inside or leaving the key outside in the elements to get into their locked car.

I'll report back as frequently as possible. This will be interesting.

 

[Kira]

My idea for using paint cabinets was because I thought the hole in the wall was up, off the ground.

My first thought was to use job boxes with their backs cut out as needed.

A small, secure "after hours" lockbox for customers' keys is different from the large parts hopper you first described needing.

The former is likely represented by a standardized bunch of items available at good, industrial locksmiths.

 

[spackard]

Box Gobbler, perhaps?

 

[OilMagnate]

My idea for using paint cabinets was because I thought the hole in the wall was up, off the ground.

My first thought was to use job boxes with their backs cut out as needed.

A small, secure "after hours" lockbox for customers' keys is different from the large parts hopper you first described needing.

The former is likely represented by a standardized bunch of items available at good, industrial locksmiths.

Yes, the hole in the wall is off the ground rather high. If standing in my shop, the hole is about waist level, maybe slightly lower. But if standing outside, the hole is about chest to shoulder level. The ground outside is probably 2-3 feet lower than my shop floor.

What would be the purpose of cutting the backs out? Not being critical, I'm genuinely curious. I can't picture why that would be needed. Unless maybe you're talking about using a job box in the hole in the wall? Yeah, I think that's where you're going with it.

And sorry, I should have clarified better. I have a traditional key drop already. I'm trying to find a solution for a parts container. It has to be large enough to fit big and heavy items like truck brake rotors, intake manifolds, jugs of oil and coolant, shocks, etc. It doesn't have to fit oversized items like fuel tanks or radiators though. I basically just want a 90% reduction in part babysitting from the elements. Theft is not really a concern in my area, but if I'm already making modifications, I might as well future-proof myself now. As for the keys I mentioned earlier, what I meant was that if I had a digital code lock, I could leave customers' keys in the large drop box when I'm not expecting parts so they can pick up their car after hours (so I don't have to be present). I can just give them a one-time unique PIN.

I'll check out what some locksmiths have also. Thanks for your advice. I'm out of town, but I promise I'll take measurements when I'm back. I need to know for myself also!

 

[OilMagnate]

Sorry, it took entirely too long to get the measurements, but I finally have them. I was thinking the hole in the wall would be higher off the ground. It's actually not that high.

Dimensions of the existing cooler in the wall, measured from the outside:
34" wide
Top of unit is 55" measured from ground
Unit height is 43"
12" ground clearance

Dimensions of the existing cooler in the wall, measured from the inside:
Unit height is 13.5"
22.5" wide
[Just realized I forgot to measure inside ground clearance, probably 2' ground clearance]
There are 1x4 trim pieces around the unit on the inside. Not sure if they're filling a gap/giving support/doing nothing.

I'm not exactly sure which dimension is the actual hole in the wall, but my best guess is the inside height and width, plus a small amount that the 1x4s are covering.

I've been pursuing the job box idea with a separate keypad 'key' lockbox for after hours key releases. I still haven't looked at paint cabinets, but I am intrigued. If I do a jobsite box, I will want a keypad lock for it also, and preferably a (or multiple) foldable internal shelf. Hopefully I'll have some time this week to do some thinking/planning.