Homemade trug ... ...

I decided to use up some of the bits of plywood I have lying about, and so I made a trug, it's actually a prototype for a potential future shop item, I do tend to build these things at least once before I decide to sell them, just like to get the method down so I can make them quickly.

Anyway it's pretty easy to make your own trug, although it's not the traditional type made of thin wooden strips, but even so they can look quite nice.

To make a trug you basically need 5 bits of plywood (that's if you got for sheet material) you need 2 ends and 2 sides and a base, you'll also need something to make a handle out of, a piece thick dowel is ideal for this.

I haven't included any plans, mainly because it's a preferential thing, I made mine to suit us, but you can make yours to how you want, I'll give you some pointers though.

Here's what mine ended up looking like -

Perhaps a little larger than it needed to be ?

You can get an idea of how it's built, it's basically a fancy box. I cut the 2 ends to a nice shape, but you can just make the ends square, you will need a way to cut the shape out though if you choose to go down that road, a jigsaw will do well enough, or if you have a scroll saw it will do just as well.

Some other things you will need are some glue, nails and sand paper, as well as something to make the handle from. This is unfinished, it's got to have a paint job, but you could just varnish the wood, it's up to you.

 If you use angled sides, like I have you might want to sand the bottom of it flat, it makes it easier to fix the base.

Another picture -

It looks a little thin, but it's quite sturdy.

I fixed it all together with small brass pins and a good quality wood glue, making sure the base is well fixed, you don't want the contents falling out all over the place.
The handle is just a bit of plain dowel that I've fixed in place using 2 pegs, one on either end.

Brass pins and pegs to hold on the handle -

I shaved a piece of dowel down for the peg.

Brass pins.

 And that's about it really, not the most complicated of projects, but the result is quite pleasing, and it's also functional, but you could make one just for decoration, the method is the same, obviously thicker wood will mean the trug is heavier, and when you have it loaded up with goodies it'll be heavier still, I used 6mm plywood, which I feel is plenty strong enough, so why not make yourself one out of some bits of scrap wood, might come in handy for blackberry picking or for freshly dug up spuds.