I built my own vermicomposting bin (three vertical trays and a stand/base) using wood and hardware cloth. I also drilled some holes on the sides of each tray to ensure enough ventilation. It was not that difficult and for someone who hasn't done any carpentry work at all before, it came out pretty good. Most of the work involved drilling holes and putting the screws in, and making sure the four pieces of wood forming the tray were set properly.

From what I've read on the Internet, it's suggested to not use scented woods or wood treated with chemicals. I am not an expert on wood or worms to agree or disagree with that, but it makes some sense. Maye others with more experience can chime in if that is correct or not.

I didn't make any drainage system as the bin is not that wet that it'll start draining. The tray has hardware cloth stapled at the bottom. I did leave a tray on the floor below the bin to catch any escaping worms.

I didn't use found materials - I bought the wood from Home Depot and had them cut it into specific lengths for the trays. If I had more time on my hand, I would probably have gone to the building materials co-op to find the wood pieces that worked. I've also read people using drawers of a dresser to make the bin.

If you have specific questions, please ask.

Good luck.

-Amit

I don't know much about wood, but isn't particle board put together with some kind of glue? Also when it gets wet I think it swells and falls apart. I would think regular lumber would be a better choice, but a heavy box it would be that way.

I use a rubbermaid bin on the ground, so I don't know if there is much liquid, but I don't think there is. It does have holes in the bottom though. I made holes with the tip of a glue gun. You would want something under your bin to protect the cupboard from moisture.

There is another vermicomposting forum where you can ask your question. Scroll on down to find the vermicomposting section.

http://www.thegardenforums.org/

Particle board is a bad choice. As noted- it doesn't do well with water.

I bet that if you got a couple/few wooden pallets and stripped the slats off them- they would be good material for a worm bin (may not look good in the kitchen, but would be fine in the basement :)

I've had the best success when using an old kitty litter pan. There is no top on it, just an old piece of carpet on top of the bedding, and no holes in the bin. I have a couple of other bins that are also plastic "found" bins that also work well.

Particle board would fall apart when wet. Pallette wood would work but be heavy, especially if you ever had to shift it full of wettish bedding and worms. If you can find an old Rubbermaid container you would be doing the environment more good than removing the wood from the dump.

If it has a lid, put the lid on the ground under the bin which should have holes for drainage. A wooden bin might be able to do without drainage holes because some of the moisture will seep through the sides and evaporate.Also it will soon rot as it is always wet and ifs full of a decomposing ecosystem.

wow- thanks everyone for the input. I will deffinitally NOT use particle board. So I guess I'll have to find another use for that.

I still like the idea of building something- I go to art school, and tomorrow is the last day to clear everything out. I'm almost positive that I'll find at least a few quater sheets of ply. Or other materials. I'm trying to see if I can get people to use them in apartments (I gave a presentation on thur and people gave me odd looks...)

I'm definitaly going to look for found plastic containers.. as for the wood rotting- that would be fine, I mean, it's supposed to happen and I'm just speeding the process, right?

what would happen if I sealed with the wood with shlack or a urathane? Would it then become like a plastic container?

Shellac is a very good choice -- it's natural, organic, food-grade. However, shellac is more difficult to apply than ready-to-use products. If searching for an alternative finish, you may want to avoid non-food grade products.

Woods that are less likely to rot are: cedar, redwood, mahogany, ipe (ironwood), cypress, etc. These woods can also cause an allergic-like reaction; but it's usually from the wood dust so use a dust mask.

I don't know of any worm-specific finish or wood-type precautions. This may be worth checking.

I myself wouldn't use plastic but I'll let this site (link below) explain why.

-C

Here is a link that might be useful: Plastic

I read the above linked article on plastics. It was interesting but not that relevant to worm-bins. I never microwave my worm-bin nor eat the resultant worms. I suppose it could be argued that some one may use the harvested compost on a vegetable garden and thus ingest some leached plasticizers from the bin but if we are examining the palstic with such a magnifying glass we would have to also do the same for the wood treatments, urethane varnishes, etc.

If you've got room outside you really don't have to put much work into making a happy place for your worms at all. I have mine in an old bath in a shady corner of my yard, set up on a slight slope so that it drains into a bucket. I have a piece of ply on top to keep it dark and a piece of carpet on the surface where the food waste goes to keep it moist-setup time half an hour, cost if you check out your local tip zero. I have a bucket in the kitchen so I only have to take food waste out every 5 days or so. The worms thrive and the bath has a big surface area so it can handle a lot of waste. I empty it once a year. I leave the castings in the sun for an hour or so, so that most of the worms head to the bottom, scoop off the top ninety percent of the castings and put the bottom layer (where most of the worms are hiding)back in the bath. I've also seen successful wormfarms in a big weedbag hanging on a frame which is also very cheap and easy.

I have five bins. Each one (save for one huge one which I am not going to build again because it gets too heavy) is a ten gallon bin. To make a new bin, I buy two rubbermaid bins. I drill several dozen holes around 1/4 inch or so over the sides and bottom of the bin.

Then I drilled holes in another bin, but not near the bottom of the bin. Then I drilled a couple of holes near the side of the bottom of the bin. I put the first bin into the second bin, and then both on two cinderblocks, with a piece of wood to make the bin lean towards the holes at the bottom of the second bin. I put a bucket under the holes, and then the worm juice drips out of that. If you have cinderblocks lying around, or rocks, or pieces of wood, the total cost is under $20 usd.

We built our first worm bin out of plywood and 2 x 4's from the lumber yard and coated it with 2 coats of linseed oil. All the worms died. Not sure if it's because of the linseed oil, or if a lot of moisture was absorbed into the wood and the bin dried up. But I gave in and bought a rubbermaid bin and the worms are doing great now. Go figure, they don't like nice custom-made wooden homes, they prefer the cheap ones from Walmart.

Our bin is plywood painted with exterior latex paint. The worms have done well in it.