how do I turn an old lidded bin into a composter?

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Ive read a few things, main concerns are will worms get in if I just drill holes in the bottom? Or does that even matter, , because I read a couple f sites that said worms are useful but not essential?

And will the lack of a little door thingy at the bottom be a real pain?
Tia

I have a couple of old lidded bins i use to make leaf mould.

I cut a diner plate sized hole in the bottom but didn't worry about drilling any holes in the side.

Seems to work fine as it produces lovely leaf mould so i dont see why it wouldn't work for compost.

I think you are going to need holes of some sort for drainage or you could end up with just a slimey mess at the bottom rather than lovely rich compost.

What did you use to cut out the hole in the bottom? And how do you take out the leaf mould without a mini side door?

Thank you! !

I used a jig saw and i fill the bin and leave it until the whole lot is ready to use and then just tip the whole lot into my wheel barrow to take for spreading.
As most of the leaves i collect are from oak trees i find it takes a while to turn into mold. One bin of mold that is nearly ready i have had on the go since i moved here nearly 2 years ago. This is the best mold and can be used for my seedlings in the spring. Other molds which are not as old i use as mulch for after planting my spring bulbs. I have several bins on the go at any one time along with black bags and 3 compost heaps all at various stages of decomposition.

I am a bit of a compost fanatic.

I have a couple of compost bins that are just giant cones and you lift them off the compost remove any that is ready to use and the replace the cone. Even with my bin with a trap door i never use the door and just lift the bin. You could do similar with a dust bin if you cut the bottom out.

Thanks cantspel. Think I'll see if I can find the jigsaw and do that. I'm planning on doing leaf mould too but I think I'll do it in black bags. Than You

I smiled when I read you question as it's the reason I left Garden Banter (which is another gardening website with forums). God, the pasting, the flaming I got when I asked this question because the stupid, ignorant, pedantic, too-much-time-on-their-hands old farts on it couldn't get their heads around the fact my council hadgiven us our old, now obsolete bins to do as we pleased with, or get collected. They were incandescent with rage at the very thought . It, in their opinion, could only be blatant theft on my part.

So I left. And told them why.

It is a pity because I imagine you'd get some good advice on such a dedicated site but christ, I wasn't going to run that gamut again trying to get it!

Lol erebus!!! Forums are a funny place. I got flamed, burnt, on here actually and stopped using the site for a while when I posted a comment on the bfing/bottle feeding section having no idea in my naive mind what sort of a debate i was starting and how nasty ppl can be online! ! It was the personal attacks that got me, so I can understand where you're coming from! !

Argh! BF versus bottle!

Angels fear to tread!

Give me compost bins every time

out of noseyness i just went to have a look at Garden Banter and the first thread i clicked on had some arsehole giving out instructions on how to poison the local cat population with car coolant.

Dont think i will bother reading anymore let alone joining if that is the sort of person it attracts.

There are some seriously deranged oddballs on there, cantspel! I guess, for fear of a mass generalisation, that inevitably such a forum will attract a certain type of know-all with lots of time on their hands and a sizeable garden, retired middle-managers who split there time between Being Right on gardening forums and crafting harrumphing letters to The Telegraph.

Probably live in Tunbridge Wells, I'd say

I drilled holes in the bottom of a lidded bin and also a few up the side near the bottom. Can't see if any worms have got in but it seems to be going ok as the stuff is getting quite black so I think it's working. But I am kind of clueless, I just copied a YouTube clip!

I will stick their copy of the Telegraph somewhere the sun dont shine if i got my hands on them.

Then you could compost the lot of 'em!

lol@erebus's disgusted middle managers.

As for the bin, I'd probably jigsaw the base off and keep the lid to lift off to give it stir. I've already got a plastic dalek compost bin and I just tilt it to get at the black stuff below.