Battery Organizer

I found a free plan recently on the wood magazine site for a battery organizer.  I also have a list of free project plan sites.  This project is really simple and useful.  After completing mine I hung it on a pegboard in my garage.  You can make this is a few hours and it only requires a small amount material.  I was able to find some clear acrylic at a hobby store for cheap.  I also made a video below of how I made mine.  If you make one I’d love to hear about it.

Materials

For the lumber on this I was lucky and had some scrap hardwood that I was able to use.  For the rest of the project I was able to build this with only one board.  I made mine out of pine.  For the front of the project I picked up some plexi-glass from a hobby store and cut it down to size using my table saw.

• (1)  1″ x 3″ x 8′ Board (you might be able to squeak this out with a 6′ board, but it’ll be close)
• (1)  1/4″ x 1′ x 1′ piece of hardwood (will cut down to less than 1 foot)
• (1)  1/8″ x 7″ x 8″ plexi-glass

Milling & Assembly

	After cutting all of my boards according to the plan.  I cut a slot on each end board to allow the battery to come out easily.  For mine I used a 2″ forstner bit on my drill press.  It worked pretty well, but you could certainly used a band saw, scroll saw, etc. to get this done.
	Next was the glue up.  For this I made sure that I had my back and bottom already cut.  I used the back as a guide to line up my battery slots.  However, since I didn’t want any glue to make its way to the back board I covered it with wax paper.
	I worked my way through each board by gluing and then shooting brad nails into the bottom.  I could have used screws for this, but since all board stock was only 1/2″ I decided brads were the way to go.
	After gluing and putting in brads on the bottom shelf, I then clamped up the rest of the dividers until the glue set up.
	After everything was glued up, I attached the front of the organizer with a clear plexiglass that I cut to size on my table saw.  Before inserting the screws I pre-drilled all of my holes using a 7/64″ drill bit.  I used #6 – 1/2″ screws to secure the front.  The plan originally called for #8 screws, but my plexiglass was cracking a little too much and I decided to go with #6.
	After attaching the front I then attached the back by using glue and brads.  Attaching the brads was easier as I had pre-marked where the battery dividers were on the back of the backer board.
	Here it is.  The completed project.  This really is a pretty easy one.  You can build this in a few hours.  I completed mine by drilling holes in the top of the back board and hung it on a peg board in my garage.

Finishing

Not a lot to finishing this (this one is going in the garage folks).  In fact I chose to just sand lightly the sides and back, and not apply any finish.