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.
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This is the coolest thing ever!! Would you make me one if I paid you? Please!!!!
-Damian (from Phoenix)
Thanks Damian. Sorry I don’t really sell the stuff I make. You may want to check out Amazon.com they have a lot of battery organizers.
Hello. Awesome project! I am trying to download the plans but I can’t find them can you help?
Hey the original plans from the magazine have been taken down. Do you have directions somewhere that I could use?
@David and @Jen, I just saw your questions. I realize it’s been over a year since you posted it, but I found the plans at http://makezine.com/2015/08/30/make-a-simple-wall-mounted-battery-organizer/.