I have several of the M18 cordless nail guns. They are really handy, but they don’t store well. None of them come in blow molded cases, and they are awkward shapes. None of the places I had stored them – drawers, shelves, milk crates – were very good, so I decided to build boxes for each. The boxes themselves are just pretty basic. I used whatever size plywood I had partial sheets for, and glued and nailed them together.
The lids were just going to be a piece of 3/4″ plywood with a hinge and a latch (similar to an ammo box), but I needed a handle. After some experimenting, I decided that 1-1/2″ polypropylene webbing would work best. I don’t have a sewing machine, and didn’t want to hand stitch so many pieces, so I used copper rivets.
With the pieces cut to 15″ long, I used a hollow punch to punch holes 3/8″ from the ends and well spaced.
I folded the ends over 1-1/2″ and used the first set of holes to punch the second set.
The washers were then installed with the rivet set.
I used a pair of diagonal pliers to cut the rivets to length. I should have cut them all shorter, as it ended up being difficult to get them all to peen over correctly.
Mostly good. I could have done a better job of lining the rivets up, but it is secure.
I used webbing guides to attach the straps to the boxes, and a single 2″ surface mount hinge.
I used some inexpensive over center toggle latches to keep the boxes closed during storage and transport. The interiors are finished with a few coats of shellac. I use Dunn Edwards Aristoshield paint for most of my projects. It is very durable once fully cured (not just dry). I have it color matched to the Rustoleum Dark Machine Grey that I use for smaller pieces, or Light Machine Grey that I use for larger pieces.
Once the paint fully cures, I’ll add labels to the lids for quick identification, but for now, they are tucked in some unused space under my mill.