Every year on January the 1., the streets where I live are filled with burned batteries and trash from fireworks used to celebrate New Year's Eve.

This year I got one of the remaining used batteries layed aside in the garage and it was there until I recently got an idea for a new life for the trash: A small, but handy tool organizer

In this project I will primarely used material that have been used before for other purpose, left over material I already have in my workshop and of course some glue, paint, prints and so on which are difficult/impossible to reuse

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Materials

1 Used fireworks battery
Some skinny 3mm MDF that earlier was used to protect some new furniture we bought
A piece of 8mm threaded rod
A handle that originally came from a car workshop where it was sitting on a carriage holding the hose for exhaust gas

Tools

Handsaw
Pencil
Try set square
Clamps
Laminator

Helping materials

Black paint
Wood Glue
Sanding paper
MDF filler (or similar)
Black permanent marker
Black tape
Laminating pouches

Step 2: Remove What You Don´t Need

Remove all you dont need:

Sorrounding carboard
Red silk paper
Black gun powder
Ect

I ran over the battery with my shop vac, and before I proceeded to the next step, I level the top with a piece of MDF and a mallet

Step 3: Cut Sides and Bottom

My firework battery is ca. 15 cm on each side, so I cut the MDF to that size.

As you can se from the picture the box is not 100% square but since it does not affect the final function of my project I leave it as it is. I also cut a bottom plate and make a test fit with two rubberbands.

Please remember to add the thicknes of your board to two of the sides so everything will look nice when finished. I did not, but you will have no pictures of that here :-)

Before moving on to step 4 I painted the top of the tubes black with some spraypaint

Step 4: Glue It Together and Make It Smooth

Now it is time to get sticky

I added wood glue to the sides and bottom and glued them to the cardboardtubes
As it dried I clamp it together as good as I could
After 24 hours I removed the clamps and sanded the corners with sanding paper
There where some small gaps in the box whom I filled with a MDF filler
After the filler was dried I gave it a light sanding again
Some of the black paint has crackled and to repair that I 'painted' the spots with a black permanent marker

Then the box was finished and smooth

Step 5: Decorate the Sides of Your Toolbox

This step is not 100% necessary, but it makes your tool organizer personal and more decorative

Find some pictures in a search on Google or by looking through your favorite pictures.
- I found some pictures I liked and printed them in highest resolution for my printer.
To make it more resistant to dirt and greasy fingers, I decided to laminate the images
After laminating the the prints I cut the excess plastic off before I glued them to the box
To distribute the glue under the lamination I used a roller, but you can also use a scraper or a discontinued credit card
To make sure the pictures stays in their place in the future, I rolled the edges with canvas tape

But you may also leave your box as it is or maybe paint it in some vibriant colours

Step 6: Add a Handle So You Can Carry It Around

I'm close to the end of my project now. I only needed to mount the handle.

I measured the 8 mm rod and cut it to the correct length
Cleaned the handle with some wipes
Mounted the handle on the rod
Applied a thick layer of super glue to the rod and turn the rod into the center of the old battery Waited for some minutes for the super glue to dry

During a previous test I discovered that it looks like a piston box, so I place a 'Dynamite logo' on the box.

The box is now ready for the finally step .........

Step 7: Fill It Up With Tools

Now fill your organizer with tools.

Step 8: Extra Info - Bonusmaterial

I added some feet to the box. I made them from wine cork (actually is it plastic) cut in 4 pieces and and glued them to the bottom

I was also thinking of screwing two terminal post in the box as decoration to make it look like a real Dynamite Plunger Box

Instead of pictures on the side you could add some information - for example a resistor colour codechart, a tabel showing convertion between inch and mm, usefull Arduino codes and so on. If you need inspiration search for Cheat sheet

Finaly I was thinking of a way to make it possible to change pictures on the sides, That way it can suit your different needs in different situations.

Thanks for reading my instructable :-)