WIP Nail gun box

About 18 months ago I bought a framing gun for a Job. Since then it has been sitting under the bench in its original cardboard box. The other day I pulled it out to shoot half a dozen nails and noticed the box falling apart. To keep everything together, and a few nails (I have only put about 500 through the gun) the box will also hold googles, hex keys, a bit of oil, a syringe for the oil and the instructions.
This afternoon I made up the box, still need to do the lid. Materials used are 140*19 pine and 6mm marine ply. The corner joints are a bit rough, but they are a tight fit, hence why one piece broke as shown in the image.
Still need to make the lid, fit handle and catch. Lid will open sideways. Depending on time I will probably finish with varnish.

Always good to store your tools correctly and have all the accessories in one place.

looks good. Much better than the cardboard and more "woodie" than the blow mould plastic ones.

Today I made and attached the lid. Rounded over edges and sanded and started to apply varnish.
Being the lazy sort, not much free time to make, want to get it finished type, and being for myself the box is rough with various gaps and flaws. I did round over some edges with the router, but as the hinges were already fitted there is an area that was not rounded over.
I will fit the catch (holes already drilled) and handle after varnishing. I can then put the nail gun and accessories in the box.You might ask why varnish? Simple, the can is sitting on the shelf. I bought it for a job and used just a dribble. Now using it on jobs where I can. I would rather use it than toss it.

It is a good idea to use some finish on the wood, it keeps it from absorbing oils and dirt.

Are you going to stain it or leave it timber coloured? Some of the spirit based stains give a good effect and make the timber look richer, but its also OK sometimes to leave it unstained if the straight timber is what you want. If you do want to stain it I use the Wattyl spirit stains and find them effective and attractive. You can choose from a range of standard colours (Cedar, Walnut etc.) Oil based stains contain pigment that can make the wood look murky - you lose the depth of the figure. I have also read about, but not used the water based stains that UBeaut sells and apparently they also let you see the beauty of the wood.

David

While I probably would have liked some color, it is just a plain clear varnish.
It should provide a bit of protection to the timber. It is good to see with this and a few other jobs the tin being used as I paid good $$ to use a dribble on a job for an unappreciated client.

Just need to do at least one more coat on the lid and then fit the handle and catch and the job is finished. Where possible I am giving a quick sand before varnish.

Attachment 352177Attachment 352178
I finished this project off by attaching handle and catch.
One of the things I decided to do half way through the project was to rotate the box around so the box of nails and the top of the gun would be at the bottom when the box is standing on its edge. The main reason for this was to lower the center of gravity. A full box of nails has a fair bit of weight and the top of the nail gun is probably heavier than the bottom. The little bottle of oil is a snug fit next to the box of nails. (Not designed that way but it works.)