Saturday, November 01, 2008 1:21:53 PM
My Ammo Box-Lock Project
Note: This is an edited re-post from last night, I had a few errors.
Recently I tore apart the cabinet I had my ammo stored as it had because become too small for my ammunition supplies. The ammo was already stored in army surplus ammo boxes that are airtight, I have both .30 cal and .50 cal cans, so all I really needed was some heavy-duty shelving. My garage is already pretty heavily secured, and it is hooked upped to my big screen TV by a small bullet camera system that comes on each time the door is opened.
I replaced my supply cabinet with an open shelving system that runs along most of one wall in my garage; I built it out cement cinder blocks and both 2x4 & 2x6 boards for the shelving. I glued this together with Liquid Nails (industrial construction adhesive); I know when and if I get my wish to move to the country someday I'll have a hell of time beating it apart with a sledge hammer, but this system is plenty tough and can handle the major weight without any sagging.
With this cabinet in place my only problem now was to come with a way to lock the individual ammo boxes, so I went looking for locks. What I found was two kinds of locks at Cheperthandirt.com, one was a pin for $9.97ech, and another with a pin and outer hasp for $14.97 each:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/SearchResults.aspx?site=All+Products&num=10&q=ammo+lock
I began by using a Dremel tool with a grinding stone attachment to grind a slightly rounded (indented) flat edge on the lip-edge of the bolts. I then drilled a small hole in ground-off section of the bolt, I followed this with a slightly larger drill bit create a hole large enough to allow the locks' shank to pass through the hole. I then rounded the edges a bit with the Dremel, and then touched up a bit more with a fine metal file:
With my pins done I moved on to the boxes, with the hasp shut on the boxes, I marked the center of the hole in the closing hasp of the boxes, then I center-punched each can and drilled a small guide hole in each can. When all were drilled with a small bit, I selected a bit that was just a bit bigger than needed for the 3/8 inch wide bolt (pin) to pass though the hole, but small enough to leave a good lip for the bolt head to come up against:
.30 Cal Can
.50 Cal Can
Now that all of the holes were drilled, rough edges ground or filed down, and the inside of the can around each hole roughed up with a green scratch pad, I got busy mounting my locking pins (bolts) to the inside of the ammo cans. I accomplished this by applying a rather heavy bead of Liquid Nails around the bottom edge of the bolt up against the head of the bolt. I then passed it through the hole from the inside of the ammo box, with this done, and the hole in the bolt aligned horizontally I pressed a piece of Duct Tape on the bolt and taped it to the inside of the to hold it place until the generous amount of glue dried. With al of the boxes done I put the boxes aside with their lids open and allowed them to dry for two days.
After the glue had dried I caulked a heavy bead around the outside of each lock pin (bolt), I wanted to make sure the boxes remained air & water tight; this also helped to hold the pins in place in case the adhesive didn't hold. I wasn't too worried about the glue holding as the bolt is stopped it from pulling through the metal box by the head of the bolt, and Liquid Nails is one hell of super strong adhesive.
However, the caulking would also help to hold the lock pins in place as the seal around the threads gave plenty of surfaces for hold. I wasn't in much of worry about the appearance of the project as it was totally utilitarian and not an art piece, but I did a fair job of it anyways. When all of pins were caulked I set them aside, and once again with the lids open, and this time for three days. I wanted the thick layer of paintable caulking to dry, and this also gave the glue another three days to dry. Three had days passed and I was fairly sure the glue was dry, and the caulking too appeared to be dry; this left only some painting to be done.
I ran to the store and spent another $4.00 for two cans of cheap green spay paint. I painted the lock pins, the caulked area around the lock pins and I touched some areas on a few cans that I had scratched smooth where rust was making an appearance. Two days latter with the paint surely dry did a full inventory while reloading and documenting each can of ammo. Here’s a picture of one of the more damaged cans that required a lot of paint:
As I mentioned earlier, the .30 cal cans with the larger hole in the closing hasp have 3/8 inch by 1 1/2 inch washer that passes over the pin before a lock is put through the pin. However, I just finished this project, and I had forgotten to photograph one of them, and I'm too tired to return to garage tonight. I wanted to share this project with my fellow shooters as it saved me a bunch of money on locks that are too damn expensive, and for no other reason than greed. JMO
Note: This is an edited re-post from last night, I had a few errors.
Recently I tore apart the cabinet I had my ammo stored as it had because become too small for my ammunition supplies. The ammo was already stored in army surplus ammo boxes that are airtight, I have both .30 cal and .50 cal cans, so all I really needed was some heavy-duty shelving. My garage is already pretty heavily secured, and it is hooked upped to my big screen TV by a small bullet camera system that comes on each time the door is opened.
I replaced my supply cabinet with an open shelving system that runs along most of one wall in my garage; I built it out cement cinder blocks and both 2x4 & 2x6 boards for the shelving. I glued this together with Liquid Nails (industrial construction adhesive); I know when and if I get my wish to move to the country someday I'll have a hell of time beating it apart with a sledge hammer, but this system is plenty tough and can handle the major weight without any sagging.
With this cabinet in place my only problem now was to come with a way to lock the individual ammo boxes, so I went looking for locks. What I found was two kinds of locks at Cheperthandirt.com, one was a pin for $9.97ech, and another with a pin and outer hasp for $14.97 each:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/SearchResults.aspx?site=All+Products&num=10&q=ammo+lock
I began by using a Dremel tool with a grinding stone attachment to grind a slightly rounded (indented) flat edge on the lip-edge of the bolts. I then drilled a small hole in ground-off section of the bolt, I followed this with a slightly larger drill bit create a hole large enough to allow the locks' shank to pass through the hole. I then rounded the edges a bit with the Dremel, and then touched up a bit more with a fine metal file:
With my pins done I moved on to the boxes, with the hasp shut on the boxes, I marked the center of the hole in the closing hasp of the boxes, then I center-punched each can and drilled a small guide hole in each can. When all were drilled with a small bit, I selected a bit that was just a bit bigger than needed for the 3/8 inch wide bolt (pin) to pass though the hole, but small enough to leave a good lip for the bolt head to come up against:
.30 Cal Can
.50 Cal Can
Now that all of the holes were drilled, rough edges ground or filed down, and the inside of the can around each hole roughed up with a green scratch pad, I got busy mounting my locking pins (bolts) to the inside of the ammo cans. I accomplished this by applying a rather heavy bead of Liquid Nails around the bottom edge of the bolt up against the head of the bolt. I then passed it through the hole from the inside of the ammo box, with this done, and the hole in the bolt aligned horizontally I pressed a piece of Duct Tape on the bolt and taped it to the inside of the to hold it place until the generous amount of glue dried. With al of the boxes done I put the boxes aside with their lids open and allowed them to dry for two days.
After the glue had dried I caulked a heavy bead around the outside of each lock pin (bolt), I wanted to make sure the boxes remained air & water tight; this also helped to hold the pins in place in case the adhesive didn't hold. I wasn't too worried about the glue holding as the bolt is stopped it from pulling through the metal box by the head of the bolt, and Liquid Nails is one hell of super strong adhesive.
However, the caulking would also help to hold the lock pins in place as the seal around the threads gave plenty of surfaces for hold. I wasn't in much of worry about the appearance of the project as it was totally utilitarian and not an art piece, but I did a fair job of it anyways. When all of pins were caulked I set them aside, and once again with the lids open, and this time for three days. I wanted the thick layer of paintable caulking to dry, and this also gave the glue another three days to dry. Three had days passed and I was fairly sure the glue was dry, and the caulking too appeared to be dry; this left only some painting to be done.
I ran to the store and spent another $4.00 for two cans of cheap green spay paint. I painted the lock pins, the caulked area around the lock pins and I touched some areas on a few cans that I had scratched smooth where rust was making an appearance. Two days latter with the paint surely dry did a full inventory while reloading and documenting each can of ammo. Here’s a picture of one of the more damaged cans that required a lot of paint:
As I mentioned earlier, the .30 cal cans with the larger hole in the closing hasp have 3/8 inch by 1 1/2 inch washer that passes over the pin before a lock is put through the pin. However, I just finished this project, and I had forgotten to photograph one of them, and I'm too tired to return to garage tonight. I wanted to share this project with my fellow shooters as it saved me a bunch of money on locks that are too damn expensive, and for no other reason than greed. JMO
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