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"  If you&amp;#039;re like me, your cordless tool collection has probably grown over the years. From a single drill/driver bought 20 years ago\u2014and since replaced several times\u2014my battery-powered arsenal has expanded to more than a dozen tools. Now it includes four drill/drivers, three jigsaws, and two impact drivers. Just locating one of these tools can be a hassle, and when I finally do, its battery is usually dead. I put an end to that frustration by building a cordless tool charging station. It permits several batteries to be charged at once and keeps accessible tools that I use most frequently. It&amp;#039;s built out of inexpensive 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 lumber and birch plywood, but it&amp;#039;s not without amenties. An armored 4-foot-long fluorescent work light, a slanted charger shelf, swiveling casters, and a shallow accessory drawer make it fun and convenient to use.  Step 1: Making the Legs  I started by cutting two 33-inch-long 1x4s for each front leg, and two 69\u00BD-inch-long 1x6s for each rear leg. Glue and nail the legs together. Each 1 x 4 or 1 x 6 is nailed to the adjacent one so that it forms an L-shaped assembly. Here a pneumatic nailer is used. When hand nailing, drill a pilot hole first. Step 2: Attaching the Caster Blocks  At the bottom of each leg, glue and screw a small \u00BE-inch-thick wood block for mounting the casters. Each side of the block should be slightly narrower than the side of the leg it faces. That prevents the edge of the block from showing outside of the leg. Step 3: Attach the Legs  Next, I joined the left rear leg to the left front leg with three 26\u00BD-inch-long 1x4 stretchers. Each stretcher is attached with glue and 1\u00BC-inch drywall screws. The right rear leg is joined to the right front leg in the same fashion, with three 1x4 stretchers. Step 4: Attach the Stretchers  Once the left and right leg assemblies were completed, I cut five 46\u00BD-inch-long 1x4 stretchers for connecting the two leg assemblies. I also cut two 26\u00BD-inch-wide x 48-inch-long shelves from 3/4-inch birch plywood. Join the leg-side stretcher assembly with front and rear stretchers. There are five front and rear stretchers: three on the back of the project. Two on the front. The center shelf is not supported on a stretcher. Note the fastener pattern: four screws with one in the center. The upper stretcher is positioned 33 inches from bottom end of the rear legs to be level with the top of the front legs. The lower stretcher sits right on top of the caster blocks. The middle stretcher is placed between the upper and lower stretchers, where it supports the upper plywood shelf. After installing the three rear stretchers and both shelves, I attached the final two stretchers across the front, connecting the left front leg to the right front leg. The upper stretcher is flush with the top of the front legs, and the lower stretcher sits on the caster blocks. There&amp;#039;s no middle stretcher installed between the two front legs.  Step 5: Install the Shelves  After gluing and screwing the three rear stretchers to the left-leg assembly, I installed the two plywood shelves, and then attached the right-leg assembly. (If you attach both assemblies first, you won&amp;#039;t be able to slip in the shelves.) Nail the bottom and center shelf into position. If you don&amp;#039;t have a pneumatic nailer, use 1 \u00BC&amp;quot; drywall screws and a right angle attachment in a drill driver or a stubby drill driver capable of fitting under the stretcher above. Step 6: Attach the Back Board  Attach the blocks (Part Q in our drawing) to the rear legs that will position the back board. Step 7: Attach the Back Board   Next, I cut the 36 5/8 x 48-inch backboard from \u00BE-inch birch plywood. Then, I used a jigsaw to cut a 1-inch x 32-inch-long slot through the backboard. The slot is positioned 6 1/4 inch up from the bottom edge of the backboard, and is used for passing the battery charger power cords through to the power strips.  The positioning blocks installed in the step above come in handy here: Tip up the back until it rests against the blocks, then nail the back into place. The backboard is installed between the rear legs, recessed 2 inches from the front, and secured with 2-inch nails. That leaves a space of about 2\u00BD inches behind the backboard for installing the power strips. Step 8: Attach the Trim  Cut pine trim to fit between the front and rear legs and nail the trim to the side of the plywood shelf. Step 9: Cut the Top  With the backboard installed, I cut a 23\u00BC x 48-inch piece of \u00BE-inch birch plywood for the benchtop. Adjust the top as needed remembering that the back edge of the top will be covered by the charger shelf. If you encounter a discrepancy in the fit of the top, for appearance sake fit the top properly at the front edge. A gap at the rear edge will be hidden. Step 10: Secure the Top  I laid the benchtop onto the four upper stretchers, and secured it with glue and 2-inch nails.  Step 11: Install the Charging Shelf  I adjusted the table-saw blade angle to 15 degrees, and ripped a 9\u00BD-inch-wide x 48-inch-long piece of \u00BE-inch birch plywood for the battery-charger platform.  I glued and nailed a 1\u00BC-inch-wide x 48-inch-long strip of \u00BC-inch plywood to the front edge of the platform, creating a raised lip that keeps the chargers from sliding off. The platform is installed about 2\u00BC inches above the benchtop, with its rear edge flush with the cord slot cut into the backboard. Once the charging shelf and front edge are cut and fitted between the rear legs, nail through the side of the rear leg into the side of the shelf. Step 12: Secure the Back Board  I secured the platform with 2-inch screws driven through the rear of the backboard. Step 13: Apply Finishing Touches  I covered the angled platform with a piece of ribbed shelf liner, just to provide a slip-resistance surface for the chargers. Then I installed the 4-foot-long, two-bulb fluorescent light fixture, which fit perfectly between the two rear legs. I built a 2-inch-deep x 9\u00BD-inch-wide drawer to fit beneath the angled charger platform. The drawer parts are cut from \u00BE-inch plywood, and the bottom from 1/4-inch plywood. Step 14: Attach the Splash  Attach a side splash to its rear leg using a biscuit. If you don&amp;#039;t own a biscuit joiner, you can also use dowels or pocket screws. Step 15: Cut the Trim  Cut the trim for the bench top to fit between the front legs and notch the trim so that it fits around the tops of the front legs. Test fit the part and nail it in place. Step 16: Install the Bolts  To mount the cordless tools to the backboard, I used a very easy, straightforward approach, which also happens to look really cool. I simply drilled holes through the backboard and installed long carriage bolts. Each bolt is held in place with a nut and washer on both the front and back of the backboard.  Install bolts in the back board for hanging tools. Some tools need more than bolts to hang properly. This circular saw was supported on its bolts and its motor was marked on the backboard. Two bolts are required to support each power tool, except the hand vacuum, which I hung from a single bolt. The flashlight and power wrench have charging stands, not removable batteries, so each stand was simply hung from two 1-inch drywall screws driven into the backboard. Step 17: Cut the Opening  Use a hole saw or a jig saw to cut the motor opening. Once the opening is cut, the saw can rest on its hanging bolts, and its motor can project through the backboard. Step 18: Finishing the Job  On the rear of the back board, are two six-outlet power strips. I fastened each power strip to a 1x3, and then screwed it to the rear legs. The fluorescent light fixture plugs into the first power strip, which is then plugged into the second power strip. The second strip is then plugged into the wall outlet to electrify the bench.  After lining up the battery chargers on the angled platform, I passed the chargers&amp;#039; power cords through the slot in the backboard, and then plugged each one into a power strip.  All the power cords\u2014totaling nearly 40 linear feet\u2014are kept neatly hidden from view. But what I really love about this workbench is that I can now conveniently store all my cordless tools in one spot, and know that they&amp;#039;ll be all charged up and ready to work whenever I am. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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