Make Storage Dividers From Election Signs

So elections have you down. Don’t be sad, it is a windfall for anybody needing construction material for your camera storage options. Recently some folks came up with a more modular idea to fill your Pelican style cases. Essentially, they are correlated plastic with some foam glued to them using some bent wire to fit them all together, like a Lego set.

Well with a bunch campaign poster sticking up all over the countryside, time to harvest a bunch. It is simple to cut them to size with a 24” metal ruler and a single edge razor blade. Don’t be too aggressive in cutting, make several shallow passes on the boards. It helps if after you mostly cut through the inner correlations to bend the board upon itself along the cut. Then you lay it back down and finish the cut through the now deep groove through opposite side’s outer layer. Make up your cells in the size and configuration you want.

The pins are somewhat more difficult. Your in luck, since the wire frames used to push these into the ground is exactly the size you need to make your own pins. Just use a hacksaw to rough size them, bend them around a 3/16 piece of metal with a hammer. Finish them by cutting them to an even length and smooth the sharp edges with a file. They do bend easier if you heat the middle up with a torch, annealing the metal. It makes them look a bit rustic and you may want to paint them.

You can, if you so choose, glue some thin foam on the boards using some spray on adhesive. I get the foam, which comes in a variety of colors, aside from black, in 3mm thickness. The foam is available at craft or fabric stores or amazon and comes in 8”x10” size and 11”x14”. Not too tremendously expensive. Most craft store always have some sort of coupons to reduce the cost. If you leave a face blank and don’t want to forever see a chunk of a campaign slogan. The board can be painted with a plastic compatible spray paint like Krylon Fusion, a spray paint optimized for plastic. Just do several thin coats, don’t try to do it in one coat. It also helps to wipe them down prior to painting. The boards can get dusty from static cling and standing alongside roadways.

While the commercial item is slicker and all black, you are limited to the sizes they supply. Recycling the campaign posters allows you to make them in any size to suit what you actually need, for virtually no cost. In some states, removing campaign poster after elections gives you community service hours, Florida gives you .25 hours for each poster. They do have to come down and be removed, depending on local ordinances, within a few days of the election. So stock up and have fun, there is an upside to elections.

About the Author

James Wallace, Geologist former Navy Pilot and NOAA research pilot. Worked abroad for many years doing marine mammal studies from aerial platforms. Spent 10 years in Africa with the UN and European Union Humanitarian Organization in African conflict zones. Semi-Professional photographer on the side. Photography was important in all aspects of his employment. Extensive library of photographs of oceanic settings and conflicts in Africa. Photo credits include the New York Times, CNN, USA Today and several UN publications

P.S. If you find any black signs you can make a gridspot too.