Spray Paint Secret Safe

This is a homemade diversion safe you can make in about an hour.

It's a great place to hide things like candy, or a spare house key, or . . . whatever you want.

I made a similar thing a few years ago: Shaving Can Safe (that Still Shoots Foam!).

However, this spray paint version is quicker and easier. Let's make it!

Here's what you need:

• an empty can of spray paint
• can opener
• 1 1/2" pvc coupling (in plumbing aisle at any hardware store)
• 2-part epoxy
• sticky-back craft foam
• rotary tool with sanding drum or sandpaper
• masking tape

THIS IS CRITICAL:

The spray can you use must be completely EMPTY. Begin by depressing the button on the spray paint can until all pressure is released!

I put a couple of strips of duct tape over mine and just left it for a few minutes, until the hissing stopped. Now you're ready to proceed.

Using a standard pair of can openers, remove the bottom of the can by cutting on the side of the can as shown.

There will be a small amount of paint still in the can, so be sure to tilt the top end of the can downward to keep it from spilling out.

Pour out any paint from the can into the trash.

I poured a little bit of paint thinner into the can, and used an old toothbrush scrub the inside of the can.

BE CAREFUL while doing this step.

The cut edge of the can is incredibly sharp and will definitely slice you up if you're not careful!

I poured out the paint thinner, and used a long pair of pliers to reach into the can with a wad of paper towels to clean and dry it out.

The opening of the may have some wavy crimp marks from the can opener.

These can be smoothed out by gently rolling the pvc coupling against the inside edge of the can on a table top.

The top edge of the pvc coupling can be sanded to create a small bevel as shown. This makes it easier to push into the bottom of the can later on.

I sanded this with a coarse sanding drum on my rotary tool followed by additional sanding by hand with 220 grit paper.

A gasket of sorts is made on the inside of the can with sticky-back craft foam. I cut two strips that were about 1 1/2" wide and 6" long. One at a time, these were test-fit and trimmed to length as needed and then applied to the inside of the can.

Two layers are needed, and they need to be placed about 1/4" up from the very bottom edge of the can.

To make the pvc coupling fit snug within the can, I wrapped it with several wraps of masking tape. You want it to fit snug, but not be too difficult to remove.

I used 5-minute, 2-part epoxy to adhere the can bottom to the pvc coupling.

To ensure that everything was lined up correctly, the pvc was placed into the can, but extending outward about 1/4" past the bottom of the can.

I mixed up some epoxy and placed this around the inside edge of the pvc. The can was then placed on top of the can bottom, and pressed downward so the pvc would move into the can and seat the can against the can bottom.

The epoxy then flowed downward onto the can bottom.

Some minor adjustments can be made to make sure the can is centered against the can bottom.

When it looks good, leave it alone.

This was left completely undisturbed for about an hour - long enough that I was sure the epoxy had fully cured.

Once the epoxy is cured, you can remove the can bottom which now has the pvc securely attached.

If your craft foam gasket is airtight, there's will be some pressure created inside the can when you try to install or remove the bottom.

To alleviate this, I popped off the spray button and drilled a small hole in the top of the can that is hidden when the button is replaced.

Now you can hide whatever you want in your very own spray paint can safe.

Thanks for reading!