DIY Tool Storage Ideas (2017)

https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/clever-tool-storage-ideas/

by walterbell • 4 years ago

67 56 4 years ago

walrus01• 4 years ago

If you need to store a lot of small parts, go to a Cabela's (or bass pro shop) and look at the fishing section, plastic boxes with anywhere from 6 to 40 small compartments. Often a far better selection than what you'd find at a home Depot or similar.

a1o• 4 years ago

I picked up my storage cabinet with small drawers from a family shop wood store. It's made of wood instead of being plastic, so I placed labels to each drawer to signal the resistors, inductors, capacitors, chips and so on.

terom• 4 years ago

For really small SMD (electronics) parts, you need something with a completely sealed compartment. Anything with removable separators or a gap between the dividers and the lid is a no-go, or you'll be tossing a couple hundred unmarked 0805 MLCCs in the trash because your 100nF and 1uF parts got mixed up together.

The cheap SMD parts containers on AliExpress [1] are reasonably good, although the lid springs some of them will inevitably break. There's probably some professional model with better quality plastics by a reputable brand as well.

[1] https://a.aliexpress.com/_msqygpo

showerst4• 4 years ago

For through-hole and other misc small stuff, I bought some mini plastic baggies and store them in a binder filled with baseball-card storage pages.

A little fiddly to assemble, but now it's really easy to jump to section and clearly see the parts, and takes up less space than a parts bin if you have a few of a lot of parts.

throwaway0a5e• 4 years ago

If you buy the right size boxes it works out so that a given multiple of them fits in a paper sized space you can use free filing cabinets for storage.

WillAdams8• 4 years ago

An alternative is to put things into Ziplock bags and then store in a filing cabinet ---works quite well, esp. for computer cables.

JKCalhoun2• 4 years ago

I prefer these storage bins made by Stanley. They are fairly inexpensive and the small bins are removable so that you can easily grab the whole bin of screws or whatever. This also makes them easy to re-arrange your small parts. If you look around you can find them in two sizes — a thick and thin version.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-25-Compartment-Shallow-P...

Also, a cabinet for storing the organizers is an easy build for a new woodworker:

https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/164002

showerst4• 4 years ago

The harbor freight knockoffs of those stanley containers are serviceable too, at half the price. https://www.harborfreight.com/20-bin-medium-portable-parts-s...

mindslight• 4 years ago

I lucked [0] into being around for an office move of a company that had gone from building physical devices to pure software, and got ~24 parts drawer units [1] for free. For the utility I get out of them, I would have bought them new, but it's hard to know that beforehand - they're expensive for what they are, and to do it right you really need a lot of them to make a uniform wall. I built custom shelves to hold them without the weight adding up, in three vertical columns floor to ceiling.

I'll occasionally see deep sales (~50%) on similar items throughout the year, since presumably the cost basis isn't that high. If I somehow lost mine or needed to expand my storage, I'd plan out some shelves for whatever size the new ones were, and buy enough to fill a few more vertical columns.

[0] They also came with a bunch of assorted stainless machine screw hardware. And this was a month or so after Radio Shack closed and I had spent a week going from store to store buying buying all the switches and lights I longed for in my childhood.

[1] https://www.homedepot.com/p/Akro-Mils-24-Compartment-Small-P...

walterbell4• 4 years ago

all the switches and lights I longed for in my childhood.

The wonders of the Radio Shack catalog to a child's imagination :)

whiw• 4 years ago

The magnetic drill bit rack might cause the swarf to cling to the drill bits.

I use plastic picture/poster hanging grips to cover saw blades, and lengths of 4" plastic waste pipe to store dowel and metal rod.

logical_proof• 4 years ago

Not to mention those drill bits will not be nearly as nicely organized once you turn the drill press on…

JKCalhoun2• 4 years ago

Yeah, I avoid magnetic solutions to holding tools. I hate magnetic tools.

walterbell4• 4 years ago

HD has a dual-sided compartment case with transparent lids. One side can be used to store instruments/tools in PE foam (after removing the dividers with flush cutters), leaving the other side for small parts. 10 x 12 x 1.5 inches per side. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-34-Compartment-Plastic-Dou...

WillAdams8• 4 years ago

I have a similar, smaller case which I used for tools and parts for a while, but found flipping it constantly really annoying.

Currently it's overflow storage for things associated w/ my CNC machines which I'm not likely to need.

ethbr02• 4 years ago

I can't say enough nice things about the Ridgid small bins organizer. Especially for the price.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-Pro-System-Gear-10-Compar...

My favorite use? Dedicating one to a go-tote of assorted fastener (nails, screws, etc), divided into the different cups.

jjeaff2• 4 years ago

My go to are the storage totes from Harbor Freight. There are a few sizes and it has removable bins like the Ridgid ones. Usually $16 for the larger ones like in the Ridgid one. But I often get them for around $10 on sale. My guess from the image is that the harbor freight aren't quite as high quality though.

brk• 4 years ago

On this general topic, I'll mention the Milwaukee Packout system. I've been converting most of my storage containers and portable items to Packout.

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Storage-Solutions/PAC...

https://www.pelicanzero.com/packout-nation/

WillAdams8• 4 years ago

I considered standardizing on Packout, but they seem to only offer one two drawer units, all of which are deeper than I'd like (I really want a single layer of tools per drawer).

bombcar• 4 years ago

They’re actively developing the lineup (having said they were surprised at the success thereof).

bradfa2• 4 years ago

I just bought a large rolling toolchest for my garage. I had looked extensively at Packout (and similar competing solutions) but couldn't justify going with such a system as my main use is to keep all my tools in my garage, so portability isn't critical, and the Packout system seems to have very limited offerings right now for tool drawers which don't require disassembling a stack of things.

But for mobile tool transportation, it does seem like a great solution! My HVAC guy has a ton of Packout boxes in his truck.

frosted-flakes• 4 years ago

I don't like how the handles are on the side for most of the packout boxes, and they're very bulky (what are those aluminum bars on the corners for?) and generally too big for almost all of my tools. Waterproof is nice, but completely unnecessary for me.

I prefer the Tanos Systainer stacking boxes. They're small enough that each box can have a single purpose. For example, I have a drill, impact driver, charger, spare battery, and all of my drill bits inside one medium box (very heavy). In an XL box I have a track saw with its accessories, in a small box I have a jig saw, and in a medium box I made some wooden dividers for all my glue, wood fillers, and caulking.

Makita makes some of the older-style boxes with 4 latches that often go on sale for very cheap on Amazon, but I prefer the newer T-lock boxes because you can open a box even if it's in a stack. But the T-lock boxes are insanely expensive, so I mostly have the Makita boxes. Both styles are compatible with each other.

WillAdams8• 4 years ago

The best examination of tool storage concepts I've seen is this blog post:

https://bridgerberdel.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/thoughts-on-t...

which sums the various strategies and their pros and cons up nicely.

Three books on this which I would recommend to any one interested in woodworking are:

- _The Toolbox Book_ by Tolpin --- a bit dated, but still full of good information _and_ measured drawings for making some of the tool chests - _Choosing & Using Hand Tools_ by Andy Rae --- his wonderful toolchest is features in the book above, and further photos and information are included in this book - _Virtuoso: The Tool Cabinet and Workbench of Henry O. Studley_ --- I love and hate this book --- it's an important text, and the content is great, the problem is the presentation (pedestrian micro-typography which uses uni-directional double quotes instead of double primes, x instead of a multiplication symbol, &c.) and the typos (Studley's name is mis-spelled on this dustjacket)

I'm at a point in my life where I pretty much have all the tools I need, and the struggle is remembering where they are/that I have them, so working towards making fitted tool chests/cabinets so that everything has a place, and so that each chest/cabinet/box is applicable to a particular purpose.

CraigJPerry• 4 years ago

3/4 inch plywood offcut for a circular blade tote.

/me checks plywood prices in UK...

Nope.

failrate• 4 years ago

Laminating corrugated cardboard would give plenty of rigidity for this tote.

evan_2• 4 years ago

I 3D printed a bunch of these[0] hangers for my cordless power tools and screwed them to the underside of a shelf. This model is for DeWalt but there’s a variation for every battery platform. Seems to work pretty well.

[0] https://www.printables.com/model/203909-dewalt-tool-mounts

mhb2• 4 years ago

They're all stored without their batteries? So now you need a battery storage solution as well as needing to remove the batteries to store the tool?

bradfa2• 4 years ago

I've always stored my cordless tools with the batteries disconnected from the tools and I don't have a fancy way of storing either (yet). I believe most cordless tool instruction manuals recommend this.

evan_2• 4 years ago

Ah, that’s what this model is for:

https://www.printables.com/model/157265-dewalt-battery-hange...

I’ve never liked storing tools with batteries, but I’m just a weekend DIYer so YMMV.

camtarn• 4 years ago

Hah, using the built in battery latches is a genius idea!

I just wish I had enough battery power tools that I needed to store them in such a fashion ;) Sadly most of my tools are still mains powered.

ComputerCat• 4 years ago

Hmmm I like the creativity but think I'd rather just keep my wrenches in their compact carrying case so I can take them wherever I need them easily...

showerst4• 4 years ago

If anyone is working in a tight space, I recently found that wall control makes pegboard that are only 8in wide. [1].

They're made to be horizontal so if you flip them some of the fancy accessories that rely on the horizontal slats won't work, but the pegs are still fine, and it's a good way use otherwise wasted space on really narrow walls and corners.

https://www.wallcontrol.com/8in-x-32in-horizontal-galvanized...

walterbell4• 4 years ago

14" Ikea pegboard fits on the side of Kallax shelves, https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/skadis-pegboard-white-50320805/

Seville has a 24W x 18D x 66H metal cabinet with pegboard sides, https://www.sevilleclassics.com/collections/cabinets-1/produ...

ta988• 4 years ago

The hooks are hard to find (or were when I bought mines), but it is super easy make with wire of a sufficient gauge. If you want to make a lot you can even make a jig with a piece of wood and some nails.

roberthahn• 4 years ago

My next woodworking project will be building a Dutch tool chest. After some searching (too many pages only show the _outside_ of the chest, this page shows you some of the potential of storing and organizing literally dozens of tools in a box you could load into your car.

https://www.lumberjocks.com/BrandonW/blog/35335

Another excellent way to store and organize your tools is in an English tool chest. https://blog.lostartpress.com/2020/04/06/anarchists-tool-che...

WillAdams8• 4 years ago

I scored a (picked over) English chest off Craigslist a while back --- unfortunately, it was left open for a long while and the front bowed out, and it had some strange design choices:

- too narrow to accommodate a full-sized framing square, the back of the lid was cut open allowing it to stick out (which makes it dangerous to move)

- only one open till which is fixed, w/ an odd saw till underneath

I put it on a small wheeled moving base from Harbor Freight, and tried storing all my traditional hand woodworking tools in it, but while they all fit, the organization is lacking and usage is problematic --- can't bring myself to get rid of it though.

yardshop• 4 years ago

It is clearly an example from which you will build your own correctly formatted tool chest! Then convert it into a little library on a post, or mount a cooler in it for shop beers!

srdixon• 4 years ago

Why is the phrase "Pointy-tool pincushion" so satisfying?

wcunning• 4 years ago

My favorite thing that I lucked on for part storage as some of the other commenters here have been discussing, was the local TrueValue signed a new contract with Hillman and had all of their screw and bolt cabinets replaced so they could fit in some actual quantity of metric stuff. I bought a hardware store wall worth of bins for like $250. It was and is glorious. I'm in the process of building a proper workshop after moving for more space and the rebuilding of that wall is very exciting for me.

sent-hil2• 4 years ago

Some very good ideas in there that I haven't come across. Another great DIY idea I didn't see there was gluing top of mason jar to bottom of a wood plank so you can screw/unscrew the jar. I use this for storing screws and other small things.

If you're interested in this sort of thing and don't want to build your own, I'm working on https://toolwallhq.com that exactly solves this.

ghostbrainalpha• 4 years ago

Your website is the nerdiest shit I have ever seen.... and I'm loving it.

My dad has OCD and a little shop, if I show him your planner we not see him again for days.

sent-hil2• 4 years ago

Ha, thank you! Please do show him.

WillAdams8• 4 years ago

My dad just nailed them in place, which was fine until a jar broke.

ksherlock• 4 years ago

the other day I saw a variation of the PVC tool holder used for holding drills. The notch didn't go all the way through, and rotated 90 degrees, perhaps less so it would be angled up slightly (so the pipe was hanging under the supporting 2x4) although it would also work fine upright.

granjef3• 4 years ago

My favorite storage hack recently has been using a bun rack (https://www.webstaurantstore.com/regency-10-pan-end-load-hal...) to store the Harbor Freight plastic storage bins.

It’s the correct length and height already, you just need to trim the width of the cross supports and tap the ends again.

The HF bins are cheap and have removable inserts that index in the lid, so you can remove one, close the lid, and your parts stay in place.

For pliers and similar tools, I’m a big fan of Adam Savage’s pliers cart: https://youtu.be/TWQAYfGxsPE

WillAdams8• 4 years ago

Do you have a photo?

walterbell4• 4 years ago

Similar approach with lunch trays, https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R282SPN2EU416K/

dieselgate• 4 years ago

There are some good ideas here - I especially like the magnetic bit rack. Not a fan of peg boards and general wall hangers or an insulation foam wall hanger (seems fragile and messy) but they probably work for some people. Cool to see this on HN

mmsimanga• 4 years ago

I feel like I have carried over some bad habits from programming to my woodworking hobby. This is a hobby that hasn't taken off because I seem to enjoy finding new ways of organising my tools. The result is I have yet to make anything of significance. It feels like I am trying to find the perfect development stack.

DIY Tool Storage Ideas (2017)

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