DIY Tool Storage Ideas (2017)

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Do you have a photo?

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.

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

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.

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

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...

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...

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

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

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?

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.

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