Shopsmith Forums

As many of you might know I'm redoing my shop. I looking for ideas.

I was wondering where do you store your hand tools?

In my old shop setup I had them out on shelves/peg board but I had problems.

First they were always getting dusty. Second the spiders seemed to love to make webs around them. Third they looked junky. Fourth the peg board hooks always came out, and really didn't have that much room.

I have a bunch of things like hammers (large framing, 2 large and 1 small claw, large and small ball peen, dead blow, various size rubber, wood mallet, tack hammer, plane hammer)

Then I have tons of screw drivers, pliers, chisels, files, etc.

I hate to just throw them together in a drawer so I'm looking for ideas.

One solution would be a really nice hanging cabinet but frankly I have so many screw drivers, pliers, hammers, chisels and such and each has a special function that I don't have wall space to do that.

What I do have is drawer space and space in some overhead cabinets that I removed from a kitchen remodel.

Any ideas how to organized or store tools in these two would greatly be appreciated.

I have mounted the screw drivers on the inside of the cabinet doors and that is working. I also mounted all my layout and measureing tools on another cabinet door. So I guess I'm looking of ideas of what to do with the hammers, files, planes, chisels, punches, pliers and etc.

Ed

Ed,

One thing I have done is put some old waterbed drawers under my workbench that stays against the wall. They hold a lot of tools, and there is space between the top of the drawers and the benchtop where I can store some power tools. Either sliding half trays or liftout trays could double that drawer space.

Another thing I have been looking at is making some thinner drawers, just enough thickness to hold screwdrivers, etc. 2 or 3 of them would go in the space of a regular drawer. Some of the non-skid lining would keep them from rolling. Like the wood tool chests, except fitting under the workbench and going all the way through.

For the wall cabinets, maybe a series of vertical sliding panels (pegboard maybe?, sliding in dadoed slots) that you can pull out, select a tool and push back.

Hawk

brown_hawk wrote:Ed,

For the wall cabinets, maybe a series of vertical sliding panels (pegboard maybe?, sliding in dadoed slots) that you can pull out, select a tool and push back.

Hawk

Hawk
Now that is an idea I hadn't thought about. Pull out panels what I could store tools on either side yet be able to slide them out of way and out of sight and closed up so they stay relatively dust free. THANKS! for the idea.

Anybody else got any other ideas????
Ed

I built a cabinet that was featured in one of last year's Wood magazine issues. While I still use pegboard, I use m-shaped clips that hold the hooks in place. They no longer come off of the pegboard when I get a tool down. I would post pictures, but right now the shop is stuffed full of HO train stuff so I can get my railroad benchwork built in my adjoining train room.

BPR

I built a cabinet that was featured in one of last year's Wood magazine issues. While I still use pegboard, I use m-shaped clips that hold the hooks in place. They no longer come off of the pegboard when I get a tool down. I would post pictures, but right now the shop is stuffed full of HO train stuff so I can get my railroad benchwork built in my adjoining train room.

BPR

Put dividers in the drawers. You can custom make them to the different sizes.

I did this by putting dados in the dividers so I can arrange them to the size I need, and this keeps the tools from piling up on each other. You can make spaces for hammers, files, pliers, etc. all in the same drawer and keep the tools organized.

If you have or can get a copy of Fine Woodworking's "Workshop Solutions" editions, check out Jan Zoltowski's tool cabinet on page 34. It looks awesome, and there's no pegboard. It should still be on store shelves until the end of the month. I got mine at Sam's Club, but I imagine it's available at a lot of places.

Bruce

My CA shop is in a two car garage. I have a cabinet that's about 12' long with 4 sliding hardboard doors. The top serves as my workbench; the tools are sorted by purpose: lathe, drilling, etc. I have a storage cabinet on the wall, from old SS plans, with pegboard interior, mostly for layout tools and also for infrequently used tools that I didn't know where else to store. My SPTs are on a 2x12 on another wall.
My PA shop is a separate building and I'm reorganizing it to reduce the number of tools and clutter. My late father in law did framing, cabinet and furniture making as well as metal work, including blacksmith, and concrete work. The shop was organized for diferent tasks to be done in separate corners. He had a lathe on one wall, with a workbench and 4 drawers on another wall and a counter with a grinder on the other.
Another wall has his primary workbench with 4 drawers. He has a wall cabinet at each end of the bench on the wall, one with 7 small drawers for drills, cutters, etc. The other has 20 smaller drawers for parts, etc. There are two shelves, one with bins for nails, one for files, planes, axes and hammers; handsaws hang from the edge of the lower shelf. One corner had a pot belly stove (now a yard decoration) for heat and blacksmithing. He kept metal working tools next to it. Several shelves on another wall are for concrete tools, dry wall tools, paint and stains. He has provisions for storing lumber on one wall and in the rafters. He kept small power tools in a separate cabinet with 2 doors. The cabinets and bins are great. I've been cleaning, sorting and storing his hand tools in plastic boxes: guess I'm sentimental; they have no value but I can't see turning them in as scrap metal. He has many augers, bits, screw drivers, pulleys, etc. I prefer having one of each.
I don't like hanging tools on nails from the wall, and will be building storage cabinets that fit under the workbench, with tools sorted by purpose.

Ed in Tampa wrote:...Anybody else got any other ideas????
Ed

I, too, like hawks idea with the sliding panels inside wall cabinets! Besides that, as others have already mentioned, Ed, I like drawers: Deep ones for bulky tools (your hand planes for instance) and shallow ones for smaller tools. The shallow drawers prevent stacking stuff to the point that you can't find the tool that you want. I also like to have a specific place in the drawer for each tool. Sometimes dividers work well, other times, just an outline of the tool on the bottom of the drawer works. Like you, I have tried peg board and really have knot had satisfying results.

Another thing that you may use, are what I wood call "organizers". Usually made of plastic, these are made to hold several of one type of tool, such as screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, etc., and then the whole organizer will fit into, yes, you guessed it; a drawer.

One more thing that I have made use of are magnet bars. Mounted to the inside of cabinet doors, or just about anywhere else that you want to mount them, they hold all kinds of (ferrous) tools within easy reach.

Hi, Ed, my friend! In my shop I've found it is VERY HANDY to make wooden shelves, drawers and too hangers - then support them on peg board using 'L' hooks (aka right angle hooks). It would take a page to describe them. Meant to take photos today, but got carried away with the re-saw guide - then after lunch worked on the shutters. Will post pix tomorrow.