Strategy for hardware...........how to organize

[mikefm101]

My solution below, from a Shopnotes article. Plastic Akro Mills bins were about $1.00 apiece.

I don't have as much hardware as others do in this thread, but this cabinet really helped. I also have two parts cabinets about 12"x12" with a bunch of small plastic drawers. Odds and ends go in there, some of those drawers are almost empty.

I use the same five or six screw sizes most frequently so I buy boxes of 250, 500 or 1,000 of them depending on which size I consume fastest (#8 x 1-1/4" by the 1000 while #8 x 2" in boxes of 250).

Most other hardware I buy what I need when I need it rather than stock up. No sense being a warehouse for the manufacturer.

Mike

[packerguy®]

I have a 6' rollaway that I use. Couple picks as examples.

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[bandsaw]

When I was an apprentice back in the 60's I made a unit for my boss. 8 feet wide and 6 feet tall if I remember correctly and more than 100 drawers of graduated sizes all with brass handles and index card holders. This was for his home. I retire shortly and intend to build one for myself, been putting thin stock aside for years.

[Big Dave]

packerguy® said:

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I have a 6' rollaway that I use. Couple picks as examples.

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You and Just_Dave been talkin'? He did the same thing a while back...



I did something quite similar, but I didn't use a roll-away. These drawers are all on my miter bench. The narrow drawers are under the extension beds for the miter and radial arm saws....















I used the small storage trays in a few other drawers in the "east" bench and drill press hutch....

Dave

[MikeinKCMO]

There is a pretty broad range of solutions shown in the previous posts, all of which would do the job. Different guys prefer different storage systems, and I'm a drawer / cabinet fan, and as my second woodworking project I built this very ruff drawer and shelf unit. The construction techniques border on the unacceptable, Crapsmanship is hard to detect, and style, well..., but it holds A LOT of junk and its held up very well over the last fifteen years. To stumble across flat files or metal drawers is not a common occurrence, and new, they're a bit pricey. So I figure out whats most practical, and just build it.

I have organized my shop using an "item types" approach. Tools are organized into Air, Screw, Cut, Hit, etc., while hardware is separated into nails, wood screws, bolts/washers & nuts. Bolts are separated by size, 1/4, 5/16 etc., with a drawer of a particular size containing everything. I don't have enough door or cabinet hardware to even have drawers for them, but I have 2 or 3 "Miscellaneous" drawers.

For all the purchased tools I have a drawer devoted strictly to the "tools" that come with them, router wrenches, allen wrenches, whatever came with ANY tool, is in that one drawer. Another drawer has all the "spare parts" that came with any tool, brushes, little belts, whatever it is, again for any tool, its in that drawer.

Ham radio is another hobby(money pit), and I built benches, and other projects, for that as well.

[Mike77]

Steve Friedman said:

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[blockquote]JDuke said:

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This was my solution.

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I like this a lot, but prefer the Plano boxes to the Stanley ones. I have a slew of the Plano boxes, but they're sitting on top of each other and I always seem to need something from the bottom one. Need to build one of these. Looks like you used 3/4" for the shelves. Wouldn't 1/2" be plenty thick?

I still can't give up my Akro boxes hanging on the wall for commonly used screws and nails. Too convenient and easy to grab a box off the wall.

Also, just want to add that for any hardware storage, a P-Touch label maker is worth its weight in gold.

Great ideas in this thread.

Steve

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This is the same solution I use. The containers are available from harbor freight at a reasonable cost.

[EricU]

where do those little storage boxes/trays come from?

[Bill Lyman]

Some of my approaches to organizing parts, screws and bolts. " /> " /> " />

[packerguy®]

Big Dave said:

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You and Just_Dave been talkin'? He did the same thing a while back...

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[FBranco]

It's nothing special but it works for me. Hat tip to Curly Cherry for the idea.