17 Ideas For Storing Tools of All Kinds

Rubbery shelf liner works great in toolboxes, but there’s a cheaper alternative. Cut a nonslip rug mat to fit any size drawer and keep tools from sliding around. Planning to buy a toolbox? This DeWalt ToughSystem 2.0 Rolling Tower is perfect for any job.

Maximize hand tool storage in a tool cabinet with this slick DIY project. The key to this project is a 4-ft.-long by-pass sliding door hardware set (about $15 at a home center). You mount 1/4-in. pegboard onto it, making sure to provide enough room (2 in.) to hang tools on the pegboard and still allow it to slide by the door in front.

The trick is to insert 1/2-in. plywood spacers in the roller hardware as shown. You can use the floor bracket that comes with the slider hardware to maintain the same 2-in. clearance at the bottom of the cabinet. For door handles, simply drill a couple of 1-1/4-in. holes in the pegboard with a spade bit. Now pop in the pegs and hang up your tools.

Here’s a great way to store pointed tools for instant availability.

Find a bare spot on a wall or workbench and screw on a 2-ft. piece of 2-in.-wide, slotted angle iron available at home centers. It’s the perfect hangout for screwdrivers, bits, safety glasses and sanding drums.

Saw off short pieces of 1-1/2-, 2- or 3-in. PVC plumbing pipe with 45-degree angles on one end. Screw them to a board to hold paint brushes, pencils, stir sticks and just about any other narrow paraphernalia in your shop. Mount them by drilling a 1/4-in. hole in the angled end, and then drive a 1-5/8-in. drywall screw through the hole into the board.

Shelf brackets designed to support clothes hanger rods aren’t just for closets. The rod-holding hook on these brackets comes in handy in the garage and workshop too. You can bend the hook to suit long tools or cords. Closet brackets are available at home centers and hardware stores.

Be honest! Somewhere you have a tool drawer bursting with a combination of screwdrivers, nail sets, tape rolls, utility knives, scissors, scrapers, measuring tapes, files and knives. And often you have to dump everything out to find one tool.

One solution: Fit a large cutlery tray (about $3 at Walmart or Target) in the drawer to organize the tools so you can see and grab the one you want in a second. The tray is easy to lift out and carry to a job, and if you use a metal mesh tray, dust can’t build up between the tools.

Junction boxes can hold a lot more than switches and wiring. Nail or screw them wherever you need handy holders for small stuff. They come in different sizes and shapes.

Ever had a plane, level or square get dinged up after falling off the pegboard? Never again. Bend an 8-in.-long pegboard holder into a corner shape by holding it in a vise and pounding it with a hammer to make the series of right angles. Make one corner to hold the left side of the tool and another to hold the right. Now just hold the tool up to the pegboard and insert the corner peg so it clasps the tool’s corner.

Here’s a tool storage technique for all those slender tools and shop accessories. Cut short lengths of PVC pipe (1-1/2-in. and 2-in.-dia. pipes work well for most items) and slide them over pegboard hooks. Then load them up with files, hacksaw blades, zip ties, pencils, stir sticks … you get the idea.

A piece of short-pile carpet in the bottom of each tray in your tool chest will keep tools from shifting and knocking about. So the next time you open the tray, the tools will still be laid out nice and neat the way you left them. Another benefit: less noise.

An old bowling ball bag makes a great portable home for your circular saw. The saw easily slides in and out of the zippered opening, so there’s no more coaxing it into that molded plastic case and fumbling with those stubborn plastic snaps. And there’s plenty of room for spare blades, a rip guide and the blade-changing wrench. So, if you’re spending more time building frames than bowling them, nab a secondhand bag for a couple of bucks at a yard sale or secondhand store.

Here’s a high and mighty way to prevent cordless drills from toppling off your workbench. Screw large vinyl-covered hooks (available for about $2 at hardware stores and home centers) to a convenient spot on a wall or exposed stud and hang up those drills for safekeeping and easy access.

While this tool storage device may look like a variation on the Pan flute of Greek mythology, it’s actually a great place to store tools that easily get lost—like chisels, files, pencils, scroll saw blades and hobby knives.

For the fatter tools, use PVC cement to join short pieces of 1-1/4-in. PVC pipe side to side into a panpipe design, then add pieces of 1/2-in.pipe along the front of the flute for skinnier tools. Build a simple case around the pipes to create a floor and a back for hanging on a shop wall.