how to keep little stuff sorted?? I don't. g I buy more after spending
a few moments looking in vain for the right [fill in the blank]. Home
Depot is only 4 blocks away and I can be in and out of there quicker
than I can find stuff that I know I have but can't seem to locate until
AFTER I come home with duplicates. As long as screws came in a box, I
do ok by just keeping the boxes in a couple of drawers under the bench,
and loose screws end up hardly getting used; those are the ones that I
end up buying more of, as often as not.

screw bits? some are located at the back of my bench, stuck in their
respective holes drilled into a piece of 1 1/2 ply. the rest are placed
in a shallow drawer, laid out on a piece of duct tape that is secured to
the bottom, near the front of the drawer. keeps 'em spread out for easy
identification. beats throwing them all together in a container.

I remember where each tool is MOST of the time so I don't use labels.

Having two work areas like yourself would frustrate me because there is
a cosmic law that states something along the lines that, "the tool you
need NOW is located in the other work area".

I like drawers, so I made a 2 drawer cabinet for under my table saw.
Six big drawers in my bench. I have 2 roll cabs, one tool chest, 2
metal tool cabinets are tucked under my bench, each have 4 shallow
drawers and one DEEP drawer. Then I made 5 wall cabinets with doors to
keep stuff out of sight, but close by. There are drawers in my router
table, a big compartment under my planer stand. Every tool has it's
place.

If you aren't organized, think about adding more storage such as drawers
and cabinets. When I started out about 2 years ago, I started with only
the 2 rolls cabs, tool chest, and 2 metal cabinets. Each day in the
shop elicited a pledge to build LOTS of storage and I did. Now I can
concentrate on building furniture and other odds and ends.



dave



dhmeiser wrote:

HI All,

It seems that my ISP does not allow posting to groups only downloading
so I am using google post! (sorry if this becomes a duplicate posting)

After becoming totally frustruated at my workshop I have decided to
knucle
down and get the place organized. OK how about sharing your tips and
methods for keeping such things as your hand power tools, their
accessories
organized. How do you keep such items as nails, screws and other
hardware
sorted and redably available. Also how do you keep small items shuch
as
screw bits and such orderly.

I would like to have input on what has worked and what has failed.

Right now I have two locations for my tools one is in the upper
section of
my barn where my big power tools are located, tablesaw, Joiner, RAS
are
located. the other tools tend to "float" between my bacement the barn.
The
barn is unheated so this time of year I don't use it as much as the
bacement. One of the ways I have tried (unscucessfully) was to put the
tools
in toolboxes labled with the function of tools (general, electrical,
plumbing ...) So what has worked for you and what hasn't?

Thanks,
Dave M