Hardware organizers for toolboxes

[kavisiegel]

How are you guys doing it? What brand, where did you buy it, how do you like it?

I probably have about 40 pounds of misc hardware laying around that I need to sort out. I bought this big beautiful stainless steel toolbox to do it, then I realized I forgot to look into organizers. Oops.

I'm not liking these mini plastic bins I see around. Too cumbersome, and if they're removable, I will never put it back in place. I like the way my local Lowe's has theirs set up - just one solid plastic multi-compartment.

I was thinking of getting some flat aluminum stock, notching them half way at 3" and, join the pieces at a 90 and create an interlocking grid. But that's more work than I really want to do for simple drawer organizers.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I recently read these two threads that cover some ideas you may want to see too.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117174
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=214959

(I searched "bins" to re-find these.)

The aluminum divider idea is interestingly covered in this thread, and I feel it could be well applied to sockets too:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208437

(I searched "aluminum ruler" to re-find this.)

 

[Victorymike18]

When my daughter was a newborn through about 1 year old, I had a steady supply of Similac bottles and was cutting the bottoms off. They work great, and I kept a handful laying around for future use.

They are thin-gauge plastic, but more flexible than brittle, and I haven't had one fail me yet. They are also "squarish" and don't leave much dead space between them.

I also use the Harbor Freight clear 24-divider storage cases. They go on sale for under $4 and are worth grabbing a few.

Here's two pictures of the Similac bottle bins:

 

[crewchief888]

i try not to store hardware & misc building supplies in my toolbox.

most of my garage hardware is in sliding metal trays, or in some HD plastic storage boxes.
DIY house stuff is scattered around in several places in my basement workshop/reloading room.

i have lot of "leftovers" from renovation projects in an old dresser,
new boxes of screws, ect stashed in an extra roller cabinet,
drawers under my woodworking bench have some new small parts for electical and plumbing fixes.

the aftermath of most renovations DIY projects, and the old lady "changing her mind" is a bunch of seemly useless junk. i'll hang onto it, if i have a place to stash it, or can possibly repurpose it in the basement, or garage.




edit: added pic of garage storage bins, all salvaged from the scrap bin.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Inexpensive food containers- the reusable plastic ones that sell for 4/$1 or so at your grocery store from ZipLoc and other brands. They are meant for lunches, small leftovers, etc. Think "Tupperware" but much smaller and simpler. Available in a variety of sizes and shapes, I have a lot of these. They are prefect for things like screwdriver bits, specialized adapters for certain tools, and anything you'd want to make sure doesn't get lost.

I have one square 1.5" deep one about 4" on a side that holds nothing but socket drive adapters. Another holds spark plug sockets. It doesn't take long for even the messiest tool box to get cleaned up and easy to keep that way.

Screwdrivers are sorted by several 2" tall, 3" wide, 10" long trays meant for office drawer organizing. They sit in the middle of my screwdriver drawer horizontally in a single column and hold specialty screwdrivers while the slotted daily use are to the left, and Phillips on the right. Again, easy, quick, and versatile.

 

[kbs2244]

I cut up plastic bottles also.

But to keep them lower profile I use one quart oil bottles with the sides cut out instead of the tops cut off.
They fit fine on four inch high shelves.
I use a felt tip marker to write the contents on the bottom.

The same idea with the larger anti-freeze bottles gives me little “trays” to keep bigger stuff in.
Not only in the shop but in the back if the car also.
Battery cables in one. Chain in another. Gloves and rags in another.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Most of my fasteners are in bins under the workbench. I do have a couple of small parts cabinets sitting on the other workbench. The only thing I have in my tool box is the assortment that came in their own plastic container. I do have one parts organizer in the tool box for the track, it's filled with misc stuff.

My original plan was to use three Cman bottom boxes for fastener storage but circumstances happened and they went back. I probably would have ordered multiple bins from somebody like Uline to fit in the drawers