Projects Shop organization-Tool storage

I understand the distance thing. Guess I’m spoiled and forget not everybody has a auto parts/ hardware store 2.5 miles away.

 

For various reasons, I have accumulated a lot of nuts, bolts and other stuff. Some was given to me, some came from auctions (bulk), some from trips to Tractor Supply....and lately, a lot from Ebay.
I bought a pigeon hole cabinet at auction and couldn't get up close to get a good look. They had apparently tilted it back and all the bolts in it moved back and stayed there.....hard to see. Paid about $25 for it years ago. It was a treasure trove of good quality stuff...worth way more than the cabinet. I have a bunch of expensive good quality nuts of larger size when I need them. Go to Fastenall and buy just one and it probably costs $5. But my favorite go to now is Ebay.........because I can get those nice looking bolts with a washer made on the head and serrated....and nuts to match. They look really professional when assembling a car. I buy them in bulk because the larger quanities usually don't cost much more than a handful does.
I don't waste time and gas trying to find something other than a Grade 0 locally. I'm always rooting thru the bolt drawers......hate to think how many trips I'd make if I didn't have them.

I been really lucky about being in the right place at the right time to get cabinets to hold all this stuff. But sometimes you just have to make a mental note to search Facebook repeatedly for things as well.......

 

But I don't have a 'bunch' of money in my hardware supply. Over the years of thrashing on cars when I was in the market for major assemblies like motors, transmissions, and sheetmetal in particular, I'd try to buy a donor car for the parts I needed and then sell the leftovers. A lot of times that resulted in my parts being free to me. And when that donor left, you'd be hard-pressed to find any bolts, nuts, washers, screws, clips, clamps or brackets still attached before it left for the melting pot. Anything that looks remotely useful is saved. The sorting process is time-consuming and you need someplace to sort it to, but if you keep your eyes open you can find cheap storage solutions.

And this doesn't include whatever I picked up at work. I have several lifetimes supplies of some stuff that was going to get thrown out, including 30 lbs of stainless nuts/bolts. Unfortunately, those are only two sizes and all metric... but I do use some every now and then.

And I'm one of the guys that have a distance issue. It's 30 miles round trip to Yelm, where I'm lucky if the parts house or lumber yard have what I need. It's another 30 miles to a real hardware supplier, and even there I occasionally strike out. McMaster-Carr is my friend, even if I have to buy in bulk....

 

I can relate. I come from a long line of 'hardware hoarders'. Its in my genes with 4 generations of hardware passed down and in my possession. My sons and grandsons are the same, making 6 generations. 99% of it will never be used by me but everyone in the family and my circle of friends knows where to go when all else fails or some type of specialty fastener is needed. Good chance I'll have something that will work.
The only times I buy hardware is if I need a specific type/grade/special use item or matching cosmetic enhancing properties.
I have taken everything apart before it hits the scrap pile just to harvest the hardware. My biggest problem is organization. I just dump the bins out on a large tray and search. Some is sorted into bins if there are many of one item or stainless or graded. The metric system kind of messed with my organizing in recent years.
About 15 years ago I started unloading much of it in my son's garage. He was happy to get it and I know where it is. Closer and cheaper than the hardware. store.

 

Thats the secret.........finding ways to get this stuff for nothing or cheap in quanity.
And if you never use it........so what?

 

I used to go to the salvage yard a lot and in most old salvage yards the ground was covered with nuts, bolts and hose clamps, etc. Everyone else just walked on them, I would pick up a bunch and put them in a box. Most of the time the salvage owner wouldn’t even charge me for them. I have also bought buckets of nuts and bolts at auctions. This was for my personal use. When I had my business, I bought a whole bin loaded with nuts and bolts. I didn’t have time to search for stuff on the job. Time was money!

You can never have too much hardware!




Bones

 

I absolutely hate stopping work over not having a single fastener. Such a time and momentum killer. I have been a hardware hoarder for eons, but much of it I got for free. You have to look for the opportunities. I strip "junk" things for their hardware. I see guys at work open a kit or component for install that has extra hardware, and they toss it in the trash! I save it all! Pretty sure I've NEVER trashed a screw or bolt that's good. I can't tell you how many times I've damaged or lost a fastener, and with a bit of digging, almost always find one in my stash. So back to work, no time wasted.

 

I'm glad that so much of the stuff I work on comes with extra nuts, bolts, & washers. I always have some left when I get things back together.

 

So I came up with this idea for my small jack stand storage.
Will have to figure out something different for the larger ones.

 

All I can see is Home Alone, or National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!

 

I have better coordination

 

Maybe a fold down ladder to your attic, crawl space would work better. And spend the extra bucks for the aluminum ladder.

 

I like to use old ones because they look better than new ones.
When I see modern headstamps on bolts I immediately think "China", justified or not.

 

I worked away for years with a couple of tool boxes and various old file cabinets and drawer systems but after my buddy had his coupe T boned and got his insurance claim I fixed the car for him and we split the pay out he got for the car. From the proceeds I tricked out the shop at the house with a wall to wall set up .. The right side were the original boxes I bought years ago . everything left of the ist side cabinet was bought from the payout to repair his car . Same make and design but the quality is a wee bit reduced from the original . Thats OK as this is a personal shop not a business so the boxes wont be seeing any heavy use .. At the same time I hade a bit of a clear-out, floored the loft, shelved between the roof trusses , added new lights and laid the left over flooring on top of the base units between the boxes as a sturdy bench .. I meant to paint the floor but that slipped by .. I need one more side cabinet to fill a gap but never had the spare cash for one yet .. I also saved storage space for a lot of old magazines by using them to decoupage the ceiling ..

I wont go through every drawer but these pics will give you an idea .. Once I remembered the new layout it doesn't take long to find the tools I need for the job and it actually encourages me to put them away again .. There is still a wee bit of clutter but its better than it has been for the previous 25 years

 

Bought 2 more today….can’t help myself. Best $150 spent this week.

 

You can never have enough tool boxes.

 

I have always had a big hardware supply on hand, I buy it in bulk (even now it’s like 3$ a lb.). Lately I have been helping a buddy with his car in his garage. He has no hardware supply and we end up at the hardware store al the time and paying .50 cents a bolt and .25cents a nut.

 

Sometimes ya got to think out of the box

 

"cool" tool storage

 

I've managed to get fairly organized in my shop finally. I found the biggest challenge was finding a place that everything belonged. I would pick something up with good intensions of putting it away but had no good idea where it should go. My wife came up with the idea of using clear plastic tubs and she labeled them with tape. It got easier after getting started deciding what things needed to be grouped together in a tub and eventually, all tools and non-liquid supplies had a place in a tub on the shelves.


Next I set up a set of shelves for liquid items/chemicals.
After that I bought some strips of metal from Lowes that has holes in it to use to hang up screwdrivers and I made some wood strips with bolts in to hang my wrenches, ratchets, sockets etc. I've got a lot of hand tools because in addition to my own, I now have my late fathers and my late father-in-law's. Below is just a small set.



My biggest headache was fining a home for all my vise-grips since several of them were wide or odd shape making them not fit in a toolbox. I had a crusty old 32 Ford running board that I had put up in my shop to set a tv on and I decided to hang all those vise-grips on it.



Later when my father who i had spent so many years with building cars in this shop passed, I wasn't ready to just put his ashes in a cemetery to be mostly forgotten so I dragged out the mate to the other crusty 32 running board and I hung it up in the shop too. On this shelve, I put Dad's ashes along with several pictures, some mementos, awards and his favorite three tools - which are, the needle nose pliers that he kept on the welder, the volkswagen jack that we always used to spread things like a port - power and after 60 years as a union bricklayer, he had a favorite brick hammer that he used for everything.

 

That's a cool idea for your dad. I'm sure that's where he would rather be anyway.....

 

Thanks. I can't count the times in the few years since he passed that I started to do something dumb like use a grinder with my safety glasses on top of my head that I could almost hear his voice reminding me that they work better when they cover my eyes and I just look up at him and grin.

 

You guys are lucky you have room. Here in So Cal, it's very crowded and space is at a premium.

I park two cars in here, and somehow still have enough room to store things. Thank God for pegboard..

 

Who`s got room. I make my living out of a 24 x 30 garage. Built the biggest garage I could 25 years ago.

 

A little of the track here, but I am getting ready to have my house garage doors changed and it seems like there should be something constructive to do with the old rollers and tracks.

 

We have them at work, some got tossed out a few years ago. I grabbed some bins before they were tossed, but I didn't think I would use the drawers (too many moving parts and bulky). They even had them for sale maybe 8 years ago here when Orchard (Osh) went out of business, I did buy a lot of fasteners from them at a good discount.


I don't have pics of mine as they're squirreled away in my moms garage. But I have a few like these and some shorter ones I got from Hilborn.


And some like these from work.

 

The more room I get the more crap I bring home. Space doesn't exist here. It is akin to nature & a vacuum.

 

I've got enough space here but just barely. I've got a main shop attached to the house that is 30' x 28' that I keep heated and cooled and a three car garage that my wife uses for her shop. We then built on an attached 34' x 48' for a lift shop and finished car storage. Then we built another separate building that is 92' x 30' for parts and projects and some finished car storage. All in all we've got this acre pretty well set up to play with cars. Fortunately this area is zone commercial so we can make all the noise we want day or night. All in all, we have 6,096 square foot of garage and about 1,200 square foot in house of this one acre lot and I've got room if I decide that I need more garage.

 

Yup, stuff expands to the space available!

 

That’s the way God intended it.