# Workshop misc hardware storage



## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

I'm brainstorming how to organize the various loose nuts, bolts, and other hardware in my workshop. I appreciate how nice and easy it is to find what I'm looking for in a hardware store/Home Depot and wonder what's the best one can reasonably do in their own workshop. I'm open to either purchased or shop made solutions, but probably more important than the actual holder is how you divide things up.

So what's been working for you?


----------



## BHOFM (Oct 14, 2008)

Go to an auto parts store and get bin boxes. Sort every
thing nice and neat and six month later you need to
do it again.:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Works for me.:yes::yes::yes:










I really can find what I need pretty quick.


----------



## John in Tennessee (Jun 11, 2008)

*I'm picking up at Harbor Freight..*

a multi drawer unit. Then next week I'm goi to Scott Bros. and stock up.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

I have several of the large plastic, many drawered storage bins that you see in the hardware department of about all hardware stors. These are perfect for the myrid of screws, nails, washers, bolts, nuts and various other small items. I would be lost without these. I have several hundred of dollars of material stored in them.

George


----------



## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

Last night on a TV show (Monk) someone had an inventors workshop and those bins were in the background and that's what got me thinking to start this thread. GeorgeC - where did you got those bins? I'm not sure what to search for. Since you probably don't have as much space for them as an actual hardware store, do you eliminate categories to save space and/or make the bins more general - multiple sizes in one bin?


----------



## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

I save and wash out old peanut butter containers and canning jars. I then throw some tape on them and label them. I keep them in plastic bins that are similar to milk crates but shorter. Works well for me. I just separate by size to a certain point. The loose stuff that accumulates goes in a misc. jar.


----------



## John in Tennessee (Jun 11, 2008)

*I told you I was going to hit HF for a srorage unit for nuts and bolts today.*

came out ahead. I found one much bigger. The one in the pic is smaller than the one I got. I left it in the car but I'll assenble it tomorrow or Monday. Not bad for $15














h


----------



## rfanslow (Aug 25, 2009)

plastic shoe boxes with lids (would be similar to the picture in nature) sturdier then the boxes and dust resistant


----------



## mmwood_1 (Oct 24, 2007)

Or you can go to C & H Distributors ( http://chdist.com ), or Global Industrial ( http://globalindustrial.com ) and drool over all the different styles/sizes of storage systems available. They'll send you a free catalog.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

sprior said:


> Last night on a TV show (Monk) someone had an inventors workshop and those bins were in the background and that's what got me thinking to start this thread. GeorgeC - where did you got those bins? I'm not sure what to search for. Since you probably don't have as much space for them as an actual hardware store, do you eliminate categories to save space and/or make the bins more general - multiple sizes in one bin?


A picture is worth a thousand words. Sometime today (when it gets daylight) I will go out and take a picture.

George


----------



## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

I just did something about my nuts and bolts storage. I had just about any size you could want but it was a mess to say the least. About a year ago I bought some plastic bins from grainger and some dividers for them. They are a little expensive but work great and really bring organization to the garage. I work with limited space so anytime I can organize something to free up some space is good. Here are the bins I used http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/5W844
It also shows the dividers on the same page.

I started to put my hardware in them but kinda stalled trying to think of how to store all the plastic bins! So they sat on my garage floor for around a year and got messed up and kicked around. Then I was on a metal working forum one day and saw an emaculate shop that gave me some ideas and motivation to finish what I started and get my hardware all put away. I was going to build shelves out of metal to store the bins and stack them but after some figuring that was going to be out of my budget. So I had some 3/4" ply laying around from some remodeling projects and started cutting it up to build a set of shelfs that the bins would be able to slide in and out of. Here is a link for the metal ones I saw http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/showthread.php?t=15905&page=6 This guy has an amazing shop, even if it is for metal working it is one of the most organized shops I've ever seen if you read the whole post.

So I just cut the ply up and used some pocket screws to hold everything together and it ended up being a lot stronger that what I expected and simple.









I've since added another shelf and set 4 tool boxes on top of them. I've got most of my bins full so I'm thinking about adding another shelf but then wouldn't be able to reach my tool boxes. I also bought a TON of plastic containers from my local fleet farm and walmart. They were something like 99 cents a peice and come in a bunch of different sizes. And I keep smaller stuff like o-rings in those little plastic trays for fish tackle with adjustable dividers. I do a lot of my work at night so I need to have the right parts when I need them since the stores aren't open so I have a good variety of small parts for woodworking and metal working.


----------



## John in Tennessee (Jun 11, 2008)

*I have to finish Momma's..*

armoire. The storeage unit is a wallmount type. I'm going to make a base out of 2x6 and the wall 1/2 plywood screwed and glued to the 2x6 base. Now I have to figure out where to put it.


----------



## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

Aside from the physical pieces used in the shop organization, I'm still waiting for someone to share their so far top secret categories for how to divide up the stuff to put in the bins. Breaking things out to the degree that they do in a hardware store would take up lots of space and probably have empty bins. What's worked for you - do you combine different types of screws/bolts by size? Do you group bolts together with their corresponding washers and nuts? What about pan head vs wood screws? I think there's probably a trade off between easily finding things and spending too much time organizing things. What balance has worked for you?


----------



## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I have one bin for all "spare" screws, nuts, bolts, etc etc. There is no organization to it and I just dig through it when I need something. If I don't have it in there (probably only a couple hundred things in there now) I just buy it. Too much organization becomes a job in and of itself.


----------



## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

I am in the process of organizing myself. I chose to use multiple jars and plastic boxes. My grandpa used regular boxes and jars, but the boxes would tear and wear out so I chose to use plastic boxes.


----------



## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Small pieces of hardware requires small bins to store them. I have 5 bins like this. Of course I have a lot of "stuff" that has nothing to do with woodworking.

George


----------



## oldgoat49 (Oct 30, 2006)

Mostly I use the bins that I buoght from HF for keeping a supply of at hand screws and nails. I keep the spare boxes of screws on a shelf with where I got them from so that when I start to get to the bottom of the box I'll know exactly where to go and what sizes they are for replacements. I like the smaller bins for working on projects since I can just pick them up and take them with me as needed. Like probably many others I've used old glass jars for my bone pile of nuts and bolts for many years.


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I'm cheap that way too!*



ACP said:


> I save and wash out old peanut butter containers and canning jars. I then throw some tape on them and label them. I keep them in plastic bins that are similar to milk crates but shorter. Works well for me. I just separate by size to a certain point. The loose stuff that accumulates goes in a misc. jar.


 I'll use anything that's free. :thumbsup: I don't like glass, it breaks, I like things with lids, things won't spillout, Square is better than round, uses space more efficiently, I like a top view with everything showing at once. I can stack the bins to save floor space. Eventually I'l make a sliding shelf cabint for the bins. It'll weigh a ton, and be on casters. I'll use 3/4" ply for everything sides back shelves and some HD slides. someday......:yes: bill


----------



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*More pictures of my small parts storage*

The card file cabinet is the best, but expensive and hard to find.
The Strohs boxes are great for bigger stuff. but they out of business, maybe another beer company has something plastic coated and strong. The cookie tins are the best.... and taste good while being emptied.:yes: bill


----------



## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

While the models I have are different than these, I wish I had gone with these instead.
Harbor Freight Item #94375








I have 3 of the Stack On 39 drawer units, and REALLY wish I had the full length bottom drawer of the HF units.

GeorgeC has the right idea though. Build them into a clamshell cabinet so you maximize your wall space usage. It's amazing how many fasteners just seem to appear in the shop over the years...


----------



## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

I'm in the midst of remodeling my shop. Built a bench with 21 drawers. The goal is to egg crate several of the less deep top 2 drawers for screws, bolts, washers and nuts. Then, I'm building 2 wall hung cabinets with shelves that will hold pull out bins for DW, wood screws and pocket screws. The bits and drivers will be stored in the same cabinets. 
I like to store things close to where I'll be doing the job. Layout tools, screws and glue over by the assembly bench and TS. Bolts and nuts, etc in the bench where I do repairs and metal work. TS guides, feather boards etc. on the wall by the TS. The routers and all the guides and bits are in a roll around cabinet close to the router table. 
My shop is 26X36, but it houses the water pump and pressure tank and 1/2 of the 36' length is elevated by 1'. Makes it kinda unhandy. Every tool I use is either portable or on casters.
Gene


----------



## ponch37300 (Feb 27, 2008)

As far as how I seperate and organize I do woodworking, metal working, car repairs, and home remodeling so I like to keep a good variety of hardware in stock in the garage. So I like to try to be as "hardware store" organized as possible. The nice things about the plastic bins I posted is they are 17" long so I can divide them into 6 compartments in each one. I use 2 bins for each size of bolts. So all my 1/4"-20 bolts are in 2 bins, nuts, lock nuts, washers, lock washers, and then bolts from in lengths-3/4, 1, 1 1/4, 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, 3, 3 1/2". Then the same for 5/16", 3/8", 7/16", 1/2", 5/8" so I have just about any bolt I could need without running to the store and easily find what I'm looking for. I try and seperate fasteners by type, then size, then length. It took a good amount of time to do this but I've easily made that time up when it comes to finding something. And I very rarely have to make special trips to the store for hardware because I can see when I'm getting low and then get more next time I'm at the store. I figure it takes about an hour to stop what I'm doing and make a special trip to the store so a couple trips and you are better off keeping a stock of common hardware organized, that's the way I look at it.

I worked at a mill that had all sorts of hardware that was very well organized. We also were big on lean manufacturing which is all about organization so I got in the habit of trying to keep things organized. My only problem is I have to many things and not enough space to be able to keep them organized like I would like!

Goodluck


----------

