The other day, in our post about Milwaukee’s new 30″ tool storage combo, a reader asked a question that I don’t really have a strong answer for.
Dylan asked: What would be the best storage solution if I’m going to mainly be storing power tools instead of hand tools? Maybe it’s just the pics but those drawers don’t look tall enough. It doesn’t have to be mobile.
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As a refresher, here is what the Milwaukee tool storage combo looks like:
The bottom drawer and top compartment are well sized for power tools, but that’s about it. You might be able to fit some power tools in the medium-height drawers as well. But this, and other ball bearing drawer tool storage units like it, are not quite ideal for power tool storage.
Handheld power tools often come in hard cases, sometimes soft carrying cases. The easiest solution is to take those cases and plop them into a cabinet or onto adjustable height shelves.
I love my L-Boxxes and ToughSystem cases, as well as the Systainers my few Festool tools came in.
An adjustable shelving unit, or adjustable shelves within an enclosed cabinet, is going to be the easiest way to store a lot of power tools.
There are some ball bearing tool storage products with deep drawers, but there’s a limit as to where you can fit a circular saw, a band saw, or other large and bulky tools.
I like to keep certain tools in tool boxes or cases, on a shelf, since I’m not always good about taming power cords. Cordless tools sometimes require their own tool cases too, especially ones that come with easy-to-lose accessories and attachments. Others, like cordless drills, can usually be placed anywhere.
While large drawers or boxes might work, you’ll kick yourself when digging around and can’t find the edge adapter to a saw, or the allen wrench for changing a saw blade.
What would you use for shop storage of handheld power tools?
I’m not really happy with my “put them on a shelf” answer to Dylan’s question, and am hoping that you might have a better solution in mind!
Nathan says
I don’t keep many of mine in cases – at home anyway.
drill – impact driver – on peg board above the work table
impact wrench – in tool roll around – with all the other automotive tools
OMT – in the wood work/wall work cabinet with blades in their box and other accessories. – same cabinet holds the sander and plate joiner and etc.
Everything else is either too big or specific for a use and on a shelf.
Derek says
I made this – http://www.woodstore.net/plans/shop-plans/shop-cabinets-storage-organizers/380-Cordless-Tool-Station.html
Fits my cordless drill and air nail guns in the holders. The middle shelf hold the drill case and cases of bits. Top shelf has the charger and an empty tool bag I throw stuff in when I’m doing something around the house.
I’d like to start getting some L-Boxxes/ToughSystem type cases, but really I’d rather buy more tools. Most of them are in their cases under my workbench on a shelf. Thinking about it a case with the tool and accessories would help clean up my mess some.
RC WARD says
Should have showed a picture of the one you made.
Derek says
Can’t on here, maybe on the forum I will. It looks the same, just spray painted dark blue because I was using scrap wood.
As I typed up my first response I was thinking that I shockingly don’t have many power tools. Guess I wasn’t counting the jigsaw, circular saw or 2 sanders that would be great in a case with the extras (blades, sandpaper, etc.)
I think a nice cabinet with slides to hold whatever case would be best. I know Festool has one, but a DIY job would work for me.
BonPacific says
I work in my shop, so my answer will be different to those who work outside, or on jobsites.
I keep a toolwall, with customized plywood holders for each tool. They all sit on a french cleat track. It’s a bit of work to setup, but with a tablesaw and a brad nailer, it goes by quick. The big benefit is keeping accessories/supplies with the tool. I keep my jigsaw blades inside the angled Jigsaw saddle, same with circular saw blades. The edge-guide for the circular saw sits in a slot beneath the handle, so I can grab both at once when I need them.
I was inspired by April Wilkerson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYuoiefb2uk
John Sullivan says
One complaint about Wilkerson’s video: it appears that she completely blocks the vents on her 12v chargers. I wonder how long before they start to overheat?
Mike says
Triton will just send her more.
BonPacific says
Hmm, hadn’t noticed that. Doesn’t seem like it’s caused problems yet. They may get enough airflow from the side vents, and unless she’s chain-charging a series of batteries, I wouldn’t expect a big problem. Never used Triton’s chargers though.
Everyone has different tricks. I put a top-lip on my saw holders, rather than a swivel-clip, so I can place and remove one-handed.
Corey says
Tough system is great, I’ve got a setup in both my work truck and the home for power tools and hand tools. Recently I reorganized to segregate my tools from my bits and such (to cut back how many boxes I keep on the truck) but for a long time I had zero problems organizing a tool and it’s different application hardware to a box. Had a small for my 3 speed HD with handle, 2 batteries, hole saws, carbide hole saws, bit index, and little stuff like center punch and a tap set in the lid. Another box had my ¼” and ½” impacts , 4 batteries, bit set, and a couple socket sets.
abnormalist says
Giant tool bags
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-24-in-Tool-Bag-GP-44448EN13/204507904
Seriously I have these that say “Corded” “Cordless 1” and “Cordless 2”
as well as a small bag thats my “go bag” that has a drill, impact, flashlight, and recip saw as well as some hand tools for normal home repair stuff…
JGonzo says
tl;dr: built a roll-your-own version of a Tanos/Festool SysPort out of the cheapest wood and hardware I could get my hands on, works great.
I got a little overboard with my system, but I didn’t have any actual projects one weekend, so I wanted to see what I could do with minimal/cheap materials. I made a large wall of shelving out of 2x4s in my garage. I then scoured the “as-is” section of a local Ikea for cheap drawer glides and built pull-out drawer trays to fit my modular tool boxes. Most of my stuff is in DeWalt TStak (slowly transitioning to L-Boxxes as I move from “assortment of tools” to a mostly Bosch collection). I’m at work at the moment, but will try and post some pics tonight if I get the chance.
John Sullivan says
The solution, like most, is entirely dependent on the user. Frankly, I like adjustable shelving because I like keeping my tools in their original cases whenever possible. While this makes for a neater “grab & go” for selecting the right tools to take off-site, it does add an extra step and requires additional space for the case when using the tool in-shop. The exception would be battery-operated power tools, which always go back on the charger when not in service. I keep a soft-sided bag near the charging station that I fill as needed for offsite work.
If these corded tools are mostly used in-shop and the cases can be discarded, I’d propose using the lower-end tool chests with fewer drawers. The drawers are deep and the Black Friday pricing is cheap enough that you can line an entire wall with them and slap down a countertop if you wanted. Keep the owner’s manual in the drawer as well. For the little accessories like allen wrenches, just keep a small box in the drawer alongside the tool.
I’m one of those guys who tried to get into a particular tool storage system and just couldn’t make it work for me. Anybody want to buy a bunch of mint condition Bosch L-boxxes, cheap?
Derek says
I do, but my wallet doesn’t…
Matt says
I would be interested if you’re serious about selling them.
Eric B says
Sure…..
What do you have and price?
John Sullivan says
I may have opened a can of worms here, and as much as I’d be happy to get rid of these, I don’t think this is the right forum. I don’t want to accidentally turn Stuart D’s excellent ToolGuyd blog into a craigslist.
KenZ says
I hang almost all of mine, either on pegboard hooks, or for heavier ones, from the wall. I’ve been scouring Home Depot battery return boxes for years, and have acquired a ton of old, dead cordless tool batteries. Open them up, (properly) dispose of the cells, reassemble, put a cord through them, and now you can hang your cordless tools by plugging in the dummy batteries with cords from which to hang. The cordless circ saw of course has its own rafter hook.
I keep accessories in HF (or stanley or whatever) pull out bins which are labeled in the custom shelves I build.
SawdustTX says
I want quick/easy access, so I don’t use any closed containers:
– Primary Cordless Drill and Driver stay on the workbench. I actually have hangers for them on the side of the bench, but rarely use them.
– Cordless Tools are in the lower deep drawers of my Rollaround Tool Cabinet, which sits next to my workbench.
– Corded Tools and a couple large cordless tools on open shelves under the workbench.
– Nail guns hanging on the side of the workbench.
The workbench referenced above is my utility bench against the wall, which is just 3 feet away from my free standing carpentry bench. I stand between the two benches when I work, so I just turn around, grab any tool I need, and plug into a power cord hanging from the ceiling. The tool can then be used on either bench. My most commonly used corded tools stay plugged in under the bench.
pabi says
Stew,
With all respect, I have the feeling that your blog is all about “great” Milwaukee tools, almost in every post there is their picture or you are talking about them, dont you think that it is to much?
are they pay you for that?
There is so many other better brands then red tools on the market, please talk about them….
greets
Derek says
Lately there’s been a lot about Milwaukee since they just had a press event and released a bunch of new tools. Earlier this year the same thing happened with Dewalt. If Bosch/Craftsman/Kobalt/Ryobi/Ridgid/etc. do that the same will happen.
Stu mentioned the comment came up in the Milwaukee toolbox thread and then said he has Bosch L-Boxxes for everything. Doesn’t seem biased to me.
Stuart says
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. The recent Milwaukee coverage, and more on the way, is because they recently had their new tool media event, where they introduce almost a year’s worth of new tools at once.
Since the whole topic came from a reader’s comment in response to the Milwaukee tool storage post, that’s why the tool storage combo is pictured here. Otherwise, anyone coming to the post later on is going to miss the context.
As for the first image, that’s the best “group of lots of power tools” photo or image I have. I didn’t post it because they’re Milwaukee tools, I posted it because I didn’t have a better image to start the post with. I don’t always start a post with an image, but if I don’t it’ll look a little weird to me.
I took that photo at Milwaukee’s 2015 event. If you have a better photo of a bunch of power tools, please send it over.
David says
Here’s some of how I solved it: http://imgur.com/xJjWpAx
The advantage of the cleat based system is that I can re-arrange tools based on how I actually use them. I have cleats around my shop (and will add more as I continue to work on it). That means I can have a set of tools handy for a project. It also means that I can see the tools . Storing in tool boxes probably makes sense for those who need portability, but I find that being able to see things easily makes the Adam Savage first order retrievability question easy answerable.
Brandon says
I really like this setup! I had been going back and forth on the French cleat / pegboard / just-screw-some-holders-into-the-wall decision, but it hadn’t occurred to me to hang pegboard *on* the cleats. It seems the cleats work better for large and/or oddly shaped tools (esp power tools) while the pegs store smaller items denser than the cleats. The cleats on the back of the pegboard also act as framing to allow hooks through: nice! This is definitely my plan, now, thanks for sharing!
Dylan says
I really like this idea. May end up using this idea to an extent, customizing it to suit my needs and tools, and combining it with other ideas I find
Andrew says
This is what I chose for my garage. Works pretty well for me!
Cr8ondt says
I personally like the PVC tool holders, looks pretty quick and easy to make and very inexpensive to source, I however am the worst person to give an opinion on tool storage as mine is the “just toss it in the truck box and if it doesn’t close jump on it” type of storage. Which reminds me….. note to self why do I have 3 resip saws, 2 jig saws and 2 grinders in there? Clean it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt J says
+1 to the cram it on the truck plan. You’ll almost never find yourself lacking.
Chad says
I have a dedicated woodshop which means I need my tools to be quickly accessible. I’ve made the storage so handy that instead of setting a tool down I can return it to its home base which keeps clutter down. For those times when I take the tools offsite I toss them in milk crates.
Here are a few pics.
http://web.alliancecom.net/cb/Woodshop/shop/backbench%20tools.jpg
http://web.alliancecom.net/cb/Woodshop/shop/Cordless%20tools.jpg
http://web.alliancecom.net/brenner/woodshop/interior/shop%20cordless%20tool.jpg
SawdustTX says
Very nice! I especially like what you did with the slotted stands for the routers and circular saw. Think I’ll copy you with one change – little drawers inside those stands for the circ. saws, to hold the wrenches, gear lube, etc. Thanks for sharing.
Dylan says
Wow guys, this is great. Thanks! I’ll go and read each comment when I get home. I guess I should go a little more in depth with my comment since you made a post of it. We’re buying a new house next month, and there’s a big garage that I am going to be setting up shop in. I am going to be building a workbench, but I need some ways to store my handheld power tools, since that’s what I primarily use.
Most of them are cordless tools that I bought as bare tools, so they didn’t come with a case or bag. I don’t have money to buy each of them cases or a big storage unit (right now, but I could work on it), so I like some of the ideas I am seeing about building some storage spots for them. I may see if anyone has some old kitchen cabinets I could use for the big stuff too.
Matt J says
What if you incorporate Derek’s hanging design under the bench since you’re building it anyway? Unless you’re planning on drawers it’d be dead space anyway
Derek says
If you have the space I like Chad’s layout a lot. You could even use an old bookcase for that.
JG says
I intend to keep all my power tools in tool boxes but they seem to disagree with me and live wherever they want.
Ryan says
For what it’s worth I think kaizen foam mounted vertically with custom cutouts for each tool (and their accessories) above your bench is the best solution for my money. Izzy Swan has a video of him doing this on YouTube. I don’t think he did a great job of utilizing the space very efficiently but it’s still a great idea. Cheaper and quicker than building custom holders for each tool, and more space efficient. I’d just like to find a cheaper source for this type of foam other than FastCap
Kurt says
I shamelessly copied an idea like this one, using tubes mounted under cabinets. It has worked on great for my shop:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/26/30/3e/26303e35ecbac6d5a60e13640ed2ea15.jpg
Riley says
I use lateral filing cabinets. They have large drawers, a heavy weight rating, and can be found cheap on Craigslist.