I’ve mentioned Stanley’s 25 compartment organizers before, most recently in a Father’s Day promo post. These removable-bin organizers are incredibly versatile and flexible to use, but there’s a downside – they’re addictive. It’s hard to buy just one.
That leads to a problem. If you own more than a few of these Stanley organizers, or the look-alikes that are sold by Harbor Freight, you will probably run into storage and accessibility issues. I know I have.
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In the past, I would stand most of my 5 organizers vertically on a wire shelf. Problem: very small parts, such as size #2 washers, tend to travel between compartments. Now that I have 9 of these organizers, standing them up isn’t a neat way to store them. That, and I moved my wire shelving units out of my main workspace.
Stacking them isn’t a very elegant or efficient solution either. These organizers have easy-grab handles, but they are designed to nest neatly on top of each other, or at least the Stanley ones I have. I can’t speak about the HF ones – I saw those in-store once and thought they were too flimsy for my liking. This means that you can’t access a mid-stack organizer very easily, and forget about getting a bottom one without first moving the other boxes around.
That leads me to show you the project Ken shared with us – a neat and elegant way to store plenty of these organizers beneath a workbench.
Ken wrote:
I love the HF version of the Stanley storage trays. And yes, we bought a few Stanleys to compare, and yes, they ARE better than HF, but not enough to justify the price IMO (HF often has sales on them; we just got 10 more thin ones for $6 ea!). And HF also has a third variant that’s half-width.
Anyway, what pisses me off about these things is NO ONE makes shelves of any kind for them. That is soooooo irritating. Stackable cubes with rails that would hold, say, 3 large or 6 small organizers would be awesome. Done well, they could totally be shot in plastic.
Anyway, since I have about 20 at home and we’re well on our way to 30 at work (and counting…), it was time to tame the beasts this weekend. Here’s my first cut at it; I used cheap 1/2″ plywood for the first go around (thin skin on the back to keep it light) and what you see attached is about 1/3 of the shelves built to date. Works great. What came out well too is, if you look on the bottom of the middle column, it fits two of the 1/2 size HF versions, so this config shown could hold 6 total 1/2 size. One could also slide a shelf in various locations to hold other smaller things too I suppose.
You can see from the bowing of the bottom orange shelf that I missed my vertical measurement by just a hair….
Anyway, if it’s a slow news day, this might elicit some other responses as to storage solutions for mass quantities of stuff.
I like it! This looks to be a simple and quick-to-build cabinet that one could put together with a bit of patience and minimal tools. It doesn’t look like the cabinet takes up anymore space than if the plywood sides were dadoed or routed to accommodate the organizers. Those strips of wood should work just as well to support even moderately loaded organizers.
This is exactly what I need to do as well, if my schedule ever allows for it. Although… that might tempt me into buying “just a few more” of these Stanley organizers. Maybe I’ll wait until the next Stanley promo that might come around next winter holiday season.
I’ve seen a few other organizer cabinets, such as on LumberJocks and Tested.
And in the recent post about these Stanley organizers, Ktash mentioned a project that Lu described in response to the winter holiday deal post. Lu described how they built a similar storage cabinet but with recessed grooves for these organizers to slide into.
It seems that a lot of us are looking for affordable alternatives to Adam’s drool-worthy Sortimo T-Boxx setup. The last I checked, Sortimo T-Boxxes were only available through one USA distributor with a confusing website, and storage racks need to be specially ordered somehow.
If you’ve got a bunch of these Stanley or HF organizers, how do you stack or store them in a sane and efficient way? Have you seen a DIY project worth sharing?
Related posts:
Workshop Storage Progress – My Industrial Bin Rack is Coming Along
My Journey to an Organized Workshop with Modular Tool Cabinets: Part 1, Design
Adding Sides to Modular Tool Cabinets – Journey to an Organized Workshop Part 2
Adding a Durable Low-Friction Work Surface – Journey to an Organized Workshop Part 3
Porphyre says
I’m in the middle of re-organizing my shop and had been thinking about Systainer-style organizers. Specifically the Ridgid ones. Didn’t know HF made any, but they make three. Maybe they’re worth the cheap price?
8 Bin Large size: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-bin-portable-parts-storage-case-93927.html
19 Bin Medium size: http://www.harborfreight.com/19-bin-portable-parts-storage-case-93928.html
15 Bin Small size: http://www.harborfreight.com/15-bin-portable-parts-storage-case-93929.html
KenZ says
Those exact three HF models are the ones shown in the picture (two of the smallest ones are on the bottom middle).
HF vs. Stanley: the main difference in quality is the lids and the implications that has. Specifically, the HF lids are polypropylene, while the Stanley are something stiffer and clear, likely an impact grade polystyrene. Thus the Stanleys are both a bit more rigid and clear, with the HF a tad opaque. Visually it doesn’t matter, but mechanically the Stanley ones do a better job holding the yellow internal containers in place if you’ve removed some of them. Thus, if you were going to remove some and put heavy things in some of the others (*like screws, nails, whatever) and pick it up by the handle, the Stanley versions stand a better chance of not sliding the internals all over the place.
Other features (stacking, etc) are similar. The HF ones slide OK on the rails above, but the Stanleys would slide better (hard to explain why without you seeing the underside of each). I say “would” because they’re SLIGHTLY different widths, so if you have both you’d better size for the Stanleys, not the HF or you’ll have to push hard to get the Stanleys in.
As a homeowner who uses them for casual storage, and for work where we’re cheap as hell, the HF is the way to go. If you get their flyers every few months they have them on super coupon sale; they JUST finished up with a sale on the thin ones for $6 ea, which is a steal.
However, I’ll agree with Stuart that sometimes quality is worth paying for. If I were a contractor using these for my livelihood, or using these things all the time, or ESPECIALLY if I was carrying lots of small nails, screws, whatever in them and wanted to carry them by the handles, I’d say paying extra for the Stanley is totally worth it, even if you’re paying double.
David Brown says
The Stanley lids are currently (2019) marked with the recycling code”10 PC” for polycarbonate. Probably the strongest option possible in a clear material.
Benjamen says
Thanks for the links to the HF ones, I was trying to find them on their website last week and for some reason I just wasn’t getting them in the search results.
Pete says
While there are certain things at harbor freight that I do love. I have come to grips that a majority of their stuff, in my mind is disposable after a couple uses. The containers won’t hold as well IMO, I use the dewalt ones and I haven’t had a single thing move over while closed. If you plan on it sitting and not using it then cool but if your an avid user get something that can actually take some abuse.
John Blair says
I like the idea and plan on stealing it. Maybe I will use the screws I won to screw in the rails. Toolguyd to the rescue!
This solves one of my biggest things I don’t like about the organizers. Once stacked, to get to the middle one, you have to unstack the others. The other thing is it is hard to carry 4 of them, where carrying 4 systainers is very easy (but paying for them isn’t). I use them with Kaizen foam to store tools. Great for cordless tools.
I really don’t like the Harbor Freight version. The lack of stiffness and opaqueness make them so much cheaper. This is good timing since Amazon currently has Stanley versions on sale: “This Item Is Included in Our STANLEY $10 Off $50 Father’s Day Promotion. From May 15, 2015, through June 21, 2015, when you spend $50 or more on select STANLEY tools and accessories shipped and sold by Amazon.com you can get $10 off. Discount applied automatically at checkout.”
ktash says
Thanks for this great post! I’m going to make something for my HF and Stanley containers. Anyhow, I like both Ken’s with wood strips and the ones with dados that the lip of the container fits in that Lu described. The others are nice, too, so thanks for the great ideas. You could make various configurations to fit under workbenches or in available wall space. Or under the bed if necessary ;). I appreciate the heads-up on the differences in size (make them to fit the Stanleys which are slightly larger than the HF.
A while back I made the MFTC (multifunction table cart) that holds systainers. That cart has pull out shelves with full-extension locking drawer slides that are pretty pricey. It’s fine for that cart with systainers or LBoxxes, but I didn’t want to make a bunch of pullout shelves for the Stanley/HF containers, even if I used cheaper slides. Plus, a lot of shelves makes it heavier, which is fine in some cases, not in others.
Comparing the two containers, I have a bunch of the HF, but if you wait for a special deal like the father’s day discount, the large size stanley costs around $11, cheaper than the HF on sale (currently $13 and only slightly less if you use the HF 20% coupon on top of the sale price, though you can only use one per visit). I’ll probably buy Stanleys from now on, and use the HF ones I already have where I don’t need as much durability.
KenZ says
I personally like the dado style better than the strips that I used, but a) I didn’t have the tools to do that and b) the HF versions have a thicker effective ‘lip’, thus you’d probably have to do several passes to make the dado tall enough unless you have a super wide router bit. Probably ANOTHER reasons the Stanleys are a bit better. But HF is what I have, so HF is what we’re sticking with.
I think we’re all generally of the same opinion:
A. Use them occasionally or infrequently (mostly just organizing your storage), don’t have a lot of heavy stuff in them, don’t carry them by the handles a lot? -> HF
B. It’s for you job, you use them a lot, you use them for a lot of small but heavy items like nails and screws, and/or you carry them by the handles frequently? -> Stanley
ktash says
Here’s a fancy workstation with the organizers built in (looks like Stanley). Not going to build this, but just fyi. From Fine Woodworking
http://www.finewoodworking.com/workshop/article/organize-your-shop-with-smart-carts.aspx
Josh says
I found one seller on EBay who regularly lists sortimo’s T-boxxes. I’m up to 3 of them and damn they’re nice.
Looks like the racks for them are outlandishly expensive though; I’m going to have to build my own.
Dustin says
Its funny a couple of years ago I made a rack based on inspiration from Adam Savage’s rig. Using these very same Stanley organizers. I used 80/20 extruded aluminum for the frame and aluminum architectural angle for the “shelves”
http://imgur.com/YiYRJzf
Harley says
Thank you for the inspiration David.
I was toying around with the idea of using aluminum architectural angle as shelf supports for the organizers. Your rack and your use of 80/20 has now inspired me to construct my own similar shelving system.
Harley says
I obviously meant to thank Dustin and not David.
Apologies.
MinnesotaSteve says
This is very clever. I have about six of these that I purchased many years ago and they are stacked up on a shelf. But if I want to get to the one on the bottom I have to move them all. Since I’m building a new cabinet for my shop, I’ll have to work this idea into it.
Ken says
I bought the Stanley ones years ago as a fixture installer but I had trouble transporting them. I actually figured out that if I cut the L shaped feet off I could fit 3 of them vertically in a milk crate and slide them out as needed. Not only that but it didn’t affect their stacking ability while horizontal! Mine are extremely used and abused and still look “dirty but almost new” after about 15 years or so. I look at the HF ones all the time as I am a shopper but honestly I could never justify the few bucks for the quality the Stanley bins offered. I really like the idea of the sliding rails or dados for them but for me it’s all about mobility!
Norm says
Stanley is missing a huge bet by not making a modular cabinet for their storage organizers.
1) Metal exterior cabinet.
2) Adjustable height metal pull-out shelves (drawers, actually, with a positive stop, a la Sortimo; metal can be made to have the strength of 1/2 plywood but be a lot thinner, taking up less vertical space in the cabinet)
3) Modular – hold either 6 2X organizers or 12 1X.
4) Modules easily attach to each other, no limit to how many columns or rows, easy to build a rolling “module assembly” on a sheet of 3/4 ply with casters.
If Stanley isn’t smart enough to make it, maybe someone else is. I’ve got 42 organizers in mixed sizes, could really use another 6-8, and I’m as tired of the unstack / stack drill as everyone else. I won’t say “I’ll pay anything” but I’m willing to shell out a reasonable amount.