Hi, I'm trying to organize my garage. My tool box is full of screws, bolts nails, etc. I would like to find some neat storage system for these things. I'm sure some of you have some really creative ways to store all your nuts and bolts. So what do you use for workshop storage? Thanks, Jeff
When the kids were small I saved the baby food jars. Still use them today. At the time I worked in a company with a sheet metal shop so I had some 16 gauge shelves made to hold them; sort of a "U" shame but with the front leg shorter. The shelves are mounted on a plywood board.
Glass jars in a shop area are a idea. One get broken, eventually. Aside from trying to get a replacement that matches, the little glass shards will keep popping up when and where you least expect them. (Or does baby food come in plastic now?) I find plastic peanut butter jars work well- soak the labels and PB reside off, and they are easy to see through, and hold a lot. For small-quantity items, buy one of the ubiquitous blue or gray plastic-box things with clear plastic drawers at the big-box or discount store. Yes, they are junk, but they are cheap.
aem sends....
I bought a bunch of plastic freezer boxes. ( pint size ) Built a wall shelf unit to hold about 32 boxes.
They're cheap, tough, just the right size for a goodly amount of screws, nails, etc. etc
Use indelible marker to mark contents.....
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"Jeff Guay" wrote
This isn't an original thought, but I use Flambeau products. Cheap & portable if you need portable storage. I use them because their one manufacturer is about 20 miles from me, they have an outlet/discount store on the manufacturer site which is open to the public.
I just keep them in a big can; then, I go to the hardware store when I need one. Kind of like cutting glass: first, I find a piece in the barn that's about the right size; then, I break it; then, I go to the hardware store.
George
Egg cartons
A handful of rare earth magnets, a nice big sheet of tin space magnets out behind the tin screw it to the wall and you have nuts and bolts storage wall.
"> I'm trying to organize my garage. My tool box is full of screws, bolts
Container Store, Get Organized, and many hardware stores have clear plastic drawers about 2x3 inches by 6 deep, that fit into a plastic shelf system with several dozen drawers per set. Very handy, cheap, dust resistant, and no broken bottles nor unscrewing lids.
I store my nuts in my pants, my washers in the laundry room, and my bolts bolted so now they're gone. :)
Plano makes some great products for storing items like that. Here is their web site
If you're afraid of broken glass you must live in constant terror. The baby food jar thing is a good idea, only I have the lids screwed to the underside of a shelf, which means that you can screw the container back onto the lid and the containers hang in a neat, orderly row right at eye level. Same jars for twenty years or so. Because the jars seal up pretty well, it does a good job of protecting the contents from corrosion.
I, too, used the jars for years. Asked one of the young bucks at work to save me some jars. He brought in a whole case.
Can't use them, the lids don't screw on like the old ones.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net
Such is progress. I guess that tells you how long it's been since I've bought baby food.
Finally an idea on how to use the tiny magnet I saved from the discarded heads of the Sonic toothbrush. I have a hadful, they are eceptionally powerful and have not found any use for it.
Alternate solution needed for Stainless Steel and brass hardware or aluminum small parts.
MG
A paint roller tray. Makes sorting though all the misc stuff easy.
A variation on this is to use a kitchen knife magnet bar, mounted on the underside of whatever horizontal surface suits you. Then you just stick the jar on by its lid. I've seen bars for sale up to 24" long.
Price-to-number-of-jar ratio is still not so favorable, though, but hey, it's my first post!
If you want to get serious about storage and have an available 36" X
18" footprint of floor space, then get an industrial shelving unit.Make sure it's heavy duty and has about 10 -12 shelves. Space the lower 8-10 shelves about 6" apart. Space the upper shelves about 12" apart.
Now buy a case of cardboard bin boxes and a case of dividers.
Put it all together and you should have about 100 pull out bins with each one having seperate compartments. It'll store a lifetime supply of small hardware, plumbing, electrical parts, spray paint, car parts, etc and everything will be easy to find.
Shelving units aren't that expensive if you shop around. Find a supplier that sells used warehouse/industrial supplies.
Or you can just do this: Gather up all those old nick nack bolts, nuts, screws, washers, pins, etc. Now bring the garbage can near and throw all that old shit away. Next time you do a project go out and get new nuts and bolts. When you are finished with the project, throw away all the extra new nuts and bolts. Do NOT keep more junk. Im sure you have enough now. Bubba
And the following week, usually on a night after the stores are closed, you break something and need that odd sized bolt you tossed. My collection of saved (but sorted or otherwise reasonably neatly stored) old stuff saved my ass a couple of times.
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