What do you all do with the plastic cases that your nailers, drills, routers, and every thing else that comes in a carry case. I got a pile of cases that is 4 feet high. I like to display my tools on a peg board or open shelf. I was just wondering what you all do with them. Thanks
mostly I keep them on shelves with said tools in them....
Stick them under a workbench or bottoms shelf never to be used again. Handy for the guy that moves to a job site often, but in the shop, a PITA to put things back.
sell them. flea markets or internal company for-sale lists
all my tools stay in the shop in their own little shelves with all their little wrenchs and attachments. I would not have space to store all the fancy plastic cases and wish I could buy most things without them.
BRuce
Ace wrote:
I keep most of my tools IN the case it came in. I never know when I'm gonna have to hit the road with router/circular saw/jigsaw/whatever in tow with me. I also never really know just how long I'll go and NOT use something and the case is the best way I can think of to protect my investment.
As a minor aside, my tools are not "on display". If they are out and visible, it's because that's where I need it/used it/am using it...not for someone to see.
Mike
Depends on what it is.
My router, sander, and drill cases are in deep storage. The tools live in a drawers or cabinets around the shop. Tools that don't get used that often, like my biscuit joiner, have lots of small parts, like my Kreg Pro Pack, or are often carried elsewhere, like finish nailers, sleep in the case.
Barry
I toss them as soon as I get home. However, if the companies like Milwaukee, Porter Cable, Ect, we would all pitch a fit!
Dave
Ed wrote Stick them under a workbench or bottoms shelf never to be used again.
BRuce wrote sell them. flea markets or internal company for-sale lists I would not have space to store all the fancy plastic cases and wish I could buy most things without them.
Everything gets stored back in the case. I like to keep it that way, then any wrenches or accesories are easily found. Tools I buy without a case I often buy a small plastic tool box to store them in. If I need to drag my tools to my mom's or to help out a neighbor, just grab the case, it is all in there. I still need to buy a box for my PC 333VS sander. I will get one big enough so I can store the packs of sand paper with it to. Greg
I like setting things up in kits. tools with their own cases stay in them. tools without get grouped by function and kept in something, usually canvas tool bags. tooling goes in boxes (usually) by type. I have a few boxes and bags of general purpose hand tools, but I try to avoid that (I can justify for instance an "on site installing hand tool " kit).
mud tools and painting tools go in 5gal. buckets.
Display? Freudian slip? You don't put them out for show so you can look at them and feel like your in a real shop? Or are they on display for other people?
Just think of the room you would save if you put them back in the cases.
If the tool came in a case I put them back in the case and the case goes on a shelf. Like others I like the protection a case offers and I like having the main components, if not the tooling, together and ready to be used.
Many times if a tool doesn't have a case or box I'll make one.
Exactly here too. Portable tools are either in the case they came in or put in a plastic tool box purchased to contain the tool and the necessary usage items. Nailers are put in a box with a good collection of respective nails, sanders have a full selection of papers, recip saws with various types & sizes of blades, drills with common bits of various types & sizes as well as screw & nut driver bits, and so on. The boxes are stored on shelves in a cabinet and when I need a specific tool, either in the shop or elsewhere in our home or at a family member, I can just grab the box and know I will have at least the 90% need covered.
Things like electrical tools go into a heavily loaded pouch so that any electrical or multimedia wiring can be done with the single kit. Then even things like drywalling tools just go into a large plastic covered tote bin with everything to do the job from start to finished.
I find it a significant convenience to know that, when I need a specific portable tool for a job, everything needed to use the tool is already on hand bundled up with it. Even in the workshop this is a big time saver because everything is together. No picking the drill from one shelf and getting drill bits from a kit near the DP and finding a screwdriver tip from another drawer, and so on.
The thought process is simply, keep portable tools portable and ready to go with anything that is commonly required with the tool. A portable tool without it's accessories & other stuff is as good as not having the tool to start.
Of course if you just want to show the stuff and never have a need to be portable then the story is different.
Ed
Bridger wrote:
Some get left empty for the tools I use often. I actually store some tools in these cases (Sazall, brad nailer, biscuit joiner). My Milwaukee drill has a metal case, but I don't use that case to store my drill as it gets used often.
Man, that would drive me nuts. Little used tools I can see putting in a case, but not the few I use frequently. I have two ROS sanders. One has
120 grit, the other 400 grit. Both are just a reach under the bench. Paper is in a drawer on top of the bench. Drill with bits sit in arm's reach always. I have two old Tupperware containers on the bench also. One has1 assorted staples and nail strips that I put in there when I change sizes. The other has drills for pilot holes and countersink as well as screw driving tips and holders.To the chagrin of a few here, they are also plugged in all the time too. No little kids to go into the shop any more.
Yup! If someone else see's, someone else might want! Out of sight, out of mind.
Somebody talked some time ago about a theft (or was it fear of theft?) that was made easy when all of the tools and accessories were neatly stowed in their cases...
Jack
It's just as easy for someone to grab tools displayed on the wall. Personally, I figure if someone gets inside my house when I'm not there, they've pretty much got access to everything I own. If they come inside when I'm there, I'll just introduce them to my other hobby: firearms.
I keep my portable power tools in the plastic storage cases they came in; mostly for protection. I have a relatively narrow bookcase sitting between the two bays of my garage right at the garage door opening... it only extends maybe 4 feet (though it's 7 feet tall). My tools are stored there. It makes them handy because I tend to work out there with the garage doors open for ventilation and the table saw is right there.
mine are a bit more spread out. routers are in cases in the router table, with the exception of the big freud, which stays mounted in the table and has no case. drill motors are in 2 canvas tool bags in a deep drawer in a roll away tool box. ROS sanders are in similar bags in another drawer of the same cabinet. another rolling toolbox has cased tools in it- some are factory cases, some are shop built. I have about 30 feet of shelf with cased tools also, if you count some general toolboxes.
when I think about it, it's a hell of a lot of power tools.
never enough though, it seems....
Just gave me an idea. Time to inventory tools and make an Excel spreadsheet. Both for at home and at work. Sometimes, engraving your initials on tools just isn't enough! It would be good to have a handy source for part numbers and serial numbers. An easy way to identify if I ever had to claim something at a pawn shop!
I keep my tools in them locked in a metal storage cabinet (except for those I use all the time - cordless drill, cordless screwdriver etc.) I especially like the boxes for corded tools as cords tend to get in the way and tangled when loose and it only takes a minute to take them out and put them back . Wrenches, blades, parts etc. are always there where you need them. I only wish some of the boxes had more storage for accessories.
the more room thing is hard to deal with. if I had 1 router, I'd want enough room in the case to keep all of my router bits. since I have several routers, I keep the bits in a separate case and would rather not waste the space in the router case for bit storage. sometimes I want to group several tools and their wrenches and small parts in one case- for example the die grinder and the small angle grinder go in one canvas bag. the canvas bags are good in that they are variable volume- they collapse to about the size if the tools in them, expand to accomodate the extra wrench or box of bits and don't waste a lot of space. the downside of canvas is that it's not waterproof, stuff spills out if they tip over and they don't stack as neatly as hard cases. Bridger
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