Foo - Tool chest organization

I just bought a new tool chest combo and now I'm looking for ideas on organization. I saw a few ideas in Family Handyman, one of which is cutting PVC pipe along the length and setting/screwing them to inside the drawers. Sears has a "divider" kit for $8 apiece, but I think thats just a bit pricey for some plastic. I do have some small wood strips, roughly 3/4" X 1 1/2" that I thought of cutting down, nailing together and putting in the drawers as dividers, but I wanted to see what else I can find.

Any ideas, links, pictures etc are greatly appreciated and who knows, maybe someone will find this thread useful.

I use roll up pouches for my wrenches and screwdrivers in my portable bike tool box. Socket set is boxed, as is my hex bit, torx driver set. Other tools sit loose.

On my workbench, all the tools hang.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r162/jsharr/cub%20scouts/100_0960.jpg

I use roll up pouches for my wrenches and screwdrivers in my portable bike tool box. Socket set is boxed, as is my hex bit, torx driver set. Other tools sit loose.

On my workbench, all the tools hang.

If they don't then you're taking woodworking way too seriously.


I use a pegboard for most stuff. Been meaning to build some sort of roll-around bench as my space is limited.
For stuff like this, I look on instructables.com

skijor. i built that bench with my own two hands, even the wheeled bins under the bench. cabinets were store bought. so excuse me if I seem a bit EXCITED over the pics at times.

I have a sears 5-drawer rollaround chest with a workbench top and built-in power strip. It doesn't leave the shed very often, though. As you will see, there is plenty of spare room.

The drawers are somewhat loosely organized as follows:

Top drawer: Wrenches, ratchets and screwdrivers
2: Bike tools and allen wrenches, some bike parts (chain links), patching stuff
3: Hammers (2)
4: Saws (2), torque wrench
5: I think the bottom drawer is actually empty, except for a level that won't fit anywhere else.

It came with hooks and pegboard-like holes in the side, but I haven't used them yet (except for maybe a saw). Maybe a picture would help:

http://s.shld.net/is/image/Sears/00959496000-2?hei=400&wid=400&op_sharpen=1&qlt=90,0&resMode=sharp&op_usm=0.9,0.5,0,0

Power tools are on the IKEA GORM shelf that I cut to fit in the shed.

I've always bought 1/4" foam sheets and cut out the shape of the tools for each drawer for smaller tools such as wrenches and screw drivers. It's also an immediate indication if you didn't put something back in it's place.

I have a Craftsman Rally 3-drawer toolbox used for event service. To keep stuff from shifting in transport I made some dividers out of scrap aluminum and pop-rivets.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24367577@N08/5075456717/

I didn't want to permanently modify the box, drilling holes, etc, so I made them removable.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24367577@N08/5075443885/

So far they've held up for 15 years or so.

I saw the foam sheets that crackerjab is talking about and I think it is a good idea. However, it would be a real pain the arse to cut out holes for bout a 100 sockets. And wordbiker, I plan to do something similar but using the wood I mentioned before (I don't have the tools for manipulating metal).

So far after loading up most my hand tools, socket organization seems to be my biggest problem. I put some rubber liner in the drawers and it seem sto keep things from shifting around.....that and the fact there isn't much room for the tools to shift around. Now when I get to the lower drawers which will hold mostly power tools, thats when I may need some sort of divider system or the foam cutouts.

I keep all my hanging sockets on racks that could easily be put in a chest drawer.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=socket+holders&oe=utf8&hl=en&cid=8779932014665116371&ei=RbG0TOScBZOW3ASN3dGrCQ&sa=title&ved=0CBEQ8wIwAjgA#p

I keep all my hanging sockets on racks that could easily be put in a chest drawer.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=socket+holders&oe=utf8&hl=en&cid=8779932014665116371&ei=RbG0TOScBZOW3ASN3dGrCQ&sa=title&ved=0CBEQ8wIwAjgA#p

Same here, but choose the type without a handle.

They take up less room in the drawer and the handle is pretty redundant anyway.

I've always bought 1/4" foam sheets and cut out the shape of the tools for each drawer for smaller tools such as wrenches and screw drivers. It's also an immediate indication if you didn't put something back in it's place.

Ugh, if I ever do this, have me committed for OCD.

I change tools way too often to do anything like that. What do you do if you buy a new tool? Do you also paint outlines around the tools on your wall?

I have my sockets on the clip strips as mentioned above, and the individual strips hang on my pegboard.

My dad uses this type of thing in his big toolbox. The sockets just slip over the pegs, and each peg has a size label on it so it is real easy to pick out the socket that you need.
http://www.mactools.com/product/tabid/120/p-327727-12-drive-quick-find-socket-tray-standard.aspx

I don't care for organizers. One thing that helps is colorcoding the metric and inch sockets. Makes it easier to find my 7/16" in a crowd of 12mm duplicates.