Organising a tool box????

[Grdpa's 50 Dodge]

So Santa finished part of my bucket list.  After moving many times in last several years most of my tools are dumped in 5 gallon buckets.  Takes me hours to find what I want.  Santa saw fit to fix.  I already had the bottom roll around tool box but  stacked so deep still not organized.

 

I bought a 26" with 8 drawer upper plus a 3 drawer in between for on top of my older roller.  I was going to filler up today but decided to get some that rubber no slide bar topping stuff for drawer floors first.  Any thing else I need before I fill?

 

AND biggest question is in what order do I put stuff,,is there a best way??? Label the drawers?  How did you decide where to put what??

[JBNeal]

ya might want to stick that rubber to the drawers, cuz it'll slide on ya over time unless it's super heavy & thick.  Putting the heavier, larger items in the bottom drawers helps to keep the thing from tipping over.  Organization & labeling is up to the user, I've never seen two toolboxes organized the same way, with the exception of small tools (mini screwdrivers, razor blades, spark plug gappers, pencils/chalk/paint pens, etc.) in the small drawer(s) on the top.  If ya wanna go all Martha Stewart on them tools, get'm all cleaned up & shiny before ya put'm away...it's a good thing

[41/53dodges]

The only racks and such I have are for sockets and wrenches, the harbor freight socket racks are awesome! And wrench organizers are great to grab and run, plus racks help keep inventory! For organizing, your call! I know from memory where and how mine is organized!

[Dan Hiebert]

I've accumulated enough tools to have a drawer for each type - screwdrivers in one (standard all pointed to the right, Phillips all pointed to the left), "pliers" (channel locks, vice-grips, regular, needle-nose, etc.) in one, sockets in another, and one drawer devoted to metric (don't have so much of that). One drawer for "odd" tools. The stuff I use most often is hanging on the pegboard above the workbench, what I use least is in the bottom drawers of the tool chest. Of course, I also have a lot of tools on shelves, in ammo cans, milk crates, etc. The tool chest is mostly reserved for automotive stuff. To shorten the story - It's personal preference. I like "a place for everything, and everything in its place". After a little while, you'll get used to what's where and will be able to get to the needed tool quickly, and impress your friends when you tell them exactly which drawer the left-handed goose-neck crescent wrench is in.

[greg g]

If Santa brought one of the boxes from Lowe's or Home Depot or the like, be forewarned by my experience.  After I loaded up the bottom cabinet and added the 4 drawer top section, 2 of the casters collapsed. Not the caster itself but the metal floor of the box. The metal on the bottom of the box is too light to support the weight of my stuff.  I needed to unload everything, and then added a piece of half inch plywood the same size as the bottom.  I then mounted the casters to the plywood through bolted through the bottom with longer bolts. But I have a drawer full of hammers, another full of drills, and impact tools, grinders and nippers etc.

 

If you haven't bought your self a set of ratcheting box end wrenches yet, do treat yourself to some.  Craftsman offers several varieties and quite a few different designs.  I has selectable direction angled set with box on one end and open end on the other, both in standard and metric.  Since I got them I hardly ever use standard wrenches, and my use of socket sets has also gone down to mostly heavy duty work.

[ggdad1951]

I've got two tool chests and they are both organized differently, one in my garage and one in my basement.  I have each drawer labeled so I know where stuff is in each, since tehy contail some of the same and lots of different tools.

[JerseyHarold]

If Santa brought one of the boxes from Lowe's or Home Depot or the like, be forewarned by my experience.  After I loaded up the bottom cabinet and added the 4 drawer top section, 2 of the casters collapsed. Not the caster itself but the metal floor of the box. The metal on the bottom of the box is too light to support the weight of my stuff.  I needed to unload everything, and then added a piece of half inch plywood the same size as the bottom.  I then mounted the casters to the plywood through bolted through the bottom with longer bolts. But I have a drawer full of hammers, another full of drills, and impact tools, grinders and nippers etc.

 

If you haven't bought your self a set of ratcheting box end wrenches yet, do treat yourself to some.  Craftsman offers several varieties and quite a few different designs.  I has selectable direction angled set with box on one end and open end on the other, both in standard and metric.  Since I got them I hardly ever use standard wrenches, and my use of socket sets has also gone down to mostly heavy duty work.

I got a rolling tool box from a big box store several years ago and noticed recently that it's tilted to the right even though the concrete floor is level.  I'll bet the bottom is collapsing like the one on Greg's.

 

I use the "looks like" theory when organizing the drawers.   An awl 'looks like' a screwdriver so they go together.  Same for pliers and cutters.  Works for me.

[Young Ed]

http://p15-d24.com/topic/22456-show-your-tools/page-7?hl There are a few tips in that thread about tools. I have a hammer drawer screwdriver drawer and pliers drawer in each of my boxes. Plus sockets wrenches etc in their place. I keep metric and SAE seperate. Comes in handy to know where stuff is when you're under a car and can tell a helper third drawer from the top on the left etc.

 

I still need to buy the snap on wrench racks discussed in that other thread. I tried to get buy with the harbor freight ones and they are too tall for my snap on tool box drawers. Hmmm

Edited December 26, 2013 by Young Ed

[Don Coatney]

I don't understand the logic in this questionable thread. If I or someone else told you where to put your tools then you would have to come ask me or someone else where the tools are. You may as well keep the 5 gallon buckets. I put my tools where I want to so I can find them, not where someone else tells me where to put them. Draw your own blueprint that you are comfortable with as the tools belong to you, not me or anyone else. Makes no difference if anyone else is comfortable with it. Do it your way and be done with it.