show me your tool drawers/storage

[PatAllen]

i am in the process of completely resorting the inards of my garage, including the tool storage. before i had all the wrenches and screwdrivers on a pickboard. i bought a new tool box with 6 drawers where i did put most of that crap to clean up the walls.

now i want to fabricate a new work bench, new cabinets and such...i would like to see nice examples of what you have done. thanks.

[SteveJ]

I'm glad you specified 'tool' drawers with some of the FAQers out there.

Here are mine:

Sears had these on sale for about $230 each. I got three, then went back and got a fourth one. I built a simple 2x4 frame with some notches cut into it. The boxes sit on the wood and then were lag bolted down. Stable enough for what I need. Gave me a 10' workbench.

The white cabinets up top are for various small parts, the tall cabinet is for other tools that didn't fit in the drawers.

The other side of the garage has two Hyloft tire racks for 8 wheels/tires, 12 plastic flip top bins for sorted large parts, a row of wall cabinets for chemicals, oil, cleaners, etc..., a couple of tall cabinets for service manuals/info, and a small 3' workbench to use as a 'clean' area.

[PatAllen]

thats nice Steve, you have a bit more budget than i do...i bought one (1) similar tool box for x2 price that you paid.

[SteveJ]

None of this was done overnight. That's why I had to go back to get the fourth box. I had a roll-away, but it never moved, and I wasn't tall enough to actually see what was in the top drawers. That box got sold to finance part of the new boxes.

One idea is to incorporate the boxes for either end of the workbench and then have storage underneath. Something as simple as a shower curtain can be used to make it look 'clean'.

Be careful about buying storage components over time. All the manufacturers drop products from their line, change demensions, etc... It's a pain in the ass when you go back to the store to get another cabinet, only to have it NLA or changed. I was/am constantly revising my designs to fit was is currently available. That's the reason I justified putting the 4th box on the credit card.

[Darryl]

I built the cabinets using 1x10 pine boards for the carcass and used 1x3 for the face frames. I found the cabinet doors on CL, picked them up for 100 bucks, same with the granite bar top. I wanted to keep the cabinets about 5 feet off the floor so I could still park a car or place larger items like an air compressor, tool boxes under them. The tool box is an old tooling storage chest I bought at auction for 50 bucks… Brick on the wall was another CL score for 125 bucks… Finished with paint and floor epoxy… Said and done $1,400 to finish the garage off… Other areas I saved… I looked at florescent lights… 6 four foot fixtures were over 200 bucks… Instead I spent 30 dollars on conduit and light boxes, painted them white… Ended up with great lighting and 15% of the cost… Proud that 90% of my garage was built using recycled material sitting in other people’s garages likely headed for the dump…

If you can take a year to finish and detail your garage you’ll find great deals on materials, tool boxes and so on…