Show me your screw/hardware storage ideas please

[Mike Heidrick]

I have a ton of the littel screw organizer benchtop boxes. I want something different. Looking for scre/hardware/nail storage ideas. Anyone have pictures or ideas. Someone on woodnet mentioned a card catalog whic sounds like a good idea. Anybody have some input?

[Chris Kennedy]

I have a relatively inexpensive option, though it is far from perfect. I use Gatorade containers (they look like miniature water coolers). They are a reasonable size, have a screw top, and hold up pretty well if dropped. I label mine with a Sharpie and I can read what is in them from a distance.

Of course, if you don't want to drink Gatorade, this idea sucks.

Cheers,

Chris

P>S. I am reorganizing my shop, and when I finish, I will have a rack for them. Until now, I have just put them on a shelf.

[Rick Potter]

Mike,

Perhaps not what you're looking for, but I bought a metal roll around rack, with about 15-20 plastic bins made to fit it. The bins are about 10" wide and 6" tall, and can be compartmentalized. It is unbelievable how much stuff I can store in this unit. For example, all my small squeeze clamps are in two bins, C-clamps in another, cans of small screws, bungee cords, cabinet hardware, etc.

I liked it so well I bought another. They roll around too, so you can store them in a corner, and just pull them out to use them. The racks are about 4' wide, 5' tall, and a foot deep, very heavy duty, nice casters, and cost less than $100. Got them at Sam's Club.

Rick Potter

[glenn bradley]

If I had known about them I would have gotten these: http://www.dandydrawers.com/Photos.htm

I use Plano boxes from Lowe's, about $4 each. They stack in racks made of scrap. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...6&d=1185580325

I keep my router bits in them as well:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...4&d=1172345838

[Joe Jensen]

Here are pics of mine. These are "Dandy Drawers". Google will find them for you.

[Tom Clark FL]

I bought the gray metal cabinet for holding screws and hardware. Unfortunately it filled up quickly, and more were needed, but they are expensive. I also wanted something larger than the 6" wide x 17" deep drawers. The easiest solution was to build my own.
Over the years I added four parts cabinets, all 24" deep with 23" deep drawers. Now that I am retired some of the drawers have been emptied, but the cabinets are still like new 20 years later. When you purchase drawer slides in bulk they are under $3 per set, so the cabinets are inexpensive to make.

[Michael Lutz]

I use a combination of Plano Boxes, clear sortainer Tubes, and two metal cabinets with smaller plastic drawers. I built some cabinets to house all of them. The clear sortainer tubes contain hardware I buy in bulk such as, deck screws, drywall screws, and nails. The plano boxes hold hardware such as machine screws sorted by size, misc exterior trim nails, tapcons, electrical stuff, air fittings, smaller finish nails, etc. The hardware cabinets contain tapered wood screws, both steel and brass.

The choice of what to use for each was I would only use the tapered wood screws in the shop so a less portable storage was fine. For construction projects around the house I just grap the sortainer I need. The plano boxes are portable if needed.
I also have bulk storage of other construction screws and nails that I use to fill the sortainers.

Mike

[Kevin Groenke]

In the basement at home I have workbench drawers w/the ubiquiteous baby food jars and similar containers as well as a random assortment of found cabinetry. Plastic Plano boxes provide "to-go" assortments for projects around the house and the occasional off-site work. At work we have stocked hardware store organizers donated to us when a local store was closing and also steel card file cabinets for bulk storage of frequently used items.

-kg

[Russ Hauser]

Here are mine. First is a small cabinet I made to hold several Phano trays of stainless steel sailing hardware. Second are several 39 drawer cabinets hanging on my shop wall. Last are several salsa jars with their lids screwed to the bottom of a shelf in my garage, they hold nails and dry wall screws.

[Kevin Groenke]

The IKEA Helmer 6 drawer cabinet (11"x17"x27") for $40 might be an affordable basis for a larger system. Individual drawers could probably be removed for site work.