Lee Daniels wrote:
>
>
> MY QUESTION: How does one go about organizing your tools? Suggestions for
> what best goes in the shallow drawers vs. the deeper ones? How do I keep
> that very top compartment (with the lid) from becoming a junk collection?!?
> Should I sort them by field, i.e. metal working, woodworking, electrical
> tools?
I only keep mechanical tools in my tool chest. I keep the plumbing tools
in a portable tool box, the electrical tools in another, and so forth so
I can take them all where they are needed (never in the shop, of
course). I also keep a "Bucket Boss" (a special wrapper with pockets
that fits around a 5-gallon pail) for tools I need when outside of the
shop (as when a tractor breaks down away from the shop). I also bolted
inexpensive surplus .30 cal. ammunition boxes to the frames of the
tractors and keep the essentials in them - imitation Vise-Grips, cheap
screwdrivers & wrenches, pliers, wire, tape, etc.
I have ignition and other small tools in the smaller drawers at the top,
then hex keys, screwdrivers, then pliers, then box & open end wrenches,
then drives & sockets, then larger wrenches, then hammers, then pullers,
and so on. There is no correct way to do it - whatever works for you is
the best way. I have only rare needs for metric tools, so I keep the
metric sockets, wrenches, hex keys, etc. in the top section, along with
all the other stuff that never seems to find a home - tape measure,
pencil & pad, . I have no ability to stay organized, but I am sure that
everybody else's shop is a model of strict organization. (I have at
least 5 workbenches, but I don't have a clean working surface ready
right now; I would have to clean one off to use it!) Big things like
valve spring compressors, come-alongs, crow bars, etc. hang on the wall.
I did get some magnetic labels that I stuck on the drawers so I would
know what is in each drawer - that helps a lot, especially in the
beginning. I suppose a label maker would do as well, and the labels
would stay in place better.
>
I keep my micrometers and other precision tools in a separate Kennedy
machinist's tool box - it is too easy to knock them out of alignment
with careless handling.
>
> thanks - Lee
>
>
------------
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
(msloane@att.net)
<http://home.att.net/~msloane> or
<http://www.geocities.com/mikesloane/>
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in the political
process is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
- Plato (427?-347? B.C.)
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