Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
Tool Storage System
Tool Storagye SystemWoodsmithOpen shelves create a series of adjustable bins to store and organize your portable power tools.

Storing portable power tools is always a problem. They usually end up in a pile on a shelf somewhere. And the power cords unwind and weave together like spaghetti. You can solve this problem with this tool storage system. The storage system is open in the front to keep the tools right at hand. A set of adjustable shelves creates a series of bins, each bin a "home" for a specific tool.

ADAPTABLE. Because this system consists of two smaller cases instead of one large cabinet, it can be adapted to fit a variety of shop layouts. This way, you can stack the cases, place them side by side, or use them as stand-alone units.

SHELVES. To store the widest possible variety of power tools, the shelves are two different widths. To make it easy to rearrange tools and accessories, the shelves fit in a set of dadoes in the sides. You can customize some of the shelves for specific tools.

NOTE: All plan illustrations may be accessed by clicking their filenames in the text where noted. This will take you to a new browser window with a full page illustration that you may save to your hard drive. There is also a clickable list of all plan illustrations at the end of this article.

THE CASE
The tool storage system consists of to identical plywood cases. Each case is basically a plywood box with a divider, see TLSTOR1.GIF.
All of the 3/4"-thick plywood pieces for both cases are cut from a single sheet, see Cutting Diagram in TLSTOR_M.GIF. Because these pieces are all the same width (15-3/4", start by ripping the sheet into three 15-3/4"-wide strips.

TOP & BOTTOM. Once the case pieces are cut to width, the top (A) and the bottom (B) pieces can be cut to their finished length (23-3/4"), see TLSTOR1.GIF.

Then the ends are rabbeted to accept the side pieces, see Fig. 1a in TLSTOR1.GIF. And a dado is cut in each piece for a divider added later.

SIDES & DIVIDERS. The next step is to cut the sides (C) and dividers (D) to length (31-1/2"), see TLSTOR1.GIF. To accept the adjustable shelves (added later), 1/2"-wide dadoes are cut in the inside faces of the sides (C), and both faces of the dividers (D), see Fig. 1a in TLSTOR1.GIF.

CUT IN PAIRS. That's a lot of dadoes to cut (24 per case). To cut these quickly, try this technique: Cut the dadoes in pairs -- starting near the ends and working towards the center, see TLSTOR2.GIF. This cuts your setup time in half and ensures the dadoes will align.

Start by attaching a long auxiliary fence to your miter gauge, see TLSTOR2.GIF. Then clamp a stop to the fence and cut the first dado. Now just turn the workpiece end for end and cut a second dado.

Do this for both sets of sides and dividers. Note: For the dividers (D), flip the piece over and repeat the cuts on the other side.

THE BACK
To strengthen the case and prevent it from racking add a 1/2"-thick plywood back (E). To hold the back in place, cut a rabbet on the inside edge of the top of the top, bottom, and side pieces (A, B, and C), see TLSTOR3.GIF.
TRIM DIVIDER. But before you can assemble the case, there's one more thing to do. You'll need to trim 1/2" off the width of the dividers (D). This way it won't interfere with the back when it's installed later on, see TLSTOR3.GIF.
Now you're ready to assemble the cases. To do this, apply glue and screw the top and bottom to the sides and divider, see Figs. 3 and 3a in TLSTOR3.GIF.
Note: Make sure the case is square, and the front of the divider (D) is flush with the front of the case.

ADD THE BACK. Finally, cut a back (E) to fit the rabbets in each case. Then glue and nail the back in place, see Fig. 3b in TLSTOR3.GIF.

THE BASE
To make the bottom bin more accessible and keep the case up off a damp floor, add a base, see TLSTOR4.GIF. The base consists of four pieces of 1x4 stock: a front and back (F) and two ends (G). The front and back pieces are rabbeted to accept the ends, see Fig. 4a in TLSTOR4.GIF.
CUT PIECES. The length of the ends is the same (13-1/4"). But the length of the front and back pieces depends on how you arrange the cases. If the base is for a single case (or you're going to stack two cases), the front and back pieces are 21-3/4" long. If the case are going to be arranged side by side, cut the front and back pieces 45-1/2" long.

ASSEMBLY. The base is assembled with glue and nails, see Fig. 4a in TLSTOR4.GIF. Then it's centered under the case (this allows a 1" overhang) and screwed in place, see Fig. 4b in TLSTOR4.GIF.

THE SHELVES
The only thing left to complete the tool storage cases is to add the adjustable shelves, see TLSTOR5.GIF. These 1/2" plywood shelves are cut to fit between dadoes in the sides and divider.

TWO SIZES. The depth of the shelves is the same (15-1/4"). But the lengths (widths) are different. (Note grain direction in TLSTOR5.GIF.) In our case the wide shelves (H) are 12-3/4" long, and the narrow shelves (I) are 9-3/4" long, see TLSTOR5.GIF. and the cutting diagram in TLSTOR_M.GIF.
(Note: The 1/2" plywood that remains from cutting the backs (E) will allow for eight shelves of each size.)

To make it easier to slide the shelves in and out, chamfer the front and back edges of each shelf, see Fig. 5a in TLSTOR5.GIF. Then bevel (file or sand) the front edge of each dado, see Fig. 5a in TLSTOR5.GIF.

Finally, you can customize some of the shelves to hold specific tools, such as cutting a rectangular hole in one shelf to accept the blade of a circular saw.

List of Illustrations:
TLSTOR_M.GIF
TLSTOR1.GIF
TLSTOR2.GIF
TLSTOR3.GIF
TLSTOR4.GIF
TLSTOR5.GIF

Provided by Woodsmith Magazine
August Home Publishing Co.
Reprinted with permission, HouseNet, Inc.

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