# How do you store your drill bits?



## Roland (29 Apr 2020)

Mine are in a variety of plastic boxes, where they rub up against each other. Boxes are quite useful when doing jobs outside of the workshop, but just take up shelf space inside. Finding the right size isn’t easy, particularly if the shaft isn’t clearly marked. So I thought I’d make a rack attached to the workshop wall beside my pillar drill. Is this good practice, and if so what are the collective thoughts on design?


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## TFrench (29 Apr 2020)

I keep sets in drill indexes by the drill - jobbers in metric and imperial and one of brad points. Loose ones go roughly sorted in a drawer.


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## Doug B (30 Apr 2020)

One good idea I’ve seen for HSS drill bits was a small set of drawers with corrugated card (the sort they use for packing) lining the bottom of the drawers corrugations upwards with the drill bits resting in these.
The card kept the drills in place & as the chap had quite a few of each size bit he marked pen lines on the card to indicate which size was in which section.


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## Droogs (30 Apr 2020)

if you do a Google search for vintage drill stands you get to see pretty remarkable stands that used to be available may give some ideas. 
mine are in stands by type and size but only made of mdf


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## Yojevol (30 Apr 2020)

Roland":3638bx5d said:


> a rack attached to the workshop wall beside my pillar drill. Is this good practice?


Must be good practice - it's what I have!
A vertical batten with holes drilled in for each drill with sizes felt tip penned alongside.
Brian


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## Rorschach (30 Apr 2020)

I have 2 drill indexes screwed to the wall next to the lathe, one set is for rough work, one set is for more precision work. In my tool bag I also have a drill index. 
Regular use lathe bits are on a magnetic strip for fast access.

The rest of my drills are stored in drawers, usually in boxes to protect them. Forstners are in individual boxes and I made a little wooden index for my step/unibit drills.


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## Stacey (3 May 2020)

I made wooden trays that hang under my workbench for my metal and wood bits (I did not see the need for a masonry bits at present) I also did one for my router bits but thats anohter story!


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## transatlantic (3 May 2020)

I have a set like this, that I just hang on a screw (open like in the picture). If I need the set, I can then easily close it up and take it off the wall.


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## Nelsun (3 May 2020)

I have a handful of commonly used bits on magnetic bars with odd sizes pointing up and even ones pointing down. Makes them easy to find and quick to switch between. My good bits are in Trend pouches, sets are in the cases they came in and large ones hanging in the tubes... i.e. all awaiting a better means of storing them.


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## JohnS (9 May 2020)

Stacey":m0lg0vx2 said:


> I made wooden trays that hang under my workbench for my metal and wood bits (I did not see the need for a masonry bits at present) I also did one for my router bits but thats anohter story!


These are beautiful!


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## novocaine (11 May 2020)

jobbers live in an index, spade and brad live in a blow modeled case and fostners live in a wooden box. 
scrap and broken bits are in an MDF box in a draw beneath the drill press along with oddities like pilot and hole bits that have been ground to do a job and plug cutters etc.
new are stored in drill boxes in a draw beneath that all marked for size. 
SDS live with the drill in a fatmax sorter box along with new screwdriver bits. big SDS live in a tool box along with other "heavy building" stuff. masonry are in a drill box unsorted but as I only seem to use 7 and 8mm that isn't a major issue. 
brace bits live with the brace. hole saws are in a parts bin, most still in their cardboard for protection, carbide hole saws are in another box along with big coreing bits. 

pipper me I've got a lot of drill bits, thanks for reminding me of this fact.


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## MusicMan (13 Aug 2020)

The most useful workshop attachment I ever made! `the main issue with graded holders is that one often has more than one of a given bit. So I have several deep of each size. Main metric sizes are marked accordingly, and fractional sizes in between are put in the intermediate holes. Any drill size is easy to find. I used hardwood (teak floorboard), so the holes are good enough to act as a gauge, eg for screw clearance sizes. At the left are holes for spade drills, which are few enough that they don't need labels.


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## sunnybob (13 Aug 2020)

I use the KISS method


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## MikeG. (13 Aug 2020)

Ooooh, I made a drill till, my first ever, just a few days ago. I'll fit the hinges when they arrive tomorrow, post some photos, and you can all marvel at how few bits I actually have........


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## Trevanion (13 Aug 2020)

I must confess to having an old plastic Indian takeaway tub filled with drill bits of all varieties, screws, odds and sods all rattling about


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## gregmcateer (14 Aug 2020)

sunnybob said:


> I use the KISS method



"Keep it stored somewhere"?


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## sunnybob (15 Aug 2020)

In this case that will work.

I just have small, not as small, medium, bigger than medium, fairly big, and the biggest I can fit in the drill. Then I have to use the vernier every time to make sure I have the size I want.


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## MikeG. (15 Aug 2020)

Until yesterday I had an old wine bottle box with all of my augers, HSS wood drill bits, spade bits, masonry bits, lip & spur bits, and so on, all just chucked in there loose. Now I have this:


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## transatlantic (16 Aug 2020)

You mixed your masonary bits in with your woodworking bits?

ewww that's dirty!


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## AJB Temple (16 Aug 2020)

In an old wine box. Wooden. Sliding lid. No need to over organise.


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## MikeG. (16 Aug 2020)

transatlantic said:


> You mixed your masonary bits in with your woodworking bits?
> 
> ewww that's dirty!



They were all previously in plastic sleeves. And those woodworking bits were only ever spares, promoted to the bench storage tin if I broke one. Now I can see what I've got, and not buy so many unnecessary replacements.


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## TFrench (16 Aug 2020)

First pic is my home setup - drill indexes next to the drill, split by type. I've got a big drawer full of other drilling stuff I keep the spares in.
I've got a similar system at work - indexes for straight shank drills, and then I've split all the taper shank drills by Morse 1,2 and 3 so I've at least got a chance of finding the one I need. They live under the big drill so they're right where I need them.


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## Doug71 (16 Aug 2020)

Made mine a few weeks ago to help keep me organised.

If I was a "maker" I would talk about it's free flowing organic form based on views of the Yorkshire Dales, how it's from a piece of live edge Oak I have been saving for the right project and something about the drill bits representing wind turbines taking over our countryside......Oh yeah and give it some name like Prometheus

The truth is it's the waney edge I cut off a board (back in the day it was classed as a defect and you weren't charged for it, now it's called live edge and demands a premium ), I hit it with the belt sander for 2 minutes to remove the sharp edges and then drilled some holes in it.


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## transatlantic (16 Aug 2020)

AJB Temple said:


> In an old wine box. Wooden. Sliding lid. No need to over organise.



It's so much more efficient to have them in some kind of stand.

a) You can pick out the one you want straight away (not so easy when they're in increments of 0.5mm)
b) You know when one is already out or missing

I'm not a fan of the idea of having 20 of each size in a box. Like with pencils they'll go missing too quickly, and you'll just lazily grab another. Although I do think it's a good idea to have spares stored away somewhere else, incase you do genuinely lose one or break one.


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## AndyT (16 Aug 2020)

For auger bits, which can be quite big and heavy, I think the most convenient way to store them is in a canvas roll. I use one I acquired second hand that still has some strength to it, but YouTube people say you can easily make your own from old denim jeans or similar. Compartments don't have to be an exact fit so I can put several of similar size in one pocket. That avoids needing to over-organise and keep Scotch bits separate from Irwin or Geddes, etc. The bits are all sorted in size order but occupy as little space as if they were all in a shoebox, jumbled up.


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## billw (16 Aug 2020)

I can see another project on the horizon, even though I don't own any drill bits of my own.


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