Power tool tidy

[Farmer Giles]

I got sick of hunting for stuff like blades and bits plus the chargers were in the office so decided to sort it out. There are loads of ideas on t'internet, this is my interpretation.

First knock up a cabinet, I over ordered on 9mm ply for the kitchen refit so used that but 12mm would probably be better.

9mm is bit skinny for dominoes and you have to fiddle about to get them centred so marked up the centre of the shelves and used the air pinner and glue. 35mm brads did the trick.

Mark out the bottom shelf for the tools to hang from and burn holes in with blunt hole saws.

Test fit the tools, not sure why the hacksaw slot was so long, I must have had a reason but it fits.

Fit the lower shelf, give it a couple of coats of Bona Mega water based poly, hang it on the wall and fix the chargers to it.

I found a bit of old plastic tube which I put between the drills and the hacksaw to hold the torch, this now shines down on the bench if I need a bit more light.

I put the grinder on the RH side and the asthmatic vacuum on the LH side. The charger for the power cap and the Stihl chainsaw also fit on the top. I'll make a couple of drawers immediately above the tools for blades, bits etc.

My old Makita NiMH stuff is relegated to the downstairs barn, I just have two drill/drivers. Saves me running up and down when I need a drill down there.

Cheers
Andy

 

[PeteG]

Cracking idea Andy...Will you be giving it a lick of paint

 

[Farmer Giles]

Cracking idea Andy...Will you be giving it a lick of paint

Cheers Pete, I've used water based varnish, it's called Bona Mega, usually used for floors. It's hard as nails, I used it on our oak floors and after 15+ years it still looks good.

Cheers
Andy

 

[PeteG]

Cracking idea Andy...Will you be giving it a lick of paint

Cheers Pete, I've used water based varnish, it's called Bona Mega, usually used for floors. It's hard as nails, I used it on our oak floors and after 15+ years it still looks good.

Cheers
Andy

Can Bona Mega be used on exterior wood Andy?

 

[Farmer Giles]

I've never tried but I doubt it. It doesn't mention external use in the technical doc, and it is aimed at internal wooden floors although I use it for most of my birch ply cabinetry.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Orraloon]

Very tidy. About time I was doing something similar. I am forever either hunting for the tool or else hunting for it's charger.
Regards
John

 

[Farmer Giles]

I added a couple of drawers, one for multitool and power hacksaw accessories, the other for hex drive bits and drill bits.

The left hand drawer has a pull out tray, the top is all hex bits including drills. I made a small hex screwdriver bits. First print out a template, cut out a 9mm ply oblong, stick on a 2mm aluminium plate, stick on the template, drill 7.3mm then chamfer. I did try it without the aluminium but the ply breaks out as the holes are quite close, even if you sandwhich it between other ply. I could have used some close grained oak but I had aluminium to hand. The photo is from an attempt before the aluminium became an idea.

Fit it into the top tray, nothing special, just 9mm ply air pinned and glued.

Same for the drawer, but 18mm ply as I had lots of long strips over from kitchen cabinet construction, a bit to heavy maybe but good use of leftover timber. A couple of coats of Bona Mega as per the cabinet.

I ironed on some leftover walnut veneer to the drawer fronts, a couple of thin coats of Polyx hard wax oil and some handles I had left over from the router table build.

I did sand through the veneer on one corner, whoops! I shall hit it with a repair crayon at some point. I also put some cable tidies above the cabinet as I placed the IP relay block there. This will control workshop heating, extractors etc. It has various digital and analogue inputs and outputs including 4 temp sensors connectors and 8 IP controlled relays that can switch 10 amp at 240v plus timers that can act on inputs and turn on relays, so can be run standalone or be controlled by external software.

Cheers
Andy