Shop Organization - Part 4: Hardware Storage

today will be our fourth video in the shop  organization series this one focused on   hardware storage unfortunately a lot of hardware  comes in packages that's made to look nice on a   shelf before you buy it on a peg hook or bought  individually but not so much with the logic of   how is it going to look once you get it home will  it store properly those kind of things there are a   lot of different ways you can do this and i'm  going to walk you through how i did mine the   different steps that i went through the different  variations what i liked didn't like and why i made   changes to mine again the point of this series  is not to say that my way is the best way it's   just what has worked for me and i'm hoping that  this will open the conversation and get people   to think and ask themselves is what i'm doing  now the most efficient way to utilize my space   so early on like many i just had a bunch of boxes  lying around that the fasteners originally came in   even if the box was almost empty as time went  on i bought units like this one to get more   organized and at first i liked them a lot until i  quickly realized that almost any box of screws i   would buy would fill up the entire container and  there's a bunch of overflow left over because of   this i'd have to have the boxes elsewhere which  just took up more room and defeated the purpose of   the container i also just didn't like how flimsy  they were and overall just didn't seem like he's   utilizing space very well eventually i made this  screw box holder which i still use to this day   i like this holder because i buy screws and nails  by the pound typically and they're one of the few   harder packages that come in a universal size  and actually do a good job of telling you what's   inside from the side of the box so it's easy to  read as you store it which is nice so i don't   have to make a label for everything there's  enough space for me to have multiple lengths   of screws that i use including fine threads for  hardwoods normal drywall screws because they're   cheap and i'll use them for projects that don't  require a ton of strength construction screws for   any heavy duty projects and then exterior  screws for anything that will be outside   for other things i tried the method that  so many love these hardware organizers   i figured because so many people use  them that they must be the way to go   however it didn't take long until i became unhappy  with them as well and looked for another solution   i'll explain why i didn't like them later but from  there i tried these harbor freight storage bins   they were larger in size giving me more  space they weren't overly expensive   and what i didn't know when i bought my first pack  is that they come ready to be mounted to the wall   i like them so much i started to get more and  more of them over time when they went on sale as   my hardware collection grew it took me multiple  times to find its final location and there are   more reasons than just space this was the first  place i had them in behind the miter saw it didn't   take long to realize this was a horrible choice  as they would fill up with sawdust very quickly   this was actually before i made the upgraded dust  collection for the miter saw the second area i   liked a lot which was just on the opposite wall  just a few feet away the great thing with these   bins is they're really easy to remove from the  wall when needed to bring over to the workbench   the bad news was that they're really easy to  remove from the wall when i didn't want them to be   sometimes i would just be walking by or pulling  my bench out and the one on the end would fall off   which of course was the bin filled with  miscellaneous nuts and would hit the ground   and fly all over the place this is why i moved  them for the third time to above the workbench   i knew i would never bump these they're out  of the way from sawdust for the most part   and i was much happier at this  solution let me show you how i did it so i started putting these up on the wall and  i realized that my wall is very boat it's not   sitting flat whatsoever a lot of the mounts aren't  sitting properly the bins aren't sitting down   inside of them right they're kind of crooked so i  have a spare piece of mdf i'm going to pull that   out and mount all the wall mounts to that and  then hopefully that helps create a flat surface   to then mount that to the wall directly i'm  still waiting for three packs of these bins   to come in so we can at least get this part of  it done and then add the other three rows later   so being able to actually have  the board flat using gravity my   advantage having clamps those kind of  things to keep a straight edge straight   it made it a lot easier to get those wall mounts  up in this space i'll have enough room for   20 bins across nine rows high give  me a total of 180 bins for this space   i waited until they went on sale for about  10 bucks a piece they actually just last week   were on sale for eight dollars a piece for their  early black friday special so keep an eye on those   because you can save a lot of money if you're  gonna buy this many of them at once so all said   and done this big part of the project's gonna cost  me less than a hundred bucks not including the mdf   i already had that laying around so i'm not going  to count that as material and not everyone needs   that because their wall may be flat to begin  with so also to do is i have to go get the   last of the labels that are printing off and then  we can get the bins up on the wall and organized all right got those printed off  you should be good to go now yeah i don't get the reference it's weird 20 to 3. it's 28-3 anyways this was the perfect space for  them they're far enough away from the saw because   there's a shelf above them dust won't settle into  the bins as much and because they're tucked away i   won't bump into them and knock them off like i  used to and because they're low profile i lose   very little bench top space next i want to take  a second to compare the harbor freight or stanley   hardware organizers versus the method that i chose  to go with for sake of simplicity let's call the   popular method yellow bins and my way grey bins  yellow bin lovers be gentle with the down votes   i know a lot of you love that method i'm just  being honest and this is what worked best for me   at the end of this if you still love your yellow  bins that's awesome too first is storage capacity   both of these have 20 bins per unit the gray  bins i use cost two dollars more per package   at full retail both units go on sale all the time  throughout the year but to keep it simple we'll   just compare full retail price the big difference  here is a space that each gives you the grey bins   give you 1200 square inches of storage versus only  302 square inches in the yellow bins so they give   you almost four times the storage for only two  dollars more which is well worth it to me now do   i always use the full height of each bin no but  even if they are the same height it would still   be about two and a half times the storage second  they come ready to be mounted to the wall right   out of the box you don't have to create a separate  holder or special cabinet for them which cuts down   on overall time and cost having the ability  to stack or wall mount these was a big reason   i bought so many of them and decided to make them  my primary storage option these also sit very low   profile to the wall versus sticking out further  like the yellow bin containers would where i put   these above the workbench i wouldn't have been  able to do so with the yellow storage containers   so basically i traded wall space for air space and  bench space however that wall space was greatly   limited with what i could use it for because  of where it's located third they're easier to   see what you have inside of them if you have the  yellow bins stacked together you can't see what's   in each bin you have to pull them out look inside  each container individually to see what's inside   fourth it's easier to get what you need if you  need a specific screw from the yellow bin even if   you know what bin it's in you still have to remove  the container set it down on a surface which takes   up bench space open the latches open the lid grab  the item you want close the lid re-latch the unit   lift the unit off the bench and then put it back  in its location with the gray bins it's one step i   just grab the item i need that's it i understand  this is a bit of a dramatic reenactment but the   more steps you add to your daily routine and  things you'd be doing multiple times throughout a   project or the day it adds up and five more likely  to be left sitting out this kind of plays off the   previous step when i used the yellow bin method  i would either take the entire yellow bin unit   over to the bench which would take up more bench  space than what a gray bin would or i would set   it down on the miter station and then just take  the individual unit bin over that i needed but   by doing that i was more likely to leave the rest  of the container sit on my miter station because   i typically don't put things back away if they're  not whole i would wait until i was done using the   bin put it back in the container and then put it  away six it's much easier to label and therefore   stay organized the gray bins i can keep things  uniform and labeled very clearly in the yellow   bins if they get full it's tough to see what's  inside and if you put the label on the lid instead   if you try to move around the bins inside you  have to peel the sticker off hope it sticks again   it's just kind of a clunky process the gray  bins i just lift and move them and i'm done   as for the cons the gray bins are not as  portable so if you work on the go or plan   to take these out of the shop consistently this  might not be a good holistic solution for you   you might be better off with still setter  to the yellow bins for the portability   and second like i mentioned earlier the tops  are open and you will get sawdust in them   the trade-off for not having a lid and  just being able to grab what you need   really quickly is that dust will get inside those  bins so every couple months i just blow them out   with the air compressor and they're good to go  and the way i look at it is i'm just giving my   screws a preview of what the rest of their life is  going to look like being stuck in a board forever   tends to make them a little less reluctant to go  in later on now let's discuss what's here how i   organize it and why i might be ocd i'll say it  again this may be overkill for a lot of people   but if it's something you want to replicate  know it doesn't have to happen overnight we   will discuss that a little later in the video  but for now let's walk through how i organized   this in detail this next part might be boring  or tedious for some but i didn't want to skip   because a lot of videos you see they show you  how they built organization but not the logic or   how they actually went through and organized the  pieces themselves so for those that don't want the   detail there'll be a link in the description below  to skip ahead for those that do let's get to it so starting from the left i have bolts of three  different diameters going from largest to smallest   at the top there's six different sizes going  from shortest to longest and then below i have   a bin for washers nuts and t-nuts matching the  size of the bolt above them next we continue the   same idea but move to machine screws for smaller  projects going from number 12 down to number six   next are the smaller wood screws going from  number four to number 10 sorted by length next to that i have kreg screws when i use  pocket holes sorted by soft and hardwood   screws then by length after that i have more  specialty screws including white exterior and   tapcon screws for concrete next are nails for  my nail gun these are sorted by gauge and length   next to that are just regular nails  sort of by type diameter and length the next section are staples for my staple gun  these are separated by galvanized or stainless   and then by length then i have pop rivets which  are sorted by steel or aluminum and then by length next to that i have wingnuts and finally these last three columns are just  miscellaneous bins of items that i have some   of these are just dump bins for random hardware i  have accumulated over the years some likely end up   going somewhere else as the wall expands with time  but again i have the room here for now so it frees   up space elsewhere for the time being there are a  ton of possibilities with these bins and as your   collection expands or changes it's very quick and  easy to shift these bins around to make room for   whatever you need next will be storage for smaller  hardware that i didn't need bins with such a large   capacity for these were items bought in a variety  pack that i either normally can't go and just buy   at a local store or if i do they cost me an arm  and a leg these are really handy for small repairs   and now that i'm getting more into 3d printing i  find myself using them more and more for assembly   or for the printer itself for maintenance i also  have these small lock washers and grommets that i   want to keep separated by size but don't have  near enough to justify using a large bin for   last although it isn't hardware it's still  a type of fastener so i figured i'd cover my   zip tie storage i originally took an idea i saw  online using pvc pipes as the storage for these   this was easy to put together but because it's  round you actually waste about 25 percent of   the space than if you just use a square container  that occupy the same amount of space i took this   down the day i removed the pegboard and just never  put it back up so one day i put this together in   just a couple hours this gives me a ton of storage  for them i can fit hundreds of each type in here   i'm not worried about them really ever going bad  as their zip ties and i don't worry about having   overflow somewhere else because they wouldn't  all fit in the certain storage area so i'd be   thinking that's great now i know how to store the  hardware if i want to look like a hardware store   but how do i get the hardware if i don't  want to take out a second mortgage for it   well i got you next we will talk about building  your hardware and fastener collection in the past   when i needed a piece i would run to the hardware  store buy exactly what i need and then come back   i've since changed my thought process for a  few reasons first off having to make a special   trip to the hardware store every time i needed a  certain fastener it was a huge waste of time for   me the closest store is about 15 minutes away  and that's if lights and traffic play my favor   it's by the time that i grab my wallet my car keys  turn off the music go outside of the car drive to   the store find what i want buy it check out come  back home put walden keys away turn music back   on i've wasted almost an hour of my day and  there's times that's happened multiple times in   one day so i'm wasting a good chunk of my day to  get something else done or sometimes i've gotten   the wrong thing or got a few steps further in the  project you needed another thing and had to make   another trip to the hardware store wasting even  more time we've all been there the point is is   that to me these things don't expire they don't  go bad so having a bunch of them on hand to save   me time it'll pay for itself in the long run two  buying in bulk will save you money in the long run   you can find tons of deals at stores or online  that are percentage off if you buy a certain   quantity of the item sometimes up to half  off or even more here are a few pointers   that i learned when looking to stock up on  hardware from my shop that could save you money   first check online prices sometimes a price  in store is different than it is online   take this box of nuts for instance at the blue  store buying them individually is 12 cents   so for 100 that would be 12 bucks you can see  here that it says buy 100 you save 10 percent   which would take it to 10 and 80 cents this is  the price you see when you walk into the store   to buy a box of 100 off the shelf however if you  buy it online even if you set it a store pickup   it's only 6.98 so instead of saving 10 we actually  save 42 same thing holds true with these washers a site i recently discovered is bulkdepot.com they  have a huge selection and their site is very well   organized i ordered a bunch of number 12 machine  screws as they're tough to find in stores in the   style that i wanted and i had a gap in between  number 10 size machine screws and quarter inch   bolts that i needed to have a solution for they  had really great prices they came nicely packaged   and organized and they have a flat shipping rate  so if you're gonna do something like this be sure   to buy enough to where it makes it worth your  while again i have no affiliation with any of   these three places i just mentioned i just wanted  to give you my opinion on them and what i found   and second for specialty items especially check  for variety packs you can save a ton of money if   you think you'll ever end up using something  similar in the future for instance if i walk   into the orange shorter day and i need to buy an  m5 16 millimeter socket head screw i'm paying a   buck 22 for a 2-pack or 66 cents per unit here  is a variety pack online that is 510 pieces for   about 15 bucks or 3 cents per unit even if we only  include the bolts and exclude the nuts it's under   6 cents per unit so less than 10 of the price per  unit you would pay if you walked into the store   and bought them today i've bought a ton of variety  packs myself and it's how i created a lot of   my collection here are a few that i purchased to  save money some were in store and some were online are you going to use them all right away probably  not are they the same quality you'd buy if you ran   into a store today sometimes sometimes not but do  you really even need high end fasteners if you're   gonna let glue do most of heavy lifting anyway  the other thing is if you have a space for it   why not have them at your disposal to use when you  need them again i wouldn't recommend buying bulk   for things like glue or paint that are going to  dry up and go bad on you but these aren't going   to go bad in a year or two in your shop even if  it isn't climate controlled why would we trust   a boat to hold a ton of weight over its lifespan  but not just sit in a bin for a couple of years   it doesn't make any sense says when i finish  enough for hardware storage i hope that you   enjoyed it and that is worth the wait hopefully  it gave you some ideas that you can implement to   help get your shop better organized as well i  understand that everyone's gonna have the room   or the wall space to replicate my exact layout  but the same idea in theory holds true whether   it's 20 bins or 180. now that you've seen the  video i have a question for all of you i have a   bunch of these containers that are from a protein  powder that i drink that i have about 15 of them   and currently they just sit up high on the shelf  in my garage because i don't know what else to   do with them i intentionally waited until after  this video was posted because i knew if i asked   prior everyone would just say use it for hardware  storage and obviously you can see i don't need it   for that i'd love to find a good use for them  rather than just recycling them or throwing   them away so you have any ideas be sure to leave  them down in the comments below so if you like   what you saw or learned something new be sure to  like the video if you'd like to see more content   like this be sure to check out other videos on my  channel and make sure you subscribe and hit the   bell so you know when new videos come out and for  those that don't know if you don't click the bell   subscribing will not notify you when a new video  is posted for myself or other people you subscribe   to not only that most people don't know is that  youtube defaults it to what's called personalized   what that means is that it's going to go through  your viewing habits on what you click on don't   click on and when you subscribe to somebody it's  going to tailor it to that so if you don't always   click on new videos or if you don't always click  on the community tab when they publish something   it won't always notify you when somebody posts  something for example i've had a lot of people   asking for plans for the flip top workbench and  i finished them about a few weeks ago i posted in   the community tab about it and not a lot of people  actually saw that because they don't have all   checked under the notification settings so  be sure if you want more content for myself   or other youtubers make sure you have the proper  things checked for your settings because that many   people saw it i'm going to extend the sale for  all plans on the website for another week and that   will include the flip up workbench as well second  i did finally get a patreon setup for those that   requested it thank you to dad bod zod for being  my first gold member i appreciate the support   this isn't the end of this series but the next few  videos will not be related to it necessarily the   next ones that i want to work on for the series  i don't even have done they're still the planning   process so instead i'm going to focus on older  projects that i already completed this will also   allow me to catch up so right now i feel like i'm  posting on instagram what i'm currently working on   knowing that the video probably won't be out  for another six or seven months and that's   not a good experience for anybody as always thank  you so much for watching we'll see you next time   so if you like what you saw or learned  something new be sure to like the video   if i see more content like this be  sure to subscribe nope that's wrong   now let's discuss what's here...these gnats

Channel: Rings Workshop

Views: 53,375

Keywords: Woodworking, wood working, Small Shop, Garage Shop, dust collection, shop hacks, maker, small shop, garage shop, bench top tools, rings workshop, rings shop, hardware, hardware storage, hardware organization, screws, nails, bolts, nuts, washers, zip ties, screw storage, nail storage, zip tie storage

Id: lLpj6VCJIms

Length: 21min 0sec (1260 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 15 2021