Good-bye Baby Food Jars

When I was growing up a half-century or so ago, my father and grandfather stored screws, nails and other small hardware items in used baby food jars. Maybe there are fewer babies, or they're just not eating out of little glass jars. But I don't see the migration of jars from kitchen to shop anymore. For safety reasons, that's probably a good thing, but what's taking their place? Surely the modern woodworker has just as many odds and ends to save, label, and inventory?
Talking to Ted Raife at Woodsmith Magazine, I learned of one replacement: plastic containers that once held a stack of blank computer CDs.

The deep, clear plastic lids of these containers simply lock to the base with a slight twist. So Ted removes the center post from the base and then screws the base to the underside of a shop cabinet. The lid can then be filled with whatever hardware items require organization and quickly stashed out of the way, but easily accessible when needed.
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Rolling Sheet Goods Cart

Things were getting pretty crowded in my shop. So I asked Woodsmith's Phil Huber for a way store some extra plywood and MDF I have lying around. His rolling cart solution is especially convenient.
The cart has two sides. One side is designed to hold larger pieces. And the other is made to store smaller sheets and plastic buckets for small odds and ends of various sizes.
The cart is built using 2x4's for the base and uprights. Lengths of 3/4″ PVC pipe are used to make partitions for holding larger sheets on one side of the cart. A single PVC pipe is used on the other side and provides a place to hook a bungee cord for holding smaller pieces and plastic storage buckets in place. (Click on the drawing for a larger view).

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Garage Storage Cart

Workbench Magazine has been doing some interesting things with plywood, paint and stain--creating beautiful furniture that's well-made, easy on the eyes, and surprisingly in expensive. The current issue, Number 311, is no exception with a couple terrific cabinets for living rooms, family rooms or where ever you display your favorite books and curios or watch wide-screen TV. But they also focus on storage, and I especially liked the roll-around garage storage cart in this issue. It's a clever, multi-sided cart that has loads of storage space in a compact footprint. They call it a garage storage cart, but I can see this in use anywhere you need lots of storage, but don't have much space.

Not much to building it either. If you got some basic cutting tools and a hand drill, this is a weekend project. You'll find more photos and a terrific subscription offer on the website.

Magnetic Tool Racks

Normally, I'm a big fan of anything that contributes to the organization of tools in my shop. I'm always setting things down (or even worse, putting things away) and then I can't find them. So I should be a big fan of magnetic tool racks. But I'm not. They're not attractive, and I worry they might scratch or ding steel tools.

Here's a great exception: BenchCrafted's MAG-BLOK magnetic holder. Whole earth magnets are embedded in strips of beautiful domestic and tropical hardwoods. This is something I would put in my shop and in my kitchen. Except for the exotic hardwoods, the holders are reasonable priced too. Lots of photos.

Upgrading Your Shop

The biggest thing now in home centers is all the cool stuff you can buy to upgrade your garage: cabinets, shelves, work surfaces, tool racks, made of plastic or metal, plain or colorful. I love the look and the organization of those garage systems.
A couple months ago, ShopNotes magazine designed a Workshop Upgrade that achieves the same levels of organization, flexibility, good looks... and you can build it yourself. It easily configured to what you want and need, and it's all made of MDF, 2x4's and a little pegboard. Here's a video. And here are the plans with a couple big photos.