How to organize ye olde bolt bucket?

[MikeInOr]

I appreciate all the good ideas and inspiration! Thank you.

 

[Eyerelief]

These are the same as what woodchucker showed. Mine are Dewalt, HF didn't have these when I went looking. Simple cabinet on the wall, with aluminum channel to slide each box in and out with.

If I have a lot of a certain size, I keep it in its original packaging. Odds and ends and "a couple of's" go here. I used to keep like sizes together, dont do that anymore. Too often I was close but not quite. I still put a few different sizes in each tray, but they are usually vastly different in size. The contrast seems to make the search go quicker.

 

[hman]

The contrast seems to make the search go quicker.

Anything to make the search go quicker is good.

 

[jwmelvin]

Mine are Dewalt, HF didn't have these when I went looking. Simple cabinet on the wall, with aluminum channel to slide each box in and out with.

Not to nitpick but those look like Stanley cases, which the HF (Storehouse) are a copy of. Unfortunately, the Storehouse version is made from a different plastic and does not close nearly as securely/affirmatively. They are much less expensive, to the point where I’m not sure which I would buy for more.

I really like your use of channels. Requires a specific box but it appeals to me.

 

[Gaffer]

Danish butter cookie tins. They're wide and relatively shallow, making it easy to sort through the contents. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes. They're durable and stackable. They're free and come filled with delicious cookies.

View attachment 380374

And it's a great excuse to eat lots of delicious cookies!

 

[brino]

okay, I'll play....... even though my father in law pokes fun at me for being better stocked than the local hardware store....

For years I kept my bolts in coffee cans. I painted the outsides so that I could use sharpies to mark the size within.
I even built shelves to specifically fit the cans.
Eventually I realized that I still did NOT have all the bolt sizes I needed, and saw all the wasted space of cylindrical cans on rectangular shelves.....

Then I found this cabinet at my local used tool place:



Obviously on the door we play with magnets to make faces.......and the framed picture on the door shows where small bolts come from!
Stored under the cabinet is my router table that I pull out and use on saw horses.

Within the cabinet the middle section holds hex-head bolts in imperial and metric, then socket-head cap screws (again in imperial and metric),
Also thrown in between sections are various carriage bolts, lag bolts, dowel pins, eye bolts, etc.






Inside the left door is mostly washers, nuts, and some more random stuff....



Inside the right door are large drill bits (MT2 and MT3 shank), three sets of transfer punches (imperial, metric and numbered) and hanging there are also some "Thread ID" types of bolt gauges:


The bottom half of the right door is more random stuff:



Here's some detail of the large drill bit holders. All are just steel angle frames and appropriately sized plastic or aluminum tube. The drill bit tips sit against some plywood strips so they don't dull:



These plastic bins are all removable so taking a bin or three to the bench is easy.

As for stocking the cabinet:
When I need a bolt and see a whole box selling cheap I buy the box.
I also remove and keep fasteners before I scrap or junk anything (blenders, treadmills, vehicles, etc.)
When I still need to order a certain size or length I will buy extras to help shore-up my stock.
I recently discovered a site where I do not have to pay the insane US shipping fees for fasteners:
https://www.boltsplus.ca/index.php

For me this has been a fantastic addition to the shop.
Many times I can find the exact fastener I need without adding it to the list for the next hardware store trip, or online order.

-brino

 

[projectnut]

You need a cabinet like this. It's the base from an old hardware store nut and bolt cabinet. There are 55 drawers of various lengths and widths. The bottom 2 rows have 10 drawers each 4'x 18" and 4' x 16" respectively, plus a 2'x 18" and 2" x 16" I only separate the bolts by diameter. i.e. all 1/4" bolts are in 2 drawers, all 5/16" bolts in the next 2, etc., etc. The narrower drawers on the left side have fasteners 5-40 and under.

 

[westerner]

The absolute best thing about being organized like this is you no longer have to wonder if you have or don't have a certain thing in those buckets. If it's not in the correct storage bin, then you don't have it. Saves hours or digging through buckets for something that might not even be there. If you do have it, it takes 5 seconds to find it.
Sorting stuff is kind of a zen thing anyway. Grab a beer, put on some music and go to it.

Could not have said it better. The Zen I love comes when you go to GET the thing.

 

[Eyerelief]

Not to nitpick but those look like Stanley cases, which the HF (Storehouse) are a copy of. Unfortunately, the Storehouse version is made from a different plastic and does not close nearly as securely/affirmatively. They are much less expensive, to the point where I’m not sure which I would buy for more.

I really like your use of channels. Requires a specific box but it appeals to me.

You may very well be correct. I’ve slept since I bought them.

 

[Dhal22]

what are those? Are they tilt out organizers?

Yes, Amazon. Love them, so glad I can finally start organizing.