Anyone done this before? I would like to create foam inserts to house my tools in a neat and orderly way (I just bought myself a nice tool chest). I am looking for a cost effective way to do this. Any thoughts?

We do it at work, its almost a requirement in Aviation. I started out looking into the colored adhesive foam, like red and blue, but its expensive. I went with a gymnasium foam. White on the bottom (1/16 inch I think), and black on top at 1/4 or 1/2 inch depending on the drawer depth. Ill try and take some pictures monday, and get the name of the place I got the foam. Its not really expensive, and I have a pretty big box at work.

I use a hobby knife to cut it, but the blades dull very fast. Just trace around the tool with a silver sharpie, and then cut at an angle. Keeps the tools from sliding around. The white brings your attention to a missing tools , so nothings left in an aircraft.

check out the pick and pluck foam that you can get from Pelican..


http://www.thepelicanstore.com/Pick-N-Pluck-Foam.aspx


good stuff.

Like this:






Still needs work. I have to build up some more around the thicker tools, like the cutoff wheel, and rivet gun.

I got mine at the Foam Factory.
1/16" white- 72"X48" $8.00 a sheet.
1/4" grey- 72"X48" $28.00 a sheet
1/2" grey- 72"X48" $39.00 a sheet.

Just about the cheapest I could find to do what I wanted.

That looks good! I don't know what I'd do if my little tool box was all organized & neat!!??!!

Well --other than knowing WHAT GOES WHERE, & if something's missing...

Now you guys got me thinking about cleaning my stuff & getting some type of organizer & maybe some rubber padding!!

I tried doing that once...but then I would run out of room because my toolbox isnt big enough haha. I would also get frustrated when I got multiple copies of tools, beacuse there wouldnt be enough room to add them in with similar tools.

But someday I hope to get a pro box with lots of room...because THIS is the way a toolbox should look. Also makes it easier to transport the whole thing if you have to. Things dont turn into a milkshake.

J.

I've used the pick and pluck before, very nice stuff.

The first thing I thought of with this is having ~1/2" thick foam outlining a 1/4" thick wrench - and trying to dig my non-existent fingernails under the wrench to try and get it out. Just be careful of that, you want it to hold the tools in place, but not be a PITA to get to.

As a complete aside, I don't own a toolbox, I do most (all) of my work in the comfort of my garage -- which means my tools are up on my wall on pegboard

Well...Ace Hardware had the floor tile mats on sale 6/$9. I cut one up, traced the flat blade screwdrivers, cut them out, and installed them. They really make a drawer look neat. Problem is that my fingers are killing me and I went through 2 razor blades. Fresh blades really make a difference. A new blade goes in like butter. I really like the look. Unfortunately I don't have a picture at the moment but should in a couple of days.

how cool never thought about this my tool box is a mess, and i work for a mattress manufacturer so we have plenty of foams i can use to try this out. I figure you can buy foam sheets from a local supplier just be sure to use a high ILD maybe 33 or 36 so its firm enough.

After testing my skills out with tracing, cutting, cutting, and even more cutting, this is the end result. It took forever to get my flat blade screwdriver draw done and so far is all that I have done. I left some space for future precision screwdrivers.

1/2" gym floor tiles and red cabinet shelf liner

Like gettocruiser said, and if your like me, you'll never get done, and you'll go broke buying toolboxes LOL. sonix's peg board thing works very well for hang up type tools. Dean

I was going to say, how big are your toolboxes/how many do you have to be able to space tools out like that? Heck, if I spaced my screwdrivers out like that I'd have 3 or 4 screwdriver drawers.

I get it if you're an aircraft mechanic and held to that kind of accountability (and have that kind of space for tool boxes, it's not like you're going to park a 747 in a 2 car garage), but not for normal tool boxes... unless you just don't use your tools a lot.

I have the sticky drawer linings in mine (it was cheaper than the cheesy foam crap that most sell, and they keep things from sliding around), and have an order that everything is lined up in, my sockets are all on racks, everything has it's place... so I know instantly if something is missing, but it doesn't take up a fraction of that amount of space, and heck, I've run out of space in my big rollaway, and just bought a second smaller BB rollaway just to overflow into (haven't decided how I want to divide up the tools yet, since I don't see the point of wasting space so I'm not sure how to deal with 1-1/2 drawers worth of pliers or not having enough shallow drawers next to each other for 2 or 4 drawers worth of shallow stuff that all fits one category, but that's a whole different problem.

I suppose it looks cool if you don't have anything better to do with your time, have more space and $ than actual work... (or again, if someone is paying you damned well to do it)...

Seriously. As it is I have two boxes side by side full, with maybe 1/8" between tools.

-- Joe

I just like to be organized. I have found out that I am out of room now. I really do like the organization. No more thumbing through all my screwdrivers to find the right one. I can see it right away. It also reminds me to put my tools away.

i have little room as it is in my toolbox at work, i can't imagine how many toolboxes i'd have to have if i did the shadowing..

looks neat though!

I've thought about using corkboard tiles for the same purpose.

Man that's a slick idea. I too have an expensive toolbox, and my box and work bench are my pride and joy, i'm going to look into this and possibly make it a summer project. I love it!

Yeah I have to say I would run out of space too. But it does give a nice clean look. For sockets I took one of those plastic clear drawer units that holds nuts and bolts. Labelled them and used the spacers to hold all my sockets and then just put them in a drawer with the anti-slide mat. Now I can easily see what size socket is what without them being on a rack and picking up the wrong size.

Work work work, just throw all your tools lose in a 5gal bucket n dig around for 20 mins to find a socket

I definitely think that this is worth the time if you are a neat freak like me. I did a write up on my toolbox here. http://aviationmechanic.blogspot.com/

holy moly. lol
i've been a mechanic for roughly 10 years now, and i simply put the soft foam mats in the drawers. all my screwdrivers fit in the same drawer, i just lay them side by side by side and once everything is in there nothing moves or rolls around. same with pliars/cutters. i have a metric socket drawer, a std socket drawer, and a ratchet/extension drawer. i think the socket rails are the way to go instead of trays.
punches/chisels go in a small drawer piled on top of one another. they are easy to sort through and are somewhat consumables.
hammers/pullers/prybars go in a drawer in no order. ball peen, 3lb, 5lb. hammers
box end wrenches have a drawer
big wrenches have a drawer
angled wrenches have a drawer
vice grips have a drawer

over the years i realized there was no point in having duplicate tools, as well as some kinds of tools never being used at all. its easy to find stuff like this and i know when something is missing.

i really like what you've done though, it looks great. however, over the years i would think you would buy more tools here and there, and may have some issues fitting them in there eventually. also some of those tools may break or disappear over time. (the new one may not fit the slot)
just some thoughts.... although im sure you've already thought of them. lol

My thoughts exactly.

I have used this idea at one time for paintball gear transportation. I actually had 3 levels of storage that were easily removed for access.









I'm in the same boat as many, more tools than I have storage space for, and I have a large dual wide cabinet at work (56" width) both top and roller cab, and then two single width large tool cabinets, one with an additional mid box at home, and all of the drawers are pretty much full, and then some.

I love this idea for tool, and I believe it will be the answer to my wrench storage issue, and eventually some of my other tools. I just wish I had considered it sooner.

A similar concept to what I did with my paintball gear could be used for a portable tool box. Hmm, maybe I could use it with my electronics tool box used for school labs...

Done in the aviation field all the time. prevents F.O.D.

Heres some good links over here
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=148169
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=86535

I ran the tool shop for a few years in the airforce and we had to re cut boxes all the time we ordered our 4X8 sheets from snap on and a HOT knife works the best and will get the best cuts unless you have a laser engraver

they have them at hobby lobby for a few bucks it stinks but looks good

if you have enough room in your toolbox to allow you to put them in cutouts like that, then you either need more tools or a smaller tool box.. and since no one needs a smaller tool box, then the proper answer is to get more tools.