Modular Hobby Tool Holder

Hobby Tool Holders

This is an initial set of compact hobby tool holders the purpose of which are:

• Short term tool storage for tools being used on an active project
• Organization to help keep the bench cleaner
• To help facilitate rapid tool acquisition of tools when needed

Materials:

In addition to printing the objects you will need some 10mm x 1mm disc magnets and some Super (CA) Glue.

Links:

• Magnets: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075QCDP7P/
• CA Glue: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DD1QQ/ 

Background:

While working on a project I often found myself buried in tools cluttering my bench and I was often unable to find the tool needed.  It was, "where did I put that" and several moments of digging and pushing to find what was needed.  I'm sure I'm not alone here.  So I set out to design a simple set of tool holders.

Goals:

The holders needed to be:

• Modular - Add only the holders you needed
• Compact - Take up as little room on the bench as possible while providing max functionality
• Flexible - They are magnetic so they stick together forming one unit or multiple units as desired

Holder Types:

Type 1 - Large 4, 3 or 2 tool bins + Toothpick holder

This is a general purpose tool holder for files, sanders, tweezers paint brushes, whatever.  The large front tray is designed to hold toothpicks, but can be used for whatever you want to put in it.  The front tray is curved on the bottom so things will roll to the center.

Type 2 - Xacto + 4 bins

This holder is designed to hold two Xacto knives.  The "S" stands for Sharp and the "D" stands for Dull.  My workflow is to always have a very sharp blade.  As it dulls it becomes the Dull knife for general use and the old dull blade gets replaced becoming the new sharp knife.  The holder helps me keep this sorted out.  You will also note the tape on my knives which was for the same purpose, but sometimes easily confused.

The 4 bins can hold whatever will fit in them.  In the picture I have some mini-toothpick sanders and a razor saw in them.

Type 3 - Pin Vice + 1 bin (or 12 bin variant)

This holder is designed to hold two pin vises.  The large circle represents the larger drill bit and the small circle is for the smaller drill bit.  Again just a way to keep things sorted and quickly accessible.

Notes:

- A note on the provided Symbols. The symbols are the black S, D and circles. This was a test and not optimized though it does work. The fit isn't very good. I didn't want to make the cut extrudes too deep into the holders thus requiring supports so it is what it is. Again they do work. You may need to adjust the fit and then super glue as I did here.
- The Xacto and Pin Vice holders can hold whatever you like. I found that the Xacto holder also holds my putty knives and paint brushes well. This goes for any of the tool holders. They are just meant to keep tools tidy.

What's Next:

Right now the holders do what I need, but will create new holders as needed.  I think a 45 degree holder of sorts might help as well.  Perhaps you have some idea's?  Leave a comment with some suggestions.