Get your workshop organized

If you’re a handyman, you know the following situations for sure. In the bedroom, a new ceiling lamp must be installed and the pergola in the garden needs a new coat of paint. Quickly you collect all the right tools and materials in your workshop and go on your mission. After a few hours and a number of unexpected problems you are done and look forward to end the evening on the sofa. You maybe just put the tools back to the workshop quickly. ’You can put it back to its destined place tomorrow!’ But „tomorrow“ usually becomes „someday“ and the workshop continues to get more and more messy, with every passing project. The already opened packages with the screws get dusty, your corded power tools build, through a number of nodes, a permanent connection and the batteries are already empty anyway!

If you heed a few small tips and self‐established rules, you’ll easily handle that chaos. After that, every time you step into your workshop, you’ll be very pleased about having such an organized system.

Every power tool has its own place

Power tools should have their regular place where you have them at hand at all times. This can be a permanent place on your shelf, on the workbench, or the wall. That helps you first of all, in finding your tools much more easily and secondly, to train your mind to automatically put the tool back in its place, without giving it another thought. Some power tools are even supplied in a plastic case. These are quite handy if you want to transport them or give them to a friend. Here can the fast storing turn out to be a game of patience. I for my part, like to keep the plastic boxes in another room and store the tools open on the wall.

Keep screws and hardware in drawers

Every handyman knows this situation, you need a few screws and reach in the hardware store directly to the largest package, you can always use them after all. But after you open the package, the screws spread everywhere in the workshop. Obviously, you will never find them again. Four weeks later the open box is, on top of that, clouded with dust. The best choice is here to use closed cupboards or drawers. With the help of the cabinet doors, the packages do not disappear over time behind dozens of newly purchased packs, but can be found at any time. In addition, they stay free of dust. If you happen to have a cupboard with many drawers in your workshop, it’s recommended to sort the contents rational. For example, you could use one drawer for chipboard screws, the next one for machine screws, nuts and washers. Here you should plan generously, you know how fast the space gets narrow. You should also pay attention on storing all tools of one kind together. Staples and machine screws for example are rarely used at the same time and get thereby easily out of sight.

Keep the Forstner drill in the centre

Forstner drills find their use in most cases while using the drill press. So keeping it near the machine is the best option in storing the drills. The neatest way of storing the drills is by building a shelf. Herefor you drill holes with each Forstner drill into a board and hang it on the wall. Hereby it doesn’t matter if the holes aren’t completely drilled trough. Now you can easily store the drills and immediately see, if one is missing. Incidentally, the same thing works just as well with conventional drills, here you can also detect missing drills, even before the moment comes in which you painfully notice it, while working. This is usually on Sundays!

Battery chargers are like herd-animals

Attempt to store chargers for cordless tools in one place, so the time of searching for the right charger is a thing of the past. Ideally, the devices hang behind a separate switch, so you avoid overcharging, especially with older batteries. A dust‐protected compartment in a cupboard is the perfect place for the battery station. This approach is particularly useful if you rely on Einhell’s Power X‐Change battery system. Since all Power X‐Change devices can run on the same batteries, it makes sense to keep them in the same place.

Store hand tools on a wall

Hand tools are one of the most commonly used tools. As often as screwdrivers, angle‐ and folding‐ rules are used they get lost. As soon as you have installed a tool wall in the workshop, every empty space immediately catches your eye, as in most tips. When installing a tool wall you have several options. Either you use a prefabricated system from the hardware store or you build it yourself. No matter which option you choose, sort the tools thematically and make sure each tool gets its place.

Of course, there are many more ways to organize the workshop, understand this article as a source of inspiration and get creative. Incidentally, this works better if the workshop is tidy and well sorted!