Akro-Bins in the Garage

Never overlook the possibility of finding great storage bins at a sale of some sort. In this case I'm referring to Akro-Bins, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Here's two varieties in one. The upper bin organizer is plastic and from the mid Eighties. The lower one is made of metal and probably from the early Eighties or before.

It never hurts to take a picture of the bin part number in case you have missing bins and want to try tracking down replacements.

 This is another type of Akro-Bin.  These are larger and are stackable.

In this case I placed some of them under the workbench in the picture while the rest are to the left.

The early plastic organizer I bought new years ago. The rest are garage sale finds.

Wire Spool Box from an Old Wooden Crate

I actually found this wooden wire spool box at a garage sale for the princely sum of a Buck. The wire spools that were already in it have hand written dates form the mid to late Sixties. How cool is that?

One could be made from plywood, screws, some metal strips, pipe, and rubber grommets. I modified the cabinet by cutting some of the holes larger and installing larger grommets to accommodate the 12 and 10 gauge automotive wire seen on the third pipe down. Other than that it got a fresh paint job when I hung it where it sits now.

I really like it as it organizes most of my spooled wire and provides a handy dispenser all in one box.

A Buck! The only way to beat that is to break out the scrounge-O-meter!

Sawdust as Oil Dry

I use my garage for more uses than storing motorcycles and tinkering with contraptions. I also do a small amount of woodworking, mostly of the carpentry sort. The table saw is the most significant item that produces dust, so I have a dust collector attached to it to keep the garage a little cleaner.

Well the dust collector has a pretty large collection bag, and whenever I have an oil spill (actually an oil drip spot from one of my Harley's) then I use the saw dust to dry up the spill and remove it.

I think it works as well as Kitty Litter, but I'm not planning on doing a comparison test either. It works for me and doesn't cost a thing, so it's all good.

Mouse Trap as a Glove Holder/Hanger

I spotted the idea of using a mousetrap as a glove holder on another site and decided to give it a try.

I only had to drill a hole in it and it works like a charm! When I need the gloves all it takes is a tug and out they come, ready to use.

Buy Supplies in Bulk Containers when Practical

I ran out of window cleaning fluid a few weeks ago and in looking at the spray bottle, I saw that it still had a lot of life left in it.

Rather than pitch the old container, I chose to buy the window washing fluid in the bulk container and refill the old container instead.

For the same price (a Dollar) I got a little more than twice as much fluid as just buying the spray bottle. That is some savings I can believe in. Now I don't advocate buying stuff in barrel sizes, but when the amount is something that will be used in a reasonable period of time, then the bulk purchase makes good sense.

Small Lidded Vials Used for Small Parts Storage

I'm sure we've all seen small vials, and various lidded containers floating around in our lives and they do have a use in the garage for storage.

This one is an example. The advantage of the clear ones are the usual being able to quickly identify the contents.

At any rate, free is the watchword when finding storage items for the garage.

Ice Cube Tray used to Organize Small Parts During a Project

I've seen the use of an ice cube tray to organize small parts during a project in several places.  All this means is it works pretty well.

The only problem with the idea is the parts have to be pretty small in order for it to work. It beats just throwing the used up ice cube tray in the trash, so I'm on it!

Baby Food Jars for Storage

Yes, I think it's still possible to get baby food jars in glass containers. The ones I have are pretty old though.

They do have some advantages though. They are smaller than other glass jars, they have lids that reseal decently, and the clear glass makes identifying the contents of the jar pretty easy.

The only real downside is the jar is made of glass making them easy to break if dropped or knocked off the workbench.

Still, they are a decent storage option for free.

Peanut Butter Jars for Storage

My sister is quite the peanut butter fanatic. I think she goes through two or three jars a month. Well, I decided to take a look at the jars as a possible storage container in the garage.  I ran one through the dishwasher to remove the remaining peanut butter and proceeded to clean up the jar to my standards;  namely no labels and no glue.

The peanut butter jars are pretty sturdy and have the decided advantage of being made of clear plastic. The plastic is unlikely to break if the jar is dropped, and being able to see the contents speeds up finding things. I also like that I can label the contents in sharpie. An added bonus, the tops can be color-coded to some extent if you are willing to plan out what the colors mean and be willing to buy different brands of peanut butter to take advantage of the different colored lids.

Plastice Coffee Cans for Storage

At first I lamented the change over of coffee cans from metal to plastic as a loss of a source for storing nuts and bolts.

I got to looking at a can that my sister threw in the trash and realized the plastic ones are at least as good as the metal cans were.

In this case I've got two cans, the larger one has plastic imprinted labels, but the small one had a paper label which I removed along with the glue. The containers are reasonably sturdy, the lids appear to be superior to the old coffee can lids, and it's easy to write the contents on the can in sharpie.

So the venerable coffee can as storage idea still has legs!

Magnetic Benchtop Tool Holder made from a Speaker

I saw a novel use of a speaker magnet to make a benchtop tool holder and decided to give it a try.

I had some 1/4 threaded rod lying around along with a doughnut speaker magnet, a stripped down speaker housing, nuts and a few fender washers. After looking it over I decided I needed a couple of 5/16x1 1/4 fender washers to finish the project.

I cut about nine or ten inches of threaded rod, then used washers and nuts to clamp the base to the threaded rod followed by the magnet.

The magnet is strong enough to hold a 6 inch crescent wrench, a Phillips screwdriver and a box cutter knife. I haven't weight tested it, but the idea is to have a magnet that is strong enough to hold a typical small tool without being so strong that I have to hold the stand to extract a tool from it. Of course a good trick to minimize a tip-over is to pull the tool down from the magnet before pulling it away.

I find this more of a conversation piece than something I would really use, but this could change over time so I'll let it occupy space on the bench for now. I suppose the thirty five cents it cost me to make something from raw materials makes it worth the effort.

Zip Lock Bag Storage Ideas

Zip Lock bags can be used to store a variety of items and they have definite advantages over other forms of storage.

First, the clear plastic film makes identifying items in the bag a snap.

Second, the bag collapses down to just the bulk volume of whatever is in it which saves space.

Third, the contents can be written onto the bag in Sharpie further improving identification of the contents.

Fourth, buying them at Dollar Tree or your local discount store keeps the cost per bag down to just a few cents. Never buy the name brand bags as they are always twice as expensive and never more than just a little better quality.

Fifth, the ability to seal the bag tends to keep items in the bag.

Sixth, the ability to seal the bag can protect the contents from drying out (such as rolls of tape).

Seventh, the ability to seal the bag protects the contents from water and dirt.

Eighth, the accommodating nature of the bags makes it easier to organize parts in sub-assembly groups during dis-assembly of some contraption in need of work.


There are a few disadvantages as well.

One, the flimsy variety of the bags do not hold up to things like wads of nails or other sharp objects. Use freezer bags if durability is likely to be an issue.

Two, the bags are not very good at storing heavy objects without the possibility of tearing open.

Three, digging through a pile of bags looking for a specific something is still a pain in the butt.

At any rate, here's a photo of some of the common uses for Zip Lock bags.

It may be a bit hard to see what is in the bags, so in front is a roll of masking tape, then a handful of staples. Next to the staples lies a bag of deck and wood screws, and in the back are some cubes of candle wax.

Let's not forget the variety of sizes available as well.  I keep the sandwich and snack sizes in the garage all the time, and swipe the quart and gallon size from the kitchen whenever I need the extra room.

The name of the game is to improve organization in the garage without cutting into the garage budget any more than absolutely necessary. Keeping a couple boxes of these does a fine job and the cost per box can be around a Buck.

Wiring Outlets to the Workbench - Countertop Mount

I have yet another workbench that I have had trouble finding outlets near, so I decided to address the problem at this workbench as well.

This time I don't have an overhead shelf built inot the bench, so I decide I'll have to mount the outlets into the countertop.

I looked over the anticiapted parts list and then went about digging the parts I could use out of the repurposing bins and nut/bolt boxes. I found a cut heavy duty extension cord I could use, two outlets, electrical cable, some particle board screws, and electrical box wire clamps.

This reduced the buy list to two metal electrical boxes and I decided to buy the gray wet location outlet covers to keep dust out of the outlets.  Total cost came to about Ten Bucks.

 After I came back from the store, I proceeded to mark the inside of the countertop so I knew where the workbench mounts to the countertop. I removed the countertop, marked where I wanted the outlet boxes mounted, cut the holes in the countertop so that the outlet boxes fit and were square on the benchtop, mounted the outlet boxes and ran the wire between the boxes. I fastened the wires down with the plastic wire protectors at 6 inch intervals like I did on the previous outlet project, and this completed the basic mounting.

 I then flipped the countertop back over and proceeded to wire the outlets.

 During fitting I discovered the wet location outlet covers didn't fit snugly to the countertop. Some snooping around revealed that there's a dimple on the backside of the cover preventing this. I deduced this is to account for the foam backing that I discarded as not needed for this project. I fixed the dimple problem by drilling out the hole in the plastic outlet so the dimple could sit down into the new hole. So long as I didn't drill out the metal behind the plastic I figured I would be fine. The second fitting proved my theory so it worked out as well as I hoped.

Here's the finished job with the countertop reattached to the workbench.

Not shown: I had to also grind off a fair amount of metal tabs in the dust covers so I could get them to open up completely as pictured.  I did this with the trusty bench grinder and a file to cleanup the areas I couldn't get to with the grinder. Otherwise I now have another workbench with power outlets.

This project cost me Ten Bucks this time. I might have been able to reduce the cost a bit by checking out the ReStore used construction supplies store, but I'll make a mental note to look there first the next time I come up short on the parts list.

Salvage Wax from an Old Jar Candle

It's well known that wax makes a great lubricant and rust protector, but should I have to buy it by the stick in order to take advantage of it?

Well, no.

This morning my sister threw a used up jar candle in the trash and it got me to thinking; can I salvage some wax out of the jar? What can I put it in to make it useful?

I dredged the candle jar out of the trash and, yes, there's wax still in the jar, even though the candle wick burned all the way down to the bottom. Great! Now the experiment's on!

 Here I've placed the candle jar in some hot water to melt the wax.

 Some scrounging later, and I came up with an ice cube tray to pour the melted wax into to cool.

 Wow! Eight and a half cubes?! I thought I might get 2 or 3. To speed up cooling, I placed the tray into the freezer for about 10-15 minutes. The wax was still just a little soft when I popped out the wax cubes and they popped out easily this way.

And here's the new supply of wax blocks I can use to lube and protect equipment. They will be better protected from dust and dirt in the Ziplock bag. The ice cube tray was already cracked so it will head out to the garage for use in future projects as well.

Making Rulers from a Broken Tape Measure

I had most of a tape measure left over from making a bench top rule out of a broken tape measure and was thinking of a way to use the rest of the broken unit. I knew I would eventually be able to reuse the other parts, but what to do with the tape? I then remembered that I'd seen where someone cut up the tape from a broken metal tape measure to make one foot rulers. This sounded like a good use for something that no longer is serviceable so I decided to give it a try.

 I used a pair of tin snips to carefully cut the metal tape just to the low side of the index mark at each foot increment.

 I then compared the first inch to a steel ruler. This one looks good enough to use. The ones that were cut a tad long got touched to the grinder to size them properly. I found that recutting the tiny amount I was off just didn't work with snips.

 Here's the pile of cut rulers. I had one to discard from a previous project because the first inch was too short. Other than that I had 20 of them to check out. You can see where the first four feet of the tape went in the background.

 I then cut a hole in the high end so the rulers could be hung from a peg. I discovered afterward that drilling tends to cause tear outs in the thin metal. Better would have been to punch out the holes. I had one tear out that was bad enough to force me to discard the ruler rather than risk getting nicked on the metal shard by the hole. I was able to cleanup the rest reasonably well with a rat tail file.

 I then tried to use one to see how it works as a straightedge. I must say, the curved metal is easy to pick up and easy to use. Additionally, I found I could get a more precise line with the ultra thin metal than with a steel ruler as I easily drew a line right on top of a ruled line in my journal.

 I then began distributing the rulers around locations where I might need to take a quick measurement. I made a happy discovery when the ruler I placed in a can held with a magnet drew in the ruler to hold it fast in the can. No muss, no fuss; just drop it in the can and 'click' it sticks to the side of the can where the magnet is.

 Another location.

 And another convenient spot.

And yet another convenient spot. I have about 15 left over as spares or waiting for a location to put one so I doubt there's any real need to do this more than once or twice in a lifetime. Why twice? Let's just presume that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for doing things on the cheap and instead has the motto: Things saved from the dumpster are only waiting to go back into the dumpster when Charlie's not looking.

Cardboard Bins Made from Scratch

I needed some bins, and in poking around the web I saw some cardboard ones in a picture. This got me to thinking that the bins would be a good solution for my needs.

I proceeded to investigate the cost and the prices were outside of my budget, plus I had to buy a hundred of them to boot.

This kinda chapped my butt. Chapped Butt Stick is something in short supply around my garage so I set out to sooth the source of irritation.

I sat down and began noodling what I needed to do to make my own. I quickly discovered that it isn't hard to design a cardboard bin, cut the template, and make my own from scrap cardboard.

 It's a bit tough to see, but I drew out the tabs and lines for the folds, plus drew the notches I needed to tuck the flaps into. The key in the design is to account for the thickness of the cardboard when working on fold lines. Once I had the hang of it the design went pretty quickly.

 I then cut and folded together my prototype. I learned that it is important to hammer the fold lines to get straight folds exactly where I wanted them. I used a straightedge and mallet to do this.

 Fits in the drawer exactly the way I wanted it.

 So I made five more of them for that drawer. I discovered that there will occasionally be some cutting and trimming to make them fit if an exact fit is required. A decent pair of scissors did the tweaking nicely.

And here's the completed template waiting for me to make more of that design when I need it. I put the dimensions and uses on the template to make it easier to identify should I ever end up with a collection of them.

It took an hour or so to design the first template, then another hour or so to make a second from the template, test and tweak it. After that, cutting and folding one takes about 5-10 minutes depending on the sharpness of your box cutter and your skill. What I do is simply cut the desired bin directly from the template instead of drawing the lines and using a straightedge to make cuts. I did this by placing my railroad rail/anvil on the template to hold it down as I made cuts. It's much quicker and I had no problems with cutting into the template as I made cuts.

Along the way I noticed that Elmer's Glue would work great if extra strength were needed to keep the bin from coming apart.  Just apply a daub where the tabs fold together and it should make the bin as permanent as any cardboard box can be.

Ahh, another victory over the garage improvement budget!  Total Cost: $0.00

Hold that Drill Chuck Key with a Speaker Magnet

I have this drill chuck key that I tied a string to so it wouldn't wander off from my bench drill press. Needless to say I wasn't all that impressed with the result.

So I poked around the garage and came up with a speaker magnet to hold it to the drill press with when not in use. Now I realize the string prevented the key from wandering off, but this is really what I had in mind.

 It doesn't take much of a magnet to hold a key, but a bit of overkill shouldn't hurt.

More hassle than a string, but it was worth the effort to me.

Toothbrushes Recycled into Cleaning Brushes

Don't throw out that old toothbrush! If it still has bristles, it can be used as a cleaning brush in the garage. Since they have soft bristles, they are more than suitable for more delicate cleaning jobs and being plastic they can be used with most solvents.

This picture shows an ample supply of old chomper scrubbers waiting for a chance to clean something besides the pearly whites.

Tin Cans Reused in the Garage

I needed containers in the garage and there in the bottom of the trash can was a fresh batch of empty tin cans from making vegetable soup. So I grabbed up a few and headed to the garage for a quick makeover.

 As usual I have to paint my stuff to make it look 'complete'. This is a standard 15.5 oz can.

 Here's another standard sized can.

 I mounted the blue one to a speaker magnet stuck to the column of my drill press.

 The red one became my pen and pencil holder on my project workbench.

 This one is a tomato juice size, 64 oz, I believe.

 Using it to hold my soon to be growing push stick collection at the table saw. I later glued a speaker magnet to the trolly and placed the can on it for more stability.

 A group of smaller cans. The two on the left held mushrooms. The next two are older 6 oz tuna cans, and the last one I suspect was a sardine can. The little ones are convenient to use in a tool chest drawer and the like.

Here's two others that I drilled holes in to hang on the pegboard. The one on the left has art brushes in it and the right one has toothbrushes.

Broken Windshield Scraper Salvaged for a Shop Bench Brush

I had a favorite windshield scraper finally break on me earlier this winter and just hadn't got around to tossing it. It was a favorite because it had the brass scraper blade and I hate the plastic ones.

So I was cleaning out the truck and saw the  broken scraper and picked it up to toss it in the trash when I realized it has a brush attachment that is still in perfect condition.

Well, Dollar Tree sells the shop brushes for, well, a Dollar, but free beats the pants off a Dollar(plus the Governor's cut) any day of the week, so back into the garage for some minor modifications.

 Broken Scraper

 Broken Scraper getting prepped for a trim. Not shown is the trusty miter box saw I'm planning to use to cut off the remnant of the scrapper blade.

And the final trim job!

I firmly believe that there are never quite enough bench brushes running around my garage and this one has a longer handle than the typical ones I see for sale. At any rate there's one more for the shop and I saved another George Washington for more important endeavors.