Tools on a peg board

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
I'm working on cleaning up my garage. I am considering putting up a peg board and putting a bunch of my most commonly used tools on it. What are the pros and cons to doing this. I can't seem to come up with any cons.

Something like this is what I am thinking about doing:
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I don't like peg boards since you spend your life going back and forth to it to pick up tools.

I'd much rather have a little cart you can tote around the garage with you.

I use this drawer cart for my most used tools :

www.harborfreight.com

30 in. 5 Drawer Mechanics Cart, Blue

Amazing deals on this 30In 5 Drawer Mechanics Cart, Blue at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com

Has a storage spot next to the bench for when not in use or when I actually work on the bench
 
The biggest "con" I can think of is the actual cost of hooks and other holders that you'd use to get it how you like it and situated "just right"
I lucked up on my hooks, found a bulk of them for a fraction of the cost of buying just a few.
I still have my big box and then my roll around, mostly what is on my board is duplicates, and odd type tools, like pipe wrenches, adjustable wrenches, certain type hammers. I also have where I hang different types of supplies and expendables, that I go through.
With all my storage places, it doesn't take me long until I will still at times have my bench covered with stuff. And that's when I have myself a clean up and organize day.
 
Dawnpatrol said:
Let me know if you find any hooks that are good. Seems like all the ones I've used fall out when you grab the tool. I have resorted to 3D printing my own that lock into the holes or screw into them.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience with them. That and it getting full, so you keep hanging things higher, and then cant reach them.

I have contemplated getting a cart like @Bebop posted, and getting rid of my benches. Maybe then everything will stay in the cart vs all over the bench. And I will have more room to move around in my small shop.
 
Bebop said:
I don't like peg boards since you spend your life going back and forth to it to pick up tools.

I'd much rather have a little cart you can tote around the garage with you.

I use this drawer cart for my most used tools :

www.harborfreight.com

30 in. 5 Drawer Mechanics Cart, Blue

Amazing deals on this 30In 5 Drawer Mechanics Cart, Blue at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com

Has a storage spot next to the bench for when not in use or when I actually work on the bench
Click to expand...
I have the "Kawa-sucky" green one - love it.
 
What I did was set up a peg board similar to that with full sets of wrenches, hammers, adjustables, shitty drill bits, etc. Those are the tools that anyone else at my shop can use, that way it's also easy to see if they are gone. All the good wrench/socket/allen/etc sets are in my rolling tool chest and they only for me to use. I'm not a huge fan of a pegboard for full time use yourself unless you a wood worker.
 
Bebop said:
I don't like peg boards since you spend your life going back and forth to it to pick up tools.

I'd much rather have a little cart you can tote around the garage with you.

I use this drawer cart for my most used tools :

www.harborfreight.com

30 in. 5 Drawer Mechanics Cart, Blue

Amazing deals on this 30In 5 Drawer Mechanics Cart, Blue at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com

Has a storage spot next to the bench for when not in use or when I actually work on the bench
Click to expand...

I'll second the 5 drawer cart. See this thread for all the crap you can pile into one. HF has a new slate grey color that looks sweet too.

I'd tailor your tool storage on how and where you use your tools. If everything you work on is near your peg board, it might be a good option. The way my shop (okay, its a shed) is set up I'm using my tools outside at least half the time and got tired of constantly walking back to my toolbox. I almost put peg boards in the same category as flat surfaces in a shop - I can't keep them clean to save my life.
 
Dawnpatrol said:
Let me know if you find any hooks that are good. Seems like all the ones I've used fall out when you grab the tool. I have resorted to 3D printing my own that lock into the holes or screw into them.
Click to expand...
That is a fantastic idea!

My shop was full of peg board when I moved into my house. I really like it, even though it's a pain in the ass. I don't really keep and wrenching tools on it though. All my woodworking stuff in on one wall. One holds parts that I will probably never need. One holds my plastic ramps, folding saw bucks, caster dolleys, drop cords, and all kinds of other stuff. The last has my welding helmets, grinding wheels, hammers, funnels, tape measures, etc.

I use my roll cart for my common tools. The others are in my large box.
 
orange150 said:
Following along because I've been thinking about doing the exact same thing.
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Same. I've got some pegboard and hooks leaning against the wall/on the floor in the garage. Just haven't found the place I want to hang it yet. Or how I want to do it exactly. So I'll be watching too.
 
My uncle used to have an entire wall in his basement that was covered in pegboard. He hung every tool he owned on it and then proceded to paint over the entire wall with a paint sprayer with blue paint. This did two things: 1) every tool he owned now had blue paint on half of it so if someone ever borrowed a tool from him, he could immediately tell it was his and 2) the recesses where there was no paint had a perfect outline of the tool that was missing so he knew it was missing, or where it needed to go when he found it / went to put it back.
 
ManglerYJ said:
My uncle used to have an entire wall in his basement that was covered in pegboard. He hung every tool he owned on it and then proceded to paint over the entire wall with a paint sprayer with blue paint. This did two things: 1) every tool he owned now had blue paint on half of it so if someone ever borrowed a tool from him, he could immediately tell it was his and 2) the recesses where there was no paint had a perfect outline of the tool that was missing so he knew it was missing, or where it needed to go when he found it / went to put it back.
Click to expand...
Ha. Reminds me a bit of my last job. The company issued all the hand tools, power tools, etc. but people still got possessive over "their" tools. One of the guys would keep his tools painted pink, because he thought that if they were pink no one would steal them. That, and it obviously (to your point) made them easy to find should they have grown legs.
 
I have peg board around my shop, But generally end up only putting task specifc tools on it, Like vise grips and drill bits by the grinder/drill press table, Stethoscope, lights. and bungies for hanging stuff like brake calipers by the lift. Most general hand tools go in the big tool chest, and I try and grab the tools I know i need for a job and put'm in a cart at the start of a task, the cart fills up with the stuff I forgot as I continue the task, then all the tools go back to where the belong at once when I empty the cart and inventory to make sure I didn't leave anything under the hood... Even with the black retainers, I end up knocking stuff off the peg board and losing hooks...
 
I'll pass along this much.
Once it's up and organized, decide on a coloring scheme for sizes of wrenches you use the most. For me it's white for 10mm, light blue 12mm, yellow 13, dark blue 14, red 17, green 19, black 21, etc etc.
Dab or paint or colored electrical tape on handles of tools. Then put a matching dab / strip on its spot on the wall, or in the drawer, etc.
This makes it super easy to spot the tool you need from under the car etc and makes it really fast to find its spot to put back on the wall. It also makes it clear which one it is that is missing.
 
Dawnpatrol said:
Let me know if you find any hooks that are good. Seems like all the ones I've used fall out when you grab the tool. I have resorted to 3D printing my own that lock into the holes or screw into them.
Click to expand...
Link to STL or source?

I use the little black clips posted above but they eat up a lot of usable space.
 
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