Keeping Bits and Bushing seperate

[scjohnson243]

Morning all - Could I get an idea on how you folks keep everything organized? I'm starting to get quite a few bushings and drill bits that I am starting to have a problem identifying.. Do you guys have a storage solution that you built to keep everything in its place?

I'm trying a tacklebox right now, but assume there could be a better way.

Thanks

 

[Olsarge]

For drill bits I have a home made holder that is attached to my drill press. For the bushings, I use old pill bottles and write the pen type on the white top.( I am able to get the non-child proof tops so they just screw on)

 

[monophoto]

Bushings - i use 35mm film canisters.

Bits - I recently bought a complete set of fractional, letter and wire gage bits at HF that came in a metal index. I keep my spade bits in a plastic container that originally housed cold cuts from the deli. Similar solution for my brad-point bits (including the metric bits used to drill pen blanks). I have two more of those containers that hold odds and ends - roughly sorted with one container holding bits up to 1/4", and the other holding larger bits.

 

[Edgar]

I bought a couple of packs of 10 small storage boxes at $1.00 each at a dollar store. They are clear plastic with a white snap on lid, about 1" x 1.5" x 2" (as best I remember). I write the bushing # & pen kit on the lid & on a piece of paper that I place inside the box. I keep these little boxes in a larger plastic storage box.

I bought a complete set of fractional & metric bits from Woodcraft a while back when they were on sale & they came in a nice storage box. For my individual bits, I simply drilled holes in a block of wood & wrote the size of each bit on the wood holder with a sharpie.

Edgar

 

[scjohnson243]

Thanks all for the ideas! Some great ideas I never thought about.. I never realized it would be a problem until I was trying to eyeball the difference between the 10mm drill bit and the one for the bullet pen... (forgot the size)... They have no markings on the bit, and of course used the one that was larger so I have to save that blank till I get more of the right kit in to use it!

 

[Jim Burr]

Depending on the quantity of kits I have, big Tote (2'x1'x1' or bigger), ziploc bag with the kit name on the outside and everything else on the inside...bit, bushings, maybe a few blanks for inspiration. If there are cross ref's for bits...add them to the outside of the bag.

 

[Gary Beasley]

Pill minders are great, usually have locking lids and seven compartments. I write the pen and bit size on tape put on the lids. Haven't lost any bushings to spills with this system yet.

 

[Mike Powell]

I use the screw organizer from home depot. Then I label the front of each drawer with what the bushing is. I think it is a 39 drawer organiser. It's been packed and some where in tx for over a month.

 

[jeff]

Here are a couple threads on bushing storage:

http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/bushing-storage-110674/
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f14/organizing-bushings-82769/

 

[Tom T]

I use clear 2 1/2 x 2" x 1" or so tall clear plastic box's. Cut the label off the manufactures package and tap it to the inside of the box. Manufactures can be important later. Now that I am out of box's I use small plastic bags 4x3 or so. Put the bushing and the rages in the bag and write the name on the out side of the bag in marker also. It has helped a lot.

 

[bjbear76]

For drill bits, I use the clear plastic pen tubes and label the tube with the drill bit size

 

[2 Saw]

For bushings I went to the fishing tackle isle and bought the containers they sell for fishing lures good dividers and lock work very good wrote the type of pen it fits on the outside and cut the tag off and put with the bushings.
For the drill bits I have board beside the drill press with a hole drilled for each bit and marked accordingly

 

[Jim Smith]

I made a holder out of some scrap corian I had. I holds all the bits for all the kits available and the bushings that go with them. Under the holder, there is a pull-out platform with the instructions for all the pen kits in plastic sleeves attached to a three-ring binder that is attached to the platform.




I also have bushings in a lazy susan spice rack that I picked up at the Goodwill store for $2.02. It comes with 20 heavy duty bottles with 5 on each side. I label the cap on each bottle with the kit name and since it spins around, I can get to any set I need in about a second. It sits next to my lathe and only takes up about 10x10 square inches of space.

Jim Smith

 

[dcallaway1]

Harbor Freight sells a setup of 10 plastic boxes of various separations and a holder to keep them all together.Some hold sets of bushings and some hold bits.You can write on them with a Sharpie.I usually throw away the holder and just keep the boxes.

 

[edman2]

For bits I keep them in the metal box they came in. For bushings I use flea market spice racks like these.

 

[Tom T]

Jim, that is way smooth.

 

[nava1uni]

I put drill bits in the plastic pen boxes sold at Wood craft. They are square or round. I put the size on the side with a marker and they lay flat in a drawer and stack nicely. I put the bushings on shower curtain holder and label them with a labeler and they hang near my lathe. Shower curtain method is credited to I virgil