I'm still not quite happy with my current toolbox, so I’ve decided to design my own. I intend to follow the “first order retrievability” principle, meaning every tool should be accessible with one hand, without having to move anything else out of the way. I’ve made fixed tool holders from PVC pipe before - it’s a familiar, readily available material for me.
I haven’t settled on the final design yet - this sketch is just to get the idea across. My main issue is figuring out how to secure the pipes to the plywood frame. I can screw the first row into the sides and central divider, but the next row would either need to be attached to the surrounding pipes or mounted from the bottom. I’ve used screws thru the base before, and while it works, it tends to deform the pipe. I’m wondering if there’s an alternative I’m overlooking - ideally something that can also be disassembled later, since the design will probably go through several iterations.
I’m also open to any tips or ideas on what else to incorporate into the design. I’m a general handyman, so I’m carrying most of the common hand tools to jobs. For power tools, I have a separate bag.
I can try to find a picture of my current tool bag so you’ll have a better idea of the setup I’m aiming for.
If I were trying to put that together, I would get hanger strap and e6000 glue(or liquid nails caulking). I would use a hole saw that matches the diameter of the pipes, to leave a cut groove in the bottom wood, put glue in the groove, stick the pipe in, then after you have several pipes placed, use the hanger strap to wrap around and screw onto the sidewalls of plywood.
I hadn't thought about this. It could work on the final design but the main issue with this is the lack of modularity. I also suspect that the width of the groove left by a hole-saw is probably narrower than the wall thickness of the PVC Pipe.
Though, now this made me think of finding a hole-saw where the cut-out piece would fit snuggly inside the pipe and I could then screw it to the base thru that.
How would you like it to be modular?
There are few different sizes of tubes which I'd like to be able to switch around depending on which tools I'm going to be carrying.
Oh, makes sense. You could make a few sets of different tube combos, for different tool needs, and then swap them out.
For example, let's say you make several (4-6?) sections of the toolbox, and each section is in its own plywood box (maybe 3/8) and once placed inside the toolbox, using thumbscrews or latches to hold them in place.