Fast, Easy and Almost No Cost Power Tool Storage

As a Householder my collection of Power Tools was a total mess stacked on shelves in the garage. I needed to organize them better and fast.
One only needs to search 'Power Tool Storage' on Google to get many great ideas and plans. They all look very nice, but are quite labor intensive and require adequate space, and a long list of materials, fancy peg board etc.

They are more suited to a hobbyist or professional tradesman with skills and resources to build the project.

Most modern homes even with a 2 car garage do not have the luxury of workshop space. I needed something that would not take up much space and could be put together quick using leftovers from previous projects.

The whole task is simple and can be completed in about 2 hours. It cost almost nothing. The aim is to improvise using leftovers and odds and ends and unused material found in the average home.

These are the steps I followed.

Layout the Power tools on the floor to get an idea how they would be stored. I needed about 1000 mm x 150 mm.

Decide on wall space that would be used and look for suitable wood off cuts. I had a plank of wood 1200 x 120 mm x 23mm thick. It was perfect for the job.
Find the studs in the wall. I do not have a stud finder so used a magnet to detect nails in the drywall.

Use spirit level to mark the stud center lines and a horizontal line about eye height for the position of the plank.

Since the aim of this Project is to use available surplus wood and screws, there is no material list.

Drill a Hole in the center of the wood plank. Measure half the width of the plank mark a position on the middle stud.

Drill mounting hole into the stud. Now position the plank of wood and screw it into position. I used suitable Csk head wood screws about 60mm long from my leftover screw collection.

Adjust the wood plank in position and mark and drill holes to screw into the other 2 studs.

NOTE: Ensure that the screws used are adequate to take the combined weight of all the Tools when completed.

Now is the interesting part.

We need to find the pivot point for each tool i.e the best position to hang it from. Try balancing it on one finger and note that pivot point. (See Attached photos)

We do not want to mess with elaborate slotted pipes and fancy wood retainers. We do not have access to the back of the mounting board. We are looking for a fast and simple way to hang the tools!

I wanted to use anything suitable that was lying around eg. Wire coat hanger hooks, steel rod, brackets etc. Had a stash of nails 100 mm (4 inch long) 4mm diameter. They were perfect.

For the Sander I found an old metal angle bracket worked best to balance it in position.(See Photo)

For the Angle Grinder I had to bend the nail so it acted as a retainer around the wheel guard ( See Photo)

The heat gun needed a nail to pivot on and one on the other side as support. (See Photo)

Mark the position and drill a small pilot hole to avoid cracking the wood plank. Hammer the nail in, and hang tool before positioning the next one.