How to Make a Tool Organizer

Need a simple, easy to make tool organizer? I had the thought that it would be better to have a vertical tool organizer instead of having the tools lie all over the work area. Using styrofoam and cardboard, an effective tool holder is made.

For this simple project, you will need cardboard, styrofoam (EPS foam, actually) a craft knife or box cutter, a hotwire machine if possible, some glue and a rubber band.

Here, a piece of foam is selected to be the holder for the pair of pliers shown. With a pencil or sharpie, trace silhouette onto the foam.

In this step, all pieces are cut with the hotwire machine. A craft knife can be used also, you are just limited in thickness of foam. Use many strokes to cut with a knife, taking care not to tear foam.

For each tool piece, cut and glue appropriate foam piece to the pre-cut cardboard. For this project, I had four tools to organize, hence four pieces of foam and four pieces of cardboard.

The four tools in this project and their foam pieces cut and glued to cardboard.

The final product...Note how footprint of holder is about equal to the space one tool occupies. This way you can tell at a glance if all tools are in place, and they are easily grasped for doing your work. I used a rubber band to hold the modules together, but they can be enclosed in a "box" made of cardboard, masonite, matboard, or so on. I left it at this point as I might want to add to it in the future, but don't want to make it too big.

I decided to update, improve and decorate my tool holder....time on my hands!