Laser Cut Drill Bit Organizer and CNC Routed Drill Bit Sorting Gauge

Do you hate sorting drill bits?

I do too. That’s why I created this DIY drill bit organizer box together with a CNC machined drill bit sorter to make my life easier and save myself so much time! With this sorter you will sort all of your drill bits in seconds, so you can quickly get back to what matters most – making things!

You don't have time for this kind of hassle. Stop wasting so much time, sorting through piles of drill bits, just trying to find the right one when you need it the most! And if you don't have a CNC machine, don't worry! If you stick with this Instructable, I will show you how you can get this drill bit sorting gauge machined out from stainless steel which will last you a lifetime!

My version works with metric bit sizes in 0.5mm increments, but you can easily modify it for imperial system. I made slots 0.05mm bigger than the exact measurement, to get an extra bit of clearance so your drill bits don't get caught in the slot. The drill bit organizer box and sorting gauge is compact enough to fit on your workbench wall, and it is strong enough to hold over 100 drill bits at once. The drill bit organizer box is made from laser cut plywood and the sorting gauge is made from aluminium, so it will last a lifetime!

If you have 15 minutes of time, In highly recommend watching the YouTube video above, I think you will enjoy watching the full build process :)

For this project, you need only two tools. A laser cutter or a laser engraver capable of cutting 4mm thick plywood and a CNC router for milling aluminium (optional).

I use a home made small CNC router machine and I use the newest Sculpfun S9 laser engraver which is also a very capable laser cutter!

Here is a link to this laser engraver: https://hobbylasercutters.com/go/sculpfun-s9/

Amazon:https://amzn.to/3wajTsS

Disclaimer: The links are affiliate links. if you decide to purchase this machine, I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me to make more YouTube videos and Instructables, since producing content like this cost a lot of time and money. :)

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I am also running a website https://hobbylasercutters.com/, dedicated for testing hobby grade laser cutters and engravers and I am constantly comparing their capabilities.

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The box is designed to be cut from 4mm Poplar plywood (soft and cuts very nicely) and has 30 compartments. I left some of the compartments unlabelled. There you can put miscellaneous stuff or you can use the blank compartments for putting in the worn out drill bits that need to be sharpened. The design is in a .dxf format, you can modify the labels as you want.

The box itself is not a my design, I have used this awesome and free laser box generator:

https://www.festi.info/boxes.py/SlatwallDrillBox

You can see the settings I used in the photo above. I have also attached the exported .dxf file.

With this generator you can change your wood thickness or compartment numbers and design a custom box in minutes! It is really a great tool! Also check out other stuff on this website, there are many, many generators for boxes of all sorts! Even flexible boxes!

Although, you need to keep an eye on the outputs it gives you, because sometimes, the design can't be made according to your inputs and it sometimes produces some funky stuff that does not work :)

This new Sculpfun S9 has a very compressed and long focus range. It is still just a 5W laser, but it can cut the 4mm Poplar plywood in about 6 passes at 600mm/min speed. If you go slower, it can even cut it in a single pass, but the slower you go, more charring occurs and the edges get much darker. At 600mm/min, this machine produces a very clean cut, not burned at all!

Even though the machine can cut through this board in 6 passes, I always run more passes than the minimum. For this job I have set 10 passes, because wood is not homogenous material, sometimes you get patches of harder wood or even some glue and this will quickly cause spots that were not cut though and to avoid this problem I set some extra passes.

If you want to learn what else this machine can do, you can check my technical review of this machine here:

https://hobbylasercutters.com/sculpfun-s9/

This machine cuts very well and does not leave a charred edge like other less capable engravers.

I made a wooden box around the machine, so I can vent the smoke outside, cutting stuff with laser produces a lot of odours. If you don't want to work near a window or outside, you should make a simple ventilated box for the machine.

The second trick is to get a reasonably thick mild steel plate and put it under the laser. I use a 2mm thick steel plate. With the plate underneath, you can press down the wood boards with magnets and make them flat, because these boards are always little warped and you need to hold them flat for optimal cutting. I cut mostly Poplar plywood, which is soft and cuts very nicely.

You can see both of these on the photo above, with my first laser engraver. inside.

The Sculpfun S9 machine took around 2.5 hours to cut everything out. I did it in two runs, as everything does not fit on one working surface.

I am still surprised how well does this machine cut. Cuts are clean and without burns at all.

Start assembling by inserting the dividers between the inner longitudinal separators

I used a file to make a bit of chamfer on the longer boards (see the video) where there are a lot of teeth to be joined at once. This way everything slides together smoother.

I used the default 0.1mm "Burn" value in the box generator. With this machine, this produces a very snug fit. The box would probably stay together without glue :)

If you use a different laser machine, you should first do some test cuts to see if the fit is good:

https://www.festi.info/boxes.py/BurnTest?

Note that most of the diode laser engravers have a very rectangular beam shape which means that orientation of the cut (X or Y axis) on the laser bed has an effect on the snugness of the fit. The Sculpfun S9 still has a rectangular dot, but it is way less rectangular than other machines I have tested and everything fits together nicely.

Some hammering might be needed to press everything nicely together. Just don't forget to put some wood in between your hammer and the box, so you don't damage the surface.

If I would be making the box again, I would probably slightly decrease the burn value for a bit looser fit so the assembly would be easier. But it is still easy enough to assemble and it stays together very strongly.

I don't have a slatwall, so I have cut off the wall mounting hooks and screwed in two holders, cut out from a 6mm thick plywood in order to mount it on a wall in a classical way. I have recessed the nuts so it lays flat on the wall.

Now we need a drill bit sorting gauge which will help us sort the drill bits much faster than with the digital caliper. I have attached the DXF files below if you want to route the pieces yourself. I have cut them from 5mm thick scrap aluminium piece I had laying around. I really suggest watching the YouTube video at the top of the Instructable, because I got some really cool shots of the CNC routing process :)

But if you don't have a CNC router for aluminium, check the few steps ahead to see how you can get the gauge made by professionals.

First I started by engraving the numbers with a V-bit router bit. I use a small homemade CNC router and use the Planet CNC controller which allows the surface of the material to be measured electrically in a grid pattern. (check in the youtube video at the beginning of the Instructable). This is very helpful, since the text is engraved only 0.2mm deep and it is basically impossible to lay down the material that precisely. Then you correct the program with the measurement points and the engraving comes out perfect every time.

I have routed the outer shape with 3mm router bit. This is why I have made the design in two pieces, as this way it is not needed to route the slots for smaller drill bits with sub 1mm router bit that breaks very easily. The halves will be screwed together.

I used some black paint to fill in the numbers so the text engravings come out with more contrast. When the paint was dry, I scraped it off and sanded everything with an abrasive sponge to give it a nice look.

As you have seen in the video, I have made some holes and threads to screw the halves together. I made the holes with a CNC router for greater accuracy, but you can make them with a drill press and save yourself 2 hours of work :)

This sorter came out much cooler than I expected :)

For you guys who don't have a CNC router at hand (as they are much more expensive than a simple laser engraver), I have tested the CNC fabrication service from PCBWay as they were kind enough to offer me their services so I can give you guys more options for making this sizing gauge.

You can register through this link:

https://www.pcbway.com/ (Link is referral link, you will get free 5$ extra credits to your account!)

Upload these files in their quotation form to get the thing fabricated in one piece and save some hassle:

https://hobbylasercutters.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Files-for-Pcbway-production.zip

I chose stainless steel and brushed finish. So it will last a lifetime! In the .zip file I have added vector file for laser engraved numbers instead of routing them out like I did. If you want to save some money, you could get this thing made out of a bit thinner material. Mine was 5mm, but a 2 or 3mm stainless gauge would still work just as well and last just as long (infinitely)

I hung the box on the wall by making the oversized mounting holes in the wooden brackets (check the video). This way I can take the box out on a desk, closer to me when working.

This project will help you get your workshop more organized and it will save you a lot of time that you can now dedicate to making things!

Thanks for reading through this Instructable!

Don't forget to watch the YouTube video on the top of the Instructable, where you will see me going through everything described here in great detail. I am really proud of that video, I got some very nice shots of the work flow :)

I do a lot of Instructables and DIY-themed YouTube videos now especially with my newly find dimension- laser engravers.

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Cheers!