Silhouette Style DIY Organization Board

I recently moved my shop into my basement and while moving all the stuff, I realized that I needed a kind of organization system to hold some of my hand tools. After a bit of thinking, I came up with this solution, which might not be the best, but works fine for me. The board consists mainly of a large piece of white melamine, thin plywood silhouettes of different tools, and small bits of clothes hanger wire, bent to hold on the tools. You will not need too many tools or materials to complete this project: large piece of melamine/plywood/OSB/drywall, thing plywood or hardboard for the silhouettes, paint, some kind of tool to cut the pieces out (jigsaw, scroll saw, or band saw), and thick wire. Hope you enjoy!

Link if the video doesn't work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTq7dIguPoE&feature=youtu.be

The first thing I did was to gather up all the tools that I wanted on the board, and traced them out on 1/4 plywood. I tried to draw my pencil line underneath the tools so that you wouldn't see much of the blue when they were placed on the board. Also, remember to try to get details that will help you see which tool goes where later on (holes, slits, etc.)

After you trace the shapes of your tools, you have cut the pieces out. To do this, I tried a number of different methods. The first was to simply use a jigsaw as it was supposed to be used, and this turned out ok, but I found the flimsy thin plywood was hard to hold onto. The second method was more successful and I ended up using it for most of the tools: I took the jigsaw, drilled two holes in the base, and used the holes to mount it to the underside of my workbench (this was hard to photograph, sorry for the blurry focus). It went much faster, but it had a tendency to grab the piece, and bounce it out of my grip. Finally, I gave up on that, and used my cheap band saw to cut the final pieces

After the pieces were cut out, they had a slight burr on the edge, which is taken care of with some sandpaper. To paint the pieces, I used a glossy blue spray paint, which will hopefully protect the wood through the years. I gave the pieces two coats, to make sure they were evenly coated.

Gluing plywood to plastic-like melamine can be tricky, but I found that Gorilla wood glue does a great job (not a sponsor). Make sure that you spread the glue evenly, and put some weight on the pieces while they dry. Let them sit for at least one night.

To hold the tools onto the wall when the board is upright, we need some sort of hook. I found that thick wire from a clothes hanger works fine with this. Since there was a lot of hooks to be made, I went into production mode, which went something like this: cut some wire to about 2 inches long, use pliers to bend it into a rough 90° angle, mix up some 5 min. epoxy, drill small holes where the wire will go, and glue it into place.

Once that is complete, you can mount the board to a wall, and load it up with tools. I still haven't seen any wear on it yet, and it seems to be holding up well.