Stow-Away Whiteboard and Magnetic Tool Holder

Add a sliding, tilting whiteboard or a slick magnetic tool holder to your bench without hogging up precious space.

First, identify underutilized space underneath shelving. Then acquire some:

1/8" thick marker board, scrap wood, brass hinges, #8 wood screws, and some random small screws. You may also want some wood glue.

You will also need a saw, a drill, a screwdriver,

It helps to have a table saw or a router to cut dadoes. But you can get around that by gluing the rails together.

Here I cut a couple of strips of 3/4" plywood for the rails. As you can see, they are too long, now. I will trim them down, later.

This rail will hold the whiteboard in this unused space above my scope.

If you have a table saw or a router, it can be used to cut a dado into the rails. This is the slot that the whiteboard will slide in. Use of dangerous powertools is not covered in this Instructable. Please refer to the users manual for your tools and adhere to proper safety procedures. When cutting slots with a table saw, I recommend use of push sticks. With a router, be aware of which direction the bit is cutting, and always push the workpiece in the opposite direction to that of the cutting surface.

You don't want a really tight fit. Just a little bit of slop would be preferable to a tight fit.

Now cut the marker board to fit the space. Then cut a strip off the back of the board.

You will need to attach a hinge to either end of the marker board so that it will bend. Don't place it right at the edge. You need to leave a little room for the rails and for a stop block.

I cut a little groove in the stop blocks so that they slide over the back of the board, and then they are screwed on.

Next, you will need to finish the rails. The left rail is going to screw onto the shelf from below. So I drilled and countersunk some holes for a #8 wood screw. I put the whole thing together and used a pencil to mark where the left rail should sit. Then I drilled holes into the shelf for placement.

Before installing the rails, you must place a screw into the front that will hit the stop block on the marker board. This is what prevents the board from sliding all the way out. You will need to install the board before you screw the last rail in.

This particular installation is for a whiteboard. It will drop down all the way, and the bottom of the board will rest on the shelf below. So it doesn't need any support up top.

If you want the board to stop at an angle less than 90 degrees, you can bevel the end of the rail at an angle. Or you can glue some stop blocks underneath the rails.

For holding stuff magnetically, you can glue some sheet metal to the marker board. Or you can make any custom holders you might like and glue them down.

I prefer to use hot glue. If you want to remove anything, later, just put a few drops of alcohol on the glue and peel it off.