White Oak Box for Small Tools - Hot Melt Special

I've had a plastic box of tools next to my 3D printer that built up over several years. At this point, I've accumulated exactly what I need and my 3D printer is broken again. So as my way of procrastinating fixing it, it is time to make a storage box for the tools.

But what if I need to remove the divider, or lower the tray? That is what I love about hot melt glue: it is really easy to squirt some rubbing alcohol on the joint, wiggle it loose, and reconfigure.

I made this from re-sawed white oak from the hardwood supplier. But for the top and bottom pieces, it would be easy enough to grab a small piece of 1/4" plywood from the local home store. Wooden paint stirrers and yard sticks would be a low buck alternative for dividers and rails.

Supplies

#4 - 1/2" wood screws and countersink bit

Wood: 1/4" oak or substitute plywood and paint sticks or yard sticks

1/4" tacks

1/2" glue sticks

Tools

Graph Gear 0.9mm soft lead mechanical pencil

Hand Plane

Scissors

Saw (table, band, hand, cordless, etc)

Arrow Hot Melt Glue Gun

1-1/2" Chisel

UV Flashlight

A few years back I won a bunch of Tandy leather working tools and supplies from an Instructables contest.

The 12"x12" granite plate works great as a hot glue work surface. It is dense enough that glue drips dry quickly, it isn't flammable if you walk away from the glue gun, and it is easy to scrape clean with an inexpensive wide chisel. A granite countertop sink cutout would work as well.

To get the dimensions, the tools are laid out to see how they will fit in a potential box. For me, roughly 7" x 11" worked. The thickest tools that will live in the bottom of the box determine the height of the slider rails, I went with 1-1/4". I really didn't measure much of this, just start with a base dimension and use the first piece to mark the cut for the next piece.

This is a speed challenge, so I don't show cutting the boards. This might not be the best project if you have never cut a board, but feel free to drop me a comment and I can suggest how to do it. I'll go ahead and assume anybody making this knows how to operate a saw.

Three tricks here. The first is to think ahead and arrange the glue joints so everything is pressed in place to avoid sliding a joint and smearing hot melt all over the place. Another trick is to put the hot melt glue on the big board not the thin edge of a board, this avoids the tip slipping off the thin wood edge and burning your hand. Like I did. Several times. The last trick is to square your first joint with the the next piece you are gluing in. The photo with my hand shows holding the next board in place while the glue cools.

Ok, I know this is a hot melt project. So why am I using fasteners? Well to me, they complement each other. Look at this box and think how much fun it would be trying to clamp the boards in position so the countersink holes can be drilled. Or try to get some pneumatic brads in there without them bending in the hard wood and poking out of your PVA joint. Or tack it together with brads and a nail.

Hot melt makes all the annoyance go away. Glue, countersink, screw, and done. In like five minutes.

A couple of rails are glued in that are slightly wider than the tallest tool for the bottom compartment. Then a tray about half the width of the box is cut. A couple of dividers can be glued on the edge of the top tray, but it doesn't really need one on the edge above rail unless you plan to lift it out and use it stand-alone.

I've installed small box hinges and they are annoying and fussy. Itty bitty little screws with microscopic drill bits. No thanks. This project takes a strip of soft leather, slathers hot melt all over it, then scoots everything in position before it cools. Some 1/4" tacks complement the glue.

I got a UV flashlight for fluorescent minerals, but it works great for seeing just how clean your bathroom is, and for lighting up hot melt. If you are fussy about squeeze out, a chisel will pop most of the glue out. I didn't go that far, but wanted to show the trick anyway.

After this was mostly finished, I wanted to add a divider to keep the hex wrenches from sliding around. I cut the divider a little short so I could press it in place, then squeezed glue into the joint. The photo shows the end joint. A little glue block in the corner would accomplish the same thing.

It isn't shown, but I put felt pads on the bottom so it wouldn't scratch up my 3D printer hot bed. But it works great, the right tools in the right place.

Some final notes:

This is all in inch measurements. I know that is getting to be a dated system, but my fasteners and wood all come labeled in fractional inches.

If you are vegan, some heavy vinyl or canvas would work for the hings.